I am looking at setting up a Medium size aquarium - Around a 3 x 2 x 2 - and i want to plant it out with some discus.
I am visualising a certain layout though and something along the lines of the photo below.
What I would like to know is;
What novice species of plants would work to replicate this setup?
How would i set this up? Is CO2 a must? Do i need Soil / Laterite?
Is better lighting required to hit the ground cover or are these plants adapted to lower lighting?
Do you have the link to that picture? It is a bit too small to comment on which plant the ground cover is. I would guess it would be HC. If it is HC and you do want to run with that, you need a very fine substrate and very high lighting with Co2 being a must.
Another alternative and as Graeme mentioned (it could be), is Glosso. Much cheaper and is very quick to carpet. In my experience Co2 is necessary as well as decent lighting (moderate - high).
Plants that do not require special attention to stay alive: pygmy chain swords, blyxa japonica, moss, hair grass...
I reckon you could get a pretty good low maintenance foreground which would not require high lighting, fertz or co2 with Java Moss. You could dry start it as well, allowing for the Java Moss to take hold of the substrate, you also would then not need a 'special' substrate, anything would work. I have done dry starts on wood with moss and the end result always is much better than if tieing the moss to wood.
Then tie on some Java ferns, anubias etc. onto the wood. There you go, a very very low maintenance tank!
Edited by kane29, 01 September 2014 - 02:19 PM.