suggestions

[MXPX4318]

ok so I have a 20g tank which at the moment is running just a hair under 1 wpg... (.85) right now I have 2 bana plants, java fern, "wisteria" I believe and some unkown plant which are all doing well at the moment (for about hmmm 2 or 3 months) so now I need to get rid of my big bush fake plants and want something that will fill in their place, I'm looking for something that will be about 16-18" tall (I think that's how tall my 20g is) and bushy or else has broad leaves like my fake ones are now, either will do. I'd also like a carpet plant (something that spreads along the bottom, what would you suggest for that? or am I just up the creek with out a pattle and need to get more lighting before I can get a carpet type plant...

eeerrr one other question, with a sand substrate should I add anything to it and how deep should it be (as I am planning on switching to sand in the next month or so)

 

[Lateral Line]

A good tall background plant that will tolerate that light level is Vallisneria americana. Avoid the twisted cultivars as these need more light. Also the gigantea cultivar, as the name suggests, it grows very big.

You will have real trouble growing a lawn in that setup. Almost all of the lawn plants demand high light. Some, Echinodorus tenellus for example, will survive, but they tend to grow taller to reach the light, which defeats the point. Cryptocoryne wendtii stays quite low if the plants are a reasonable distance apart, not exactly a lawn, but a foreground possibility.

 

[clutterydrawer]

Oh *jumps up and down* this is my area

The plants I have growing at 1wpg are:

anubias nana
anubias barteri
java fern
amazon sword
cryptocoryne wendtii and wilisii
hygrophila polysperma <------I take a big bag of this out of my tank every few days and it jsut grows straight back, it's insanity!
hygrophila corymbosa "siamensis"

for a lawn, I know this isnt exactly conventional, but maybe jsut could experiment with java moss? I have seen people successfully plant strands of it in the substrate before and i think if you trimmed it you might be able to create a passable lawn effect...I don't knopw for sure though, jsut an idea

 

[MXPX4318]

thanks guys for the suggestions, I'll have to do a bit of research and looking (as I don't know what most of the plants look like without a picture haha) and see what I like and then see what I can get from my LFS's and if need be online.

Thanks again,
Phillip