# What plant is best?...



## northtexasfossilguy (Mar 6, 2009)

I decided the other day to buy some guppies and add some color to my tank, and from what I understand now, they like to rest on the bottom sometimes. I was thinking I wanted to get a shorter grass for the foreground and directly beneath my light in the center of the tank for that purpose and also for my shrimp, as the ones at Fish Gallery's planted tank seemed to really enjoy some of the grasses there. 

I don't mind if it sprawls out, but I have 5 otocinclus and 5 corydoras that enjoy picking away at the debris that falls between the pebbles and I don't necessarily want it to slowly take over the ground area of my tank. I want something that, if possible, can deal with moderate lighting also.

...So what type of grass would be ideal?


----------



## jaidexl (Jan 20, 2007)

I would say Eleocharis or Lillaeopsis, for moderate light I would make sure to start with many dense plugs in a checkerboard fashion, since this will assist it filling out when growth might be a tad slower than what's attainable. Those would be the easiest to corral to one area, in my experience, something like Echinodorus tenellus or Saggitaria subulata will likely overrun the tank too quickly for you, and do quite a bit more damage during removal due to the density of the runners and size of root masses.


----------



## kimcadmus (Nov 23, 2008)

I think at fish gallery they have hemianthus callitrichoides and micranthemoides.

Its not a grass really but you could also use something like najas guadulapensis (commonly called guppy grass) and just weight it down. It grows easily and is not difficult to maintain. I have some if your interested.


----------



## northtexasfossilguy (Mar 6, 2009)

That najas guadalupensis is actually kinda cool, but I'm thinking very short plants, maybe I'm talking more about a moss than a grass. I just want something that I won't have to trim that much and stays maybe 2 cm tall at the max... really something like a foreground plant that stays very short.


----------



## northtexasfossilguy (Mar 6, 2009)

Ahh! I found something, but they don't have it at the store. It's dwarf baby tears.


----------



## kimcadmus (Nov 23, 2008)

northtexasfossilguy said:


> Ahh! I found something, but they don't have it at the store. It's dwarf baby tears.


hemianthus callitrichoides!


----------



## northtexasfossilguy (Mar 6, 2009)

Sorry, no little plastic card with name and picture on it for me to know that yet!


----------



## kimcadmus (Nov 23, 2008)

I just hate it when those little cards are missing...or worse yet they have been stuck in in the wrong pot (and there is no picture).


----------

