AtomCatMatt Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 what do yall recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ange Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Depends on where you live, several floating plants that a lot of people here LOVE are illegal in my state (water hyacinth, water lettuce, salvinia). I've had good growth with Amazon frogbit, azolla, and giant duckweed. I have RRF as well but they're a lot more finicky, most likely because they fail to compete with other plants in my tanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepy Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 If I could only have one it would be close between frogbit and hornwort but also depends what you are looking for. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomCatMatt Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 5 minutes ago, ange said: Depends on where you live, several floating plants that a lot of people here LOVE are illegal in my state (water hyacinth, water lettuce, salvinia). I've had good growth with Amazon frogbit, azolla, and giant duckweed. I have RRF as well but they're a lot more finicky, most likely because they fail to compete with other plants in my tanks. ill have to look into that, indiana has band some more plants recently. DNR: Aquatic Invasive Species - Plants WWW.IN.GOV Indiana Department of Natural Resources Aquatic Invasive Species Plants Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomCatMatt Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 5 minutes ago, Sleepy said: If I could only have one it would be close between frogbit and hornwort but also depends what you are looking for. frogbit looks appealing. have to try and find some Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepy Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 1 minute ago, AtomCatMatt said: frogbit looks appealing. have to try and find some Easiest place to find it would probably be aquabid or ebay. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishkeeper125 Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Another option is water lettuce. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faydout Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 I haven't really ever checked the list of banned aquarium flora (that should probably be my contribution to the I'm a bad aquarist post). Luckily it looks like parrots feather is the only banned plant here. Dwarf water lettuce would be my favorite. I seem to be able to dang near grow that stuff in an unlit closet. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 I like Salvinia, and I tolerate Duckweed in certain tanks. I just ordered some Moneywort, which I plan to try floating like in this video: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashe Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 (edited) Can frogbit and water letuce tolerate 120-130ppm GH? The hornworts that I have do not like hardy water (they are all brown but still growing) Edited October 27, 2020 by Ashe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ange Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 1 hour ago, Ashe said: Can frogbit and water letuce tolerate 120-130ppm GH? The hornworts that I have do not like hardy water (they are all brown but still growing) Can't speak for water lettuce but Amazon frogbit is my most tolerant floating plant. Water comes out of the hose at 200+ and it grows outside just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashe Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 Oh nice thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aubrey Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 I'd say it depends on why you want floating plants. Do you want them just for looks? Do you want them to reduce nitrates? Do you want them for breeding purposes? For looks, well that would depend on what you like, but some plants have much longer roots than others. So from the top they look fine, but when looking in from the side you'll have less visibility into the tank. I prefer shorter rooted plants like Red Root Floater, Salvinia, and duckweed. That's not an issue in a pond. For reducing nitrates, some floating plants are better than others, but most of them will do well at this since they are taking in c02 from the air and are closer to the light. I've heard that Hornwort is one of the best at reducing nitrates. For breeding, the longer rooted plants like frogbit and water lettuce will work well like a spawning mop, plants like hornwort and watersprite are pretty dense, and almost all plants can be floated in a tank for cover. In my opinion, Frogbit is a pretty good all around floater. It's not too big and the roots get fairly long but they're not super dense. I've found that they generally propagate at a fast enough rate that I will remove the larger ones with longer roots before they get too big for me and still have a decent amount of cover. Hornwort is also pretty good all around, but my issue with it is that it grows super fast and looks like it should be in the substrate and out of place just floating around. I really enjoy the combo of Red Root Floaters and Salvinia Minima. They both have interesting textures and colors and the roots stay fairly short. They are small enough that they don't look out of place or scale in my 12 gallon. They are also easy to remove when needed. The Duckweeds. I've had the large and small varieties. The large is alright, not much for roots, and easier to remove and maintain. The small is good to feed some fish and other tank inhabitants, but is a major pain if you ever want to get rid of it and will stick all over you and anything you put in the tank for maintenance. I haven't kept any varieties of water lettuce. Mostly due to size and root structure. Watersprite gets huge, but I would say is the best for spawning and fry cover. It has quite a bit of root structure and the leaves have a large spread. Although it doesn't really float on the water surface, more just under it with some leaves breaking the surface. Hydrocotyles or Pennworts will grow underwater and across the surface like a vine. I like to think of it as a small delicate pothos. I just ordered some azolla and am looking forward to seeing how it grows. I think it has a nice unique texture, but I'm not sure how useful it is. I have pretty hard water 300+ and all of these plants have done well for me. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomCatMatt Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share Posted October 28, 2020 Thanks for all the time with your reply’s, lot’s of valuable knowledge and opinions. I have a lot to think about! 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonske Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Many stem plants can grow as floating ones too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Weston Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 This is the first time I've written on this or any other forum so I'm not sure how communication is done when it gets to the point of making transactions. I live in Bellevue, not far from Home Depot and I would be happy to give you frogbit. Timing may be important though because once a week I throw out around 6 sq. inches of it. Now, if you're interested, I'll hopefully get a lesson on how people buy, sell and give away on this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Cory Posted October 28, 2020 Administrators Share Posted October 28, 2020 16 minutes ago, Bill Weston said: This is the first time I've written on this or any other forum so I'm not sure how communication is done when it gets to the point of making transactions. I live in Bellevue, not far from Home Depot and I would be happy to give you frogbit. Timing may be important though because once a week I throw out around 6 sq. inches of it. Now, if you're interested, I'll hopefully get a lesson on how people buy, sell and give away on this forum. We don't allow giving away, or selling on this forum. There are risks to meeting up in person, shipping, scamming etc. None of which we want to taint this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted October 28, 2020 Share Posted October 28, 2020 Water sprite is nice because it's a single piece, so if it outgrows your space you just cut where a new rootball is forming and remove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Campbell Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 I've tried a bunch over the last few months, and my favorite has been Salvinia. It seems to do well in our water, and readily "carpets", and then it's easy to propagate by pulling them off. Red root floaters died pretty quickly for me (maybe due to a lack of light at the surface?). Water lettuce is neat but a little too chunky for my tank aesthetic. A lot of our fish also seem to like floating Pogostemon for surface cover. I've been keeping one stem floating for a Betta in a community tank. I have a pH of 7.4 and moderately hard water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtomCatMatt Posted October 30, 2020 Author Share Posted October 30, 2020 Ty everyone im thinking im gonna try salvinia, it seems to be a popular choice and i really like the look which is most important XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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