Which grass like plant for low/med light

zfarsh

Hi Everyone,
I am looking for a nice bottom plant like grass that will fill the bottom (or part of it) of the tank, not need CO2, and lighting would be low to medium. It would be for a 75G tank freshwater
Thanks in Advance.

SinCrisis

Brazilian microsword. Grows really slow though, so you need to buy a lot of em or have tons of patience.

Byron

Brazilian microsword mentioned by SinCrisis is scientificallyLilaeopsis brasiliensis, not to be confused with the more common "swords" such as those species in the genera Echinodorus and Helanthium. I'm attaching a photo, as this plant is not in our plant profiles (yet). I have not personally had this plant, can't find it locally, but my sources confirm SinCrisis on it requiring moderate light and showing very slow growth.

Another very similar though slightly larger plant is the Pygmy chain sword, formerly Echinodorus tenellus but now deemed to be in Helanthium, and it is in our profiles under the common name or Helanthium tenellum, so a photo will be found there [click on the shaded name to see the profile]. There are several varieties under this common name, and depending upon which source there are 2 or up to 8 species. I have the narrow-leaf form in my 70g flooded Amazon forest tank, so I'm attaching a photo of that so you can see how it grows; it is the small plant across most of the substrate. The wide-leaf form is in my 115g Amazon riverscape tank and it grows much taller and obviously has wider leaves; it is perhaps Helanthium quadricostatus or H. bolivianus depending upon sources. [The Echinodorus and Helanthium genera have been the subject of several scientific studies using DNA and cladistic methods with the result that the classification is undergoing monumental changes.] Whichever the species, these plants grow very fast once settled; I am pulling out plantlets and runners every other week. In my former 90g flooded Amazon tank, of which there are photos under "Aquariums" below my name on the left, I planted one Pygmy chain sword and within 5-6 months it completely carpeted the substrate as shown in the photos.

Byron.

Attached Images

	Brazilian Microsword.jpg (96.4 KB, 46 views)
	70g Mar 24-11 (1).jpg (107.6 KB, 45 views)

SinCrisis

I currently keep both Pygmy chain sword and brazilian microsword, the chains word spreads rapidly but it does not give a even grassy look like microsword does. It results in a spidery lawn with gaps between each plant. Although some like it, I did not, my microsword grows evenly, 3-4 leaves at each node. Problem is the growth rate. In my dry-start systems, it grows much faster than submersed, but is still shockingly slow. A month now and 2 nodes have not expanded enough to fill a 2x2 inch cup. However, like Byron, i need to tear out my Pygmy chain sword plantlets every week or so to keep it from getting too crazy. Also some of mine have grown so tall, at least 1ft tall in some more shaded areas, its a huge pain if your lighting isn't strong enough to keep it low.

Rip

i've added some pygmy chain swords to my tanks within the last month. 3 of them in my 55 gallon, and 1 in my 10 gallon. today when i was doing a water change on the 10 gallon, i was surprised to see my first plantlets growing on the runner that was laying on top of the gravel. i hadn't even noticed the runner, and it was about 8 inches long, with two new plants started to grow from it. i have a 18 inch 15 watt 6500k on the 10 gallon, but on the 55 gallon i only have a 48 inch T10 40 watt 6500k. because of the varying watts per gallon, i wonder how the plants in the different tanks will look in comparison to each other, and if the ones in my 55 gallon will eventually send out runners as well.

Byron

This species (whichever it may be) grows very well in moderate light. SinCrisis was correct on the light intensity having a bearing on the height. I have found this too, but it also depends upon the species. The narrow-leaf form remains smaller by comparison to the wider-leaf form. All this is mentioned in our profile, click on the name: Pygmy chain sword.

Also, it is not so much watts per gallon, but the spectrum and intensity of the light. A 40w tube in full spectrum can have equal intensity to a 32w in full spectrum.

Byron.

redchigh

I would try dwarf sag. If you want something that's guaranteed to grow, that would be your bet IMO.

Whats your lighting and substrate? You might be able to pull off hairgrass.

wannalearn

how about dwarf hairgrass

DKRST

I agree on s-l-o-w growth for microsword. It is an attractive plant though. If the lighting is too high and/or the planting is too thick, mine grows algae on the leaf surfaces. The less dense bunches of microsword and those in lower light areas of my tank look excellent, but at this rate will take a year or more to cover my 55 gallon! I think the secret, as mentioned on this forum in several threads, is to plant small plugs across the substrate and allow the microsword to fill in the gaps. Additional fertilizer dosing does seem to help mine significantly.

I'm interested to try the pygmy chain swords, sound interesting.