The main decoration of the aquarium are not fish at all, as many believe. Ground-cover aquarium plants create a sense of the natural environment, acting as a natural decorative element along with synthetic stones, divers and castles. Plants are planted in an aquarium substrate. Ground covers do not grow above 10 cm, forming a single composition. The use of low-growing plants allows you to visually expand the viewing area of the aquarium, and the fish do not hide in the thickets near the front wall.
Glossostigma
One of the recently bred exotic aquarium plants is the glossostigma, which came from New Zealand. Glossostigma Elatinoides stunted, 2-3 cm high, with long shoots. Glossostigmus leaves 3-5 mm wide, oblong, ovoid, 8-10 mm long. Under good conditions, it spreads over the soil, forming a continuous cover, but with a lack of light, the stems lift the leaves to a height of 5-10 cm. The plant is photophilous, demanding. The water temperature for normal growth is 22-26 degrees with a pH of 5-6.
Glossostigma povoynechnaya is seated in the aquarium so that taller specimens do not reduce the amount of T5 HO or MH HQI metal halide lamps incident on the grass cover. Aquarium fish are selected based on the need of Glossostigma Elatinoides for an abundance of carbon dioxide, and the plant itself requires constant feeding with liquid phosphates and nitrates. However, it can be grown with other aquarium ground cover species that differ in lighting requirements and water quality, but in this case the shoots will stretch upward and the grass carpet will become heterogeneous.
The plant is planted in sandy soil at a distance of 1-2 cm from the stems. Then propagated by lateral shoots, which are trimmed as necessary - this prevents overgrowth. The carpet is trimmed periodically to enrich the lower part of the stems with light. Otherwise, the stems die from a lack of lighting, and a carpet of plants floats to the surface.
Lileopsis
Lileopsis is one of the ground cover aquarium plants that can live outside the water on permanently moistened soil. Lilaeopsis carolinensis spreads in a continuous carpet without gaps, occupying the entire soil area. The plant is photophilous, grows slowly, is not fastidious to water hardness, is easily contained. In open-air paludariums, the growth rate increases. Recommended growth temperature from +22 ° to +26 ° . You need to plant lileopsis at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other, so that the leaves are not covered with algae due to the density of the carpet.
Javanese moss
Javanese moss in the aquarium grows horizontally and vertically, covering snags and walls of the aquarium. Vesicularia dubyana looks like a continuous interweaving of stems strewn with leaves no larger than 3 mm in size. Javanese moss lacks a root system; it is attached to the ground using thin microscopic threads - rhizoids.
Keeping javanese moss in the aquarium starts with the right lighting choice. Darkening will provoke the plant to reach for light, covering the vertical walls of the aquarium and driftwood. Soil is not needed for growing Vesicularia dubyana, so the moss is planted on decorative elements, and the remaining space at the bottom of the aquarium is made out by other ground cover plants.
The only problem you have to deal with is the removal of filamentous algae from the stems of the moss. The threads are collected with a regular toothbrush by twisting, and cleaning should be carried out regularly to avoid the appearance of a destructive coating on moss.
Sitnyag
The tiny and needle-shaped cotton ball belongs to ground-cover aquarium plants without leaves and looks like a bunch of thin stems extending from filiform rhizomes. Eleocharis acicularis is capable of flowering, forming thin spikelets on the tops of the stems. The height of the beams varies from 6 to 15 cm, depending on the type. Both types are grown in aquariums with water temperatures from +15 ° C to +25 ° C.
Sitnyag is a photophilous plant, suitable for shallow aquariums. The greater the depth of planting, the more lighting will be required.
Echinodorus tender
Echinodorus tenellus is the lowest (up to 5-6 cm in height) among all species of echinodorus, the most common plant for growing in small aquariums. This is a standing peduncle of bright green color with a length of 3-20 cm. In bright light, the color of the plant changes to red-ruby, the bushes become dense and stunted.
Comfortable water temperature for gentle echinodorus is from +18 ° to +30 ° , the water should change regularly and be quite rigid. Growing in deep aquariums with a lack of lighting leads to an increase in plant height and yellowing of leaves. Landed in coarse sand.
General care recommendations
Regardless of the type and name of the aquarium plant, there are general recommendations for the maintenance and care of them. Since ground cover plants are demanding on the quality of lighting due to their short stature, planting the front of the aquarium with tall specimens should not be done, it is better to transfer them to the background. The lighting brightness for each individual species is averaged, but the spectrum of the chosen color depends on the requirements of the plant. For example, tender echinodorus grows well under fluorescent lighting, glossostigam - under the light of metal halide lamps, and Javanese moss grows even in the shade. The power of the light source is 0.7-1.5 watts / liter, and the duration of lighting should not exceed 10 hours per day.
These species require an average water temperature ranging from +20 ° C to +26 ° C, so plants can be combined in one aquarium, forming lawns of different densities.
Ground-cover aquarium plants belong to stenion species and need a certain level of carbon dioxide, therefore they require a diffusion device to enrich water with carbon monoxide.
The main type of soil for ground cover plants of the foreground is poorly enriched sand of different grain sizes, which requires periodic feeding with liquid phosphate fertilizers containing trace elements of iron and magnesium. The thickness of the soil for planting in the area of the front wall of the aquarium is small - 1-3 cm, these plants do not have a powerful root system, and Javanese moss has no rhizomes at all and is able to grow on glass and plastic, driftwood.