Forground Plant Pack – 14 Low-Growing Plants: Crypts, Dwarf Sagittaria and Micro Sword
Its job in your tank: root feeders for the foreground.
A full, natural foreground from day one.
Fourteen low-growing plants that spread and fill in the front of your tank: crypts for slow, rooted coverage, dwarf sagittaria and micro sword for runners that carpet, and low stem plants to fill the gaps.
How it fits the Father Fish Method
Father Fish has kept fish for more than 70 years, and his method has helped thousands of aquarists build tanks that run on biology instead of bottles. A layer of living soil (Aqua Preta Complete Substrate) sits under a sand cap and feeds rooted plants for years. You plant heavily on day one and skip the CO2, liquid fertilizers and root tabs. Then the plants, the soil and the tiny life in them balance the tank. Crypts, dwarf sag and micro sword are root feeders that spread through the sand cap and draw on the soil below, with no root tabs and no CO2.
Father Fish says: "Start a new tank with stems and vals. Big plants in the back, small in the front. Plant heavily at the start."
Why a pack: The Father Fish Method starts with heavy planting on day one. A dense foreground uses up spare nutrients, protects the sand cap and leaves algae nowhere to start. This pack gives you that in one order.
What's in the pack (14 plants)
- 6 Cryptocoryne (assorted)
- 2 micro sword
- 4 dwarf sagittaria
- 2 bunches of low-growing stem plants
Your plan
- Build the base. About 1 inch of Aqua Preta under 2 inches of sand.
- Plant in small sections. Split micro sword and dwarf sag into small tufts and plant them 1–2 inches apart. Plant crypts one at a time. Roots go about 1 inch into the sand, never into the soil, with crowns above the sand.
- Let it settle. Crypts often melt a little after a move. Leave the roots alone, and new leaves follow in 3–4 weeks.
New-tank lighting: run the lights 24 hours a day for the first 4 days, then 10–12 hours a day.
Shipping note: this pack includes sagittaria, which can't be shipped to Washington. Plants don't ship to Hawaii.
About substitutions: Packs are made up in advance, so we can't take requests for specific plants. If a plant is out of stock, we swap in a similar plant of equal or greater value.
