15 Best Carpeting Plants For Aquascaping -Beginner’s Pick
Aquarium enthusiasts love to add carpeting plants in the tank to make it look more natural and aesthetic at the same time. Unfortunately, most of us think of it as an advanced task to do. This is because not all the plants can be used for carpeting the bottom of the tank.
But the truth is, anyone can achieve this impressive look in their tank with the right choice of plant and some management of light, nutrients, and a couple of water parameters.
I have tried many aquatic plants for carpeting in my tank and in this article, I have shared the list of the best 15 of those that I’ve tried. In addition, I’ve also shared how they are supposed to perform their best and what particular things they need.
So, without any delay, let’s just dive right in—
Top 15 Aquatic Carpeting Plants For Easy Maintenance
1. Java Moss
I have talked about the java moss a lot including the frequent issues it has because it’s one of the top picks for the aquarists. It has a lush green color and a spreading habit which fits well for carpeting the tank floor like a charm.
Here, the leaves are oval shaped and the stem is only about 2 mm so it doesn’t grow much. Besides, newly transplanted java moss takes a little more time to adjust to the tank environment.
The best thing about this plant is that it can survive even under low-intensity lights and it has no additional requirements of extra CO2 and fertilizers.
This is why they are so popular among aquarists. However, the Java fern sometimes gets black spots but it’s pretty easily treatable.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Very Easy
- Lighting: Low to moderate light
- Temperature: 21-30 °C
- pH: 5-8
2. Glosso
Glosso is an amazing and tiny aquatic carpeting plant with oval shaped leaves. It’s often used to create lush foregrounds in aquariums. However, it can be a little challenging to grow in the tank as a beginner.
Normally it’s a pretty slow growing and bright green plant. But it still needs a very intense light setting in the tank otherwise it won’t survive at all. In addition, it needs a nutrition rich substrate and regular root tab supplements as well.
To encourage lateral growth and carpeting behavior, Glosso needs to be regularly trimmed back. Though the addition of carbon dioxide isn’t mandatory, the Glosso plants surely benefit from it.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Moderately difficult
- Lighting: High intensity light
- Temperature: 22-30 °C
- pH: 6.5 to 7.5
3. Dwarf Baby Tears
Dwarf Baby Tears are another very popular choice for its round- shaped and vibrant green leaves. Also, it spreads very easily at the bottom of the tank but usually it requires bright lighting conditions for carpeting.
This plant produces many tiny oxygen bubbles at the edges of its leaves which look like teardrops. The good thing is, that it serves many other purposes too. For example, they are amazing as a shelter for small fish and fries for successful breeding in the tank.
However, the only downside is that they need a regular dose of nutrient supplements or root tabs for survival. Otherwise, it’s a pretty perfect carpeting plant for your tank.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Moderately easy
- Lighting: Moderate to high-intensity light for 10-11 hours
- Temperature: 22-28 °C
- pH: 5-8
4. Dwarf Sagittaria
Another dwarf carpeting plant on our list is this Dwarf Sagittaria. They are a great addition in the tank because they love to spread like a dense layer and they don’t even need much of our attention too.
This dense growth of leaves makes a great shelter for small fries and fish. On the other hand, it requires only a very small amount of nutrients as well. In comparison with other carpeting plants, it grows pretty fast and it is about 4 to 6 inches in height. So it needs regular pruning otherwise it won’t look like a carpet.
The best thing about the dwarf sagittaria is, that they give us small beautiful white flowers that end up floating at the top of the tank and look like a natural waterbody.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Moderately easy
- Lighting: Low light is best but bright light should be avoided.
- Temperature: 20 – 28 °C
- pH: 6-8
5. Liverworts
Liverworts are a pretty interesting plant because they don’t have real leaves. The plant isn’t separated into leaves or stems or flowers rather it looks like a green wavy cushion. This can also be the center attraction of your tank as it’s scarce but surprisingly pretty easy to maintain.
