What plants for Sand??

[KITT]

Dear fellow monsters,

It has been a while since I made contact but here we go. I have a rio 220 with sand as the bottom. I have some bog wood in their and a few artificial plats as well as one potted plant. What I really would like to do is cover the sand with moss however I am not certain that this is possible? If it is then what sort of moss is best? If not moss then what plabts if any will grow well in the sand. I live in the UK and have a nice tank but when it comes to planting I am clueless. I just want a green covering of somekind. Help would be appreciated.

Kit

 

[sampster5000]

There are many plants referred to as "carpet" plants. I would recommend looking up some carpet plants and what they normally require to maintain healthy growth and a nice "carpet". IMO moss is awesome. Most moss will attach to anything and grow in any water conditions. The majority of carpet plants (not moss) grow great on sand because it is easier for them to root to (Dont ask me why but this is what I read everywhere!). This does not mean that they will have healthy growth, though. If you are not using a nutrient enriched substrate you cannot expect to maintain a healthy carpet. Now one easy carpet idea that involves moss is to attach moss to rocks with string. You put the moss covered rocks all over your foreground and let them grow out. Moss is very undemanding of light, CO2 and other nutrients so this would probably be the easiest and cheapest way to go.

Popular carpet plants like dwarf baby tears or glosso are a lot more demanding and are a pain in the butt! An awesome looking carpet comes with more money spent. What you want will depend on how much money you want to spend. I recommend doing some research on carpet plants and what you need to maintain a healthy foreground.

 

[Crazed Demasoni]

I'm in the same boat... I'd love dwarf baby tears, but right now I have a 29g with a normal hood light. I don't want to do CO2 or have to deal with ferts. I had flame moss, which ended up growing really well in a 10g with minimal light, but it's not quite a short mossy cover.