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Re:foreground lawn



>Which of these do you think might be happiest in my tank (or should I be
>looking at something else instead)?:
>echinodorus tenellus/pygmy chain sword
>sagittaria subulatis/dwarf sagittaria
>lilaeonopsis
>acicularis/dwarf hairgrass

Here is an example of what a E. tenellus "lawn" looks like, the micro
tenellus variety,
http://www.aquabotanic.com/images/jeffsenskefieldofgrass.jpg

Here is a example of dwarf sag
http://www.aquabotanic.com/rph_gallery/rphlong2.jpg

Here is an example of lilaeopsis
http://www.aquabotanic.com/images/johnmartin2.jpg

Here is an example of dwarf hairgrass, in this case E parvulus:
http://www.aquabotanic.com/images/tombarr2.jpg

Lilaeopsis stays the shortest of all of them, but needs the highest amount
of light and spreads the slowest. Dwarf sag and E tenellus grow and spread
quite easily, but can get taller than you may like, but you can trim them
back, just like mowing your lawn. They both also tend to send out runners
far from the main plants. These can be clipped off and re planted closer
together to create a "lawn". A well manucured lawn using these plants will
require work. Lilaeopsis grows into a thick sod on its own without far
reaching runners.

Acicularis hairgrass can get much taller than parvulus, but can also be
trimmed if you are that patient. It needs fairly bright light and CLEAN
water. It will collect gunk and algae easily in the very fine hair like
mass. Until it becomes deeply rooted, (which takes some time) it is
difficult to clean out the gunk without uprooting the plant. Its a real pain
to constantly replant this because it is so fine. Just when you get a nice
sod growing, some fish uproots the whole thing...be very patient. Once it
gets growing though, it looks awesome.

You could probably grow any one of these. Its all a matter of taste.

Robert Paul Hudson
http://www.aquabotanic.com
AB Newsletter: over 1500 subscribers
Plants and breeding fish
http://www.aquabotanic.com/plantsandfish.htm