It uses the rhizomes and attaches to nearby rocks, driftwood, and gravels and this is how it spreads as a carpeting plant. It has a medium growth rate and it’s mostly a very undemanding plant.
Since it doesn’t have separate roots, stems, and leaves, it takes up their nutrients directly from the water making it perfect for your aquarium. However, this means that if you are growing it, you have to make sure not only the substrate but also your tank water is enriched with nutrients.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Very easy
- Lighting: Low to medium
- Temperature: 22 – 26 °C
- pH: 5-7
6. Christmas Moss
Christmas Moss has thick small leaves and is slightly different from most kinds of aquarium carpet plants. The name is because the branching structure kind of resembles a festive holiday Christmas tree display.
It has a very light green color and naturally grows in underwater conditions. So, this is why it’s very easy to grow in your fish tank. However, adding some root tabs on a regular basis will enhance its growth.
It doesn’t even require any special lighting arrangements or additional carbon dioxide as well. However, if you provide it with added carbon dioxide and a moderate to bright light setting the growth rate will be faster than normal.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Very easy
- Lighting: Medium to high
- Temperature: 22-26°C
- pH: 6.0-7.5
7. Cryptocoryne Parva
This one is a little unusual plant than the others because it grows under very high intensity lights otherwise it will not spread over the surface carpeting the tank floor. But they are very popular and worth it because of their ability to change color under different light intensities.
However, it grows very slowly and reaches up to 4 cm in height. But the growth rate can be accelerated by giving supplemental fertilizer, root tabs, and some CO2 with a good lighting condition.
The good thing is, it never needs any trimming because of their small height. It takes a while to grow but once it has established itself in your tank, it won’t need much maintenance at all. If you want them to spread, you have to plant them a few inches apart and they will fill the area over time.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Very easy
- Lighting: Medium to very high intensity
- Temperature: 22-28°C
- pH: 6.0-7.5
8. Dwarf Hairgrass
Dwarf Hairgrass is a common yet beautiful aquarium carpet plant with green hairy leaves. This is a great option when you have different species of fish in your tank. Because this plant will provide a shelter for the small fish and save them from other predator fishes.
The interesting thing about this plant is, if you grow it under high intensity lights it will spread horizontally on the tank ground. But if the light is low intensity then the growth will be vertical. So you can have the choice of how you want it to grow.
The dwarf hairgrass grows about 4 cm and if you maintain the right parameters the results will be amazing.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Very easy
- Lighting: Low or Medium to very high intensity
- Temperature: 22-28°C
- pH: 6.0-7.5
9. Utricularia Graminifolia
Utricularia Graminifolia (also known as grass bladderwort) is basically a grass that spreads horizontally on the ground. Besides, its growth rate is pretty fast compared to other aquarium plants when the light intensity and water parameters are well adjusted.
It doesn’t have roots like traditional plants so instead, it forms a dense mat of fine, thread-like leaves. If you can provide it with a nutrient-rich substrate it will be beneficial for its growth and since it’s grass, it will only reach a height of about 1 or 2 inches.
When you are using it as a ground covering plant, it’s best to provide it with a medium intensity light. However, unlike most of the plants in our list, it must be supplied with proper levels of CO2.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Very easy
- Lighting: Very high intensity
- Temperature: 22-28°C
- pH: 6.0-7.5
10. Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is a very attractive carpeting plant for its extremely small leaves and one of the best picks for the beginners. The compact and dense round leaves grow very nicely without a lot of maintenance.
Besides, you can use it to create a slope over any hardscapes to mimic a natural hilly structure underwater. Though it’s not much of a fast growing plant, you can use this to your advantage because trimming the carpeting plants frequently is a pretty handful task.
The good thing is that it has a strong root structure so normal water movement due to the water filter will not harm its growth. Anyway, if you want it to grow very fast you have to provide it with additional supplements of CO2.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Moderately easy
- Lighting: High-intensity LED lights required
- Temperature: 22-26°C
- pH: 6.5 to 7.5
11. Little Star Plant
It’s a plant from Thailand that has turned out to be a very popular trend as an aquatic carpeting plant. The crinkled edges of their leaves give the plant a starlike shape and besides it’s pretty tolerant to low light levels.
