i've seen some very nice show tanks that use dwarf baby tear plants as carpeting. i'm going to that those out with my next planted tank. i used to have microsword in my old planted tank, but it was very inconsistent in the way it covered the bottom. it grew in patches and had stringy limbs coming off the patches.
Basically I have a very low-tech tank. Its a 120 gallon with pool filter sand substrate. I dose with seachem flourish once or twice every week. So far, I've been growing java fern and anubias and they seem to be doing well.