New To planted Tanks

[CountyCop]

I ran across this website while surfing the web. What a GREAT site. So much information it is difficult to absorb. I have had aquariums for some time however was fairly traditional with plastic plants. I purchased a new aquarium (125 Gal) and decided to use nothing but live plants. Additionally I have decided to have the "King of Aquariums" exclusivly. I have some very nice Discus' and would perfer to have a dense planted tank. I was wondering if there is a grass of sorts that reproduces and will eventually take over the bottom. The substrate that I originally put in the tank is a fine river gravel. Lastly, is there a place where I can purchase a variety of plants? I live in Saint Louis, Missouri and do not have a great deal of resources for plants. At least not that I have run across. I want to be able to someday proudly post an image of my tank.

[juggler]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

If you want some easy and fast growing plants that can propagate by runners, you can try:
- Echinodorus tenellus
- Echinodorus quadricostatus
- Sagittaria subulata

See the images of these plants in this site's photo albums. Or from http://www.tropica.com/ or http://www.dennerle.de/

[Aeon]

Hairgrass, Eleocharis Acicularis is a good foreground plant too, also spread by runners.

Initial planting is tiresome, 2-3 pieces a bunch at a time, 2-3 cm apart. And it requires frequent pruning to promote a lush and soft carpet.

But if you have the passion and patience, as with all plants. you'll be rewarded by a aquascape which will complement your discus well...

[crandf]

It's also possible to create mossy foregrounds, which is perhaps an alternative if you find it hard to buy aquatic plants where you live. You can try plucking some moss off trees or slopes and see if they'll fluorish underwater. Beware though, I read somewhere that there's a type of moss that release toxins that kill all other aquatic plants.

[aquahobbist]

Since your in the U.S. you dont really have acess to a lot of the local plant suppliers, unless you live in Florida. If you have a good LFS they can have a fairly broad selection of plants. Because the variety is not always very large I would recommend for the initial planting you order online. Make sure you have proper lighting and CO2 before you go purchasing a large amount of plants though as you most likely will find a lot of them will not do well with default lighting and no CO2 or nutrients.