But it will be very dense and compactly growing if you can provide it with high intensity lights. Normally they are very hardy but if there is a sudden and high fluctuation in the water parameters, it can affect them very badly including browning of leaves to even untimely death.
They don’t necessarily need the carbon dioxide but supplying it will help the star plant to grow more easily. The downside is that the leaves are very soft so some fish like mollies or snails will consider it a snack and gorge on it.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Moderately easy
- Lighting: Low to high-intensity LED lights
- Temperature: 22-26°C
- pH: 6 to 7
12. Crystalwort
Crystalworts are popular among the professional aquarists but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s really hard to maintain. It’s quite the opposite. This liverwort is amazingly easy to grow.
You can grow it as a floating plant on the surface or as a carpeting plant on the ground with changing light intensity. High intensity lights will have it as a spreading beauty. However, crystalwort doesn’t have well formed roots to uptake nutrients.
This is why the aquarium water needs to be rich in nutrients and CO2 to support their growth. Another good feature is it creates oxygen bubbles which look attractive hence the name crystalworts. In addition you can attach it to any driftwoods or rocks along with the substrate as well.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Moderately easy
- Lighting: Low to high-intensity LED lights
- Temperature: 20-28°C
- pH: 6 to 7.5
13. Brazilian Micro Sword
It’s also known as Copragrass. While it has the appearance of a grassy lawn underground, unfortunately, its management is a bit challenging.
They need high light intensity conditions and regular CO2 supplementation but the most important thing for them is a substrate rich in nutrients. You can provide it with root tabs and soil based substrates in order to get rapid growth in the aquarium otherwise they are pretty slow growing.
They are propagated from runners which should be cut into small pieces and planted in the substrate. They are slightly sensitive to lighting conditions and they don’t like to stay in shade and even get stunted in this condition.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Moderately difficult
- Lighting: High-intensity LED lights
- Temperature: 20-28°C
- pH: 6 to 7.5
14. Four Leaf Clover
We know the four leaf clover as a good luck charm and these plants just look like the clovers and they are often used as carpeting plants in aquariums. The good thing is that they can adapt nicely to a wide range of light settings but generally do well in moderate to high light settings.
They can grow without CO2 supplementation but if you provide CO2 it will enhance their growth. Also providing root tabs will promote the height and density of the clover.
When planting, place the stems a few inches apart from one another so that they can spread as a carpet rather than being grouped. This will also create a more natural appearance.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Very easy
- Lighting: High to medium intensity LED lights
- Temperature: 20-28°C
- pH: 6 to 7.5
15. Staurogyne Repens
Last but not least, Staurogyne Repens is a slow growing aquarium carpeting plant that has spade shaped lush green leaves. To keep themselves in a compact and bushy form the Staurogyne Repens need to be trimmed regularly otherwise they will become too tall to look like carpet
They only grow an inch in about two months. Despite that, they require 10 hours of light every day, a high quality aquarium substrate, and additional application of CO2 supplements.
Also, they are naturally tropical plants so they require a bit of high temperature in the water. However, they can also be grown as mid-ground or foreground portions of the aquarium.
Care Requirements
- Maintenance Difficulty: Moderately easy
- Lighting: High to medium intensity LED lights
- Temperature: 22-26°C
- pH: 6 to 7.5
Conclusion
Adding carpeting plants to a fish tank not only improves its visual appeal but also serves as a protective covering for fry and other small aquatic pets and gives them a safe shelter.
Some of the carpeting plants are very easy going but some others are probably not the best pick for the beginners as they can be a little tricky to grow. However, you won’t know it until you start to grow it, right?
In this article, I’ve explained what an aquarist will face while growing these 15 aquatic carpeting plants in the aquarium. So, I hope I was able to provide you with enough information to help you pick what carpeting plant would be the best for your tank setting.
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