Carpeting Plants and Sand

[MyShrimpDied]

I recently bought some baby tears off aquabotanic.com and its getting pretty tall and i wanted to know how tough it would be to use these guys as a carpeting plant. Im using Tahitian Moon Sand substrate and i understand that it along with most other sand substrates compacts more tightly than most other substrates.

Would i have some trouble trying to use the Baby Tears as a carpeting plant. My tank looks very bare right now so i need to fill up the space.

~ MyShrimpDied

 

[Seaman]

I wouldnt think you would have a problem, its light so the plants should be able to push through the sand easy...Id keep the sand thats not planted stirred with a long stick quite often and that should help with it compacting before the baby tears grow through it...after they carpet it then they should constantly grow roots and move the sand a little. Also MTS malaysian trumpet snails would be great for you, they will keep the sand turned.

 

[Bill Harada]

It won't grow as a true carpeting plant as it's really a very delicate stem plant. The trick to keeping it low to the ground is lots of light. The more light it has the more it spreads laterally. If you've upgraded to the 2x28w lights then you should be able to keep it relatively low on its own. Any vertical stems you find can be pushed down, either into the sand or into the plant mass.

Here's a link to a picture of my tank. The baby tears (micranthemoides) is the mass in the front left corner. Right now it's a 4" tall hedge more than a carpet.