foreground plant hygiene

[Fishfanatic]

Hi all. i was wondering if anyone can shed light on this:

i would like to have a beach/bay effect using white sand in the foreground ala ADA style. (Other parts of the tank will have black gravel as the top layer and a fertlizer in the bottom layer. In the foreground, the whole substrate column will be composed of white sand with no fertlizer bottom.)

if i were to plant glossos or hemiathus call. will they creep indiscriminatey and cover the white sand beach foreground entirely? i wish to maintain a beach with alcoves/bays and only want the foregound carpet to cover some parts of the foreground.

1) will it make a difference if i use rocks/stones to guide the carpet growth?

2) will the carpet only choose to grow on the black gravel (eg ADA amazonia soil) and not the unnutritious white sand (which is not supported by any fertlizer layer)?

3) am i only left with the option of constant pruning to maintain the intended look?

[|squee|]

1) Yes it would. It helps in slowing the gradual mixing of the foreground with the rest of the substrate, and helps maintainence.

2) No... they'll still grow all over the place.

3) Yes. Trimming of plants and constant cleaning/replacement/shifting of the white sand in front will be needed to be done.

[budak]

How about using mosses instead? Here's a nice example: http://www.killies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2750

[Fishfanatic]

thanks for that guyz. i am definitely keeping a beach foreground, but wanna use hemianthus and glossos as well. i am thinking of placing these two species behind a low outcrop of rocks covered by weeping moss or fissiden. that way the rocks will contain the aforementioned carpet varieties and i get to keep my beach.

where can I buy acrylic in singapore btw - you know - like in the attached pic to divide the forground substrate from the background substrate??