Description

Monte Carlo has largely replaced dwarf baby tears as the default carpet plant, and deservedly so. It carpets almost as tightly, but it tolerates lower light and lower CO2, and it does not melt at the first sign of an imperfect parameter.

Supplied as a tissue culture cup: grown in sterile nutrient gel in a lab, so there are no snails, no planaria and no algae spores coming into your tank. One cup plants about one square foot when split into small portions.

Planting notes

• Rinse the gel off the roots thoroughly before planting, or it will rot.
• Split into portions of 4 – 6 stems and plant on a 2 cm grid. It spreads sideways to close the gaps.
• It will carpet without CO2 under strong light, but injected CO2 roughly halves the time to full coverage.
• Trim the carpet regularly once established. An unpruned carpet lifts off the substrate in sheets.