Best Aquarium Carpet Plants: Creating a beautiful plant carpet in an aquarium can simulate expansive open fields, provide grass, cover shrimp, and generally have a unique appeal to aquarists. Choosing the right plant to create your mat can make a difference, as some are more difficult to grow and maintain than others, and they all give a slightly different look and feel to the aquatic landscape.
Aquarium mat plants are one of the most essential additions to the aquascaper toolbox.
Comparison Table
| Custom | SiteStripe Image | Title | Review | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TopBest Pick |   | Java Moss | 4.0/5.0 | Check Price |
| Top Performance |   | Dwarf Hairgrass | 4.3/5.0 | Check Price |
| cheapest |   | Sagittaria Subulata | 4.0/5.0 | Check Price |
Over time, my interest expanded to other root-eating plants and then carpet plants. If you’ve never heard of or overlooked these plants at the pet store, you’re missing out on one of the best planting options for your freshwater aquarium.
They are used to fill in the foreground and create lush green grassy growth. When given enough light and carbon dioxide, many of these plants even create pearl-like bubbles of oxygen that fill the water column with a delicate fizzy sound.
Let’s say you just got a new tank, but you feel something else is missing and it’s not the fish. Well, having carpet plants is a great way to make sure you have a nice-looking aquarium today.
There is always a catch with these aquarium plants. Sometimes you can have trouble growing it. No beginner wants that.
That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best aquarium carpet plants. Even if you have a low-tech tank, you should find these plants easy to grow these days.
Top 10 Best Aquarium Carpet Plants for Beginners
Best Aquarium Carpet Plants Review
1. Java Moss
This is definitely one of the most common aquarium plants you can find in the market today. People love it simply because it requires little maintenance. Â You don’t have to do much to make it grow. It’s also hard to kill, so don’t worry about diseases eradicating it easily.
For a carpet plant, it must grow faster. Well, you are in luck with this plant. It doesn’t take long to see it all over the aquarium. If you want it to look even better, you can clamp it to a rock. It should be able to crawl on the surface easily to give you a nice mat to admire in the aquarium.
Some people may use it to breed certain types of fish in the aquarium. The uses of the plant are many.
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2. Dwarf Hairgrass
There are always endless possibilities when it comes to lining your aquarium. This plant is here to do that job for you easily. If you are a beginner, this plant is the best to grow in your tank.
You don’t need much when it comes to cultivation and maintenance. You just need to do some basic maintenance and it will grow amazingly.
As part of the maintenance, make sure there are bright lighting conditions. This will help it grow faster and cover the aquarium. It will also grow well to provide great contrast on dark sand or aquarium bottoms.
As for water preferences, you will find this plant tolerates most environments without any problems. This is good because you can grow in different parts of the world and it will still thrive easily.
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3. Sagittaria Subulata
It may be referred to as SS in some articles or reviews. It’s another great plant that you can use to keep your tank looking great. It has its roots in South Africa, but has now spread around the world.
It is a fast growing plant, there is no doubt about that. You can expect long, thin green leaves that resemble grass. You will always love the way it looks once it matures.
Since it can get bigger, a little trimming is needed to keep the plant under control. Don’t worry, it will always be easy. Other than trimming, no major maintenance is required when it comes to growing this plant.
The plant is easily accessible from various stores as it is cheap and available now. You shouldn’t have any reason why your tank isn’t looking good.
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4. Hemianthus Callitrichoides
This one also has a pretty long name, so we’ll mean it has HC as its initials. HC has been around for a while and dates back to Cuba. It’s a rare plant, so don’t expect it to be found in most aquarist stores.
That could change in the future thanks to the growing popularity of the plant. People love it because it is a very fast growing carpet plant that you can use today.
It’s not just about growing fast, it’s also about growing outward. You always want to have a plant that grows out easily to form a carpet.
The HC plant also grows a few inches apart. This is good so that you can have a sturdy rug. It will look impressive once you have fully formed the rug.
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5. Marsilea Hirsute
This is another fast growing aquarium mat plant. It is popular with many aquarium owners who have tried it. One thing that stands out about this plant is that it is undemanding.
