I want some plants for my low tech tank, but don't know what

[Thr33Swords]

Hey guys,

I have about 60 plants in my tank at the moment, for the most part I have no idea what they are haha. I bought most of them off trademe from a gentleman in Christchurch who sent me 63 stems. I am very happy with the plants, and after just a month they have grown almost as tall as my tank, which is incredible as I didn't expect such fast growth without CO2 injection.

The only problem is that they all grow up, and not really outward, so I now have a lot of tall plants with nothing that really fills the gaps between them, and the other thing is my substrate is for the most part completely visible as well. I'd like to make my tank look heavily planted, so I want to add plants to the tank that will fill the open spaces. Can anyone recommend some plants that will grow outward instead of straight up?

Also, what is a good carpeting plant for low tech tanks? My tank is 181cm x 52cm x 52cm, so I'd like some carpeting plants that would ideally be able to cover 80% of the substrate eventually. I have some grassy looking plants, but they are also just growing up and doesn't seem to be spreading at all.

Thanks everyone

[Sophia]

have a look at the 2 tanks in my signature, those are low tech tanks with short lighted period.

I went away from stem plants as too much maintenance and now there are:

java ferns of various varieties attached to rocks and wood

crypts - different crypts do well in each tank, yet they sit next to each other. I assume the difference is the substrate.

small swords

[SamH]

nothing that really fills the gaps between them, and the other thing is my substrate is for the most part completely visible as well.

What you want to be doing it chopping the top half of the stems off once they reach the surface and replanting them in bunches of 3-5 near where you cut them from. This will create a much more dense appearance and give you that heavily planted look.

[Adrienne]

How the plants grow will depend on how strong your lighting is.

For groundcover plants in a tank that high you really want T5HO lighting which is taking you out of low tech. Dwarf saggitaria might grow okay as would saggitaria microfolia if you can find some.

Stem plants, which is most likely what you have, will 'reach' i.e. 'stretch' to get the light they need hence no or little bushing. Trim some back and replant.

You could also use anbias,java fern etc if you have either drfitwood or rocks to tie it to.

[alexyay]

I find that plants usually go upwards when they're having trouble with light. Ambulia seems to be pretty "bushy", though.

For carpets - you *might* be able to get away with a kind of chain sword. Dwarf sag and a moss "carpet" could work too.

Swords and crypts for fore-mid-ground plants. Java fern can be really dense too if you grow it right.

[Thr33Swords]

Thank you for the replies guys

Since this is a low tech tank, the lighting is definitely much less than what a high tech tank would have, so the explanation that they will grow tall to reach the light sounds very plausible. Trimming and replanting the plants to form bushes as suggested seems like the best course of action, so I will definitely do that. I actually just found a really awesome piece of driftwood I want to add to the tank, so maybe a slight rescape might be in order as I do it, then I can more easily bunch plants together.