As a beginner it should be easy to grow. There are a number of online guides that can help you grow this plant. It’s also good when it comes to tolerance. You don’t have to worry about disease or water to make it grow.
Once planted, it can survive several tolerances against it. Since it also grows together a lot you should find that you end up with a clean, good looking carpet.
More people love it because it is cool. This means that it does not need a lot of CO2 and nutrients. Growing the plant will always be easy for you.
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6. Cryptocoryne Parva
Without adequate lighting, it does not have the energy to spread on a carpet covering the substrate. Many crypts also change color depending on the intensity of the lighting, but C. parva is still a light herbaceous green.
Like most crypts, C. parva grows quite slowly and this species rarely exceeds 4 cm. Supplemental fertilizers and CO2 are helpful, but given the plant’s slow growth rate, good lighting is much better for good health.
Considering how close to the ground it grows, Cryptocoryne parva never needs to be trimmed. Once fully established, it makes an excellent low-maintenance carpet plant for a mature aquarium with high lighting levels.
7. Christmas Moss
Christmas moss is not as bulletproof as Java moss, nor does it grow as fast. It also has a more compact branching growth pattern that resembles a spruce forest, hence the name. The small leaves are rounder and grow perpendicular to the stem. However, if not included, it will take on a more chaotic look, similar to Java Moss.
In water landscapes, Christmas moss can be used to thickly cover the foreground, rocks and especially driftwood. Natural-style water landscapes often use a Christmas moss crown to mimic bonsai trees.
While it doesn’t require a lot of light and nutrients, Christmas Moss does best in medium to high lighting environments. Because it sticks to hard surfaces instead of using real roots, a rich substrate is not necessary.
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8. MONTE CARLO
Monte Carlo produces small, rounded, glossy green leaves. It establishes quickly when planted in mats and easily covers the substrate.
Monte Carlo also looks good when stretched over driftwood and cave structures. Just make sure to keep it anchored to a mat where it can get nutrients. While it is fairly new to aquarists, it is a popular mat based on appearance and usability.
9. WATER SHAMROCK
This is one of the most attractive carpet plants that, like the ground clover, produces four leaves per stem.
It is considered a water fern that propagates by runners as well as sporocaps. Depending on where you live, the conservation of this plant may be prohibited as it is considered an invasive species.
10. STAUROGYNE REPENS
This bright green plant grows to about 10 cm high. It will produce larger clumps if you cut the larger leaves in routine maintenance.
To create a carpet effect, continue to propagate cuttings and let them propagate after it reaches full height.
Check Price On AmazonHow to Grow Aquarium Carpet Plants?
Carpet plants are great for keeping your tank looking good. It’s the reason why a lot of people would go for them.
However, you need to know how to properly grow them if you ever want the aquarium to look good.
Start by looking for the right substrate. Some substrates may not be ideal for these plants. Research shows that it is becoming easier to grow carpet plants on fine gravel.
You can use tropical substrate or the finer powder versions of the well-known ADA Aqua floors. This is usually due to the small roots of these plants. You want them to grow easily in that soil type.
The fine gravel substrate also ensures that the plant can easily adhere to the substrate. There is no doubt that it will grow easily and smoothly. This should be good news for anyone who is a beginner and wants to try carpet plants.
Care is still an important part of growing carpet plants. For most plants, they need a certain amount of light to grow properly.
If you give most carpet plants 6 hours of light a day for several weeks, they will grow well. Without enough light, some plants would grow towards the light instead of outwards. This spoils the coveted carpet look.
Trimming is another important part of growing carpet plants. You need to make sure that the plants are trimmed properly so that they maintain the look of the carpet.
Depending on the plant, some require more maintenance than others. For this list, we have plants that don’t require a lot of maintenance, making them great for beginners.
Conclusion
Carpet plants are now popular. You can always expect many people to use these types of plants all over the world.
If carpet plants are well cared for, you can always hope for a great aquarium. Well, it doesn’t have to be difficult for beginners anymore. We have compiled a list of easy aquarium mat plants.
You just need to take good care of them and they will flourish. Since all of them are less demanding, you should see the opportunity to grow them in your tank today.