clownbaby Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 (edited) Howdy! I want to get some large floating plants for my aquarium. I have a 30gallon, moderate flow, neutral pH and gH/dH. High light. I know of water lettuce, but are there any other large or medium sized floater plants? I have noticed that my pygmy cories prefer to eat live foods [blood worms, daphnia, grindal worms] if they are tangled up in the roots of floater plants. Additionally I plan to have pothos growing emergent. Also considering some other plants to grow emersed (swamp fern, creeping jenny, etc). Edit: frog-bit, water hyacinth, water wisteria, parrot's feather, egeria densa (brazilian elodea), giant salvinia (only salvinia molesta - other salvinia spp. ok), and trapa najas are all invasive and prohibited in my state. Edited May 25 by clownbaby i cant have frog-bit lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 not necessarily a floater, but you could let some tiger lotus bulbs put lily pads on the top. plus you'd get the very red bottoms leaves to add color on the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownbaby Posted May 24 Author Share Posted May 24 On 5/24/2024 at 2:34 PM, Tony s said: not necessarily a floater, but you could let some tiger lotus bulbs put lily pads on the top. plus you'd get the very red bottoms leaves to add color on the bottom. I quite like that idea! Don't tiger lotus bulbs flower too, like water lilies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 On 5/24/2024 at 5:55 PM, clownbaby said: Don't tiger lotus bulbs flower too, like water lilies I think so, but I trim mine down before that. They throw a lot of shade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T. Payne Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 Frogbit can get pretty big under higher light conditions. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricksonAquatics Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 (edited) Brazilian Pennywort has quarter sized leaves and really thrives floating! I just barely got mine and it’s doing super well in pretty low light 🙂 Water Sprite also does well floating. It turns into a massive chunk that you can easily trim and move around if needed. And the emergent grown leaves look cool! Edited May 25 by EricksonAquatics 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyxxl Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 My frog bit is doing great the red root floaters are nice sized also. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 (edited) Water wisteria can grow pretty large, but if your not careful, it will overtake your tank! And shade plants from light, so kinda like duckweed in a sense, keep it under control. That’s what I heard anyway 😒. Who knows if it is real. Edited May 25 by Whitecloud09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownbaby Posted May 25 Author Share Posted May 25 On 5/24/2024 at 4:49 PM, EricksonAquatics said: Brazilian Pennywort has quarter sized leaves and really thrives floating! I just barely got mine and it’s doing super well in pretty low light 🙂 Water Sprite also does well floating. It turns into a massive chunk that you can easily trim and move around if needed. And the emergent grown leaves look cool! Do you think pennywort would do okay in higher light? My fish tank is between two large windows and it has a pretty powerful LED (plus the other LEDs for my houseplants) that is on for eight hours lol. I would LOVEEE pennywort but I wouldn't want to get it just for it to die from too much light. On 5/24/2024 at 3:13 PM, Tony s said: I think so, but I trim mine down before that. They throw a lot of shade How big are the floating leaves if you were to say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 On 5/25/2024 at 5:26 PM, clownbaby said: How big are the floating leaves if you were to say? mine have gotten about 6-8 inches across. so pretty big. If you get 5-6 of these at a time. gets kind of dark below. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricksonAquatics Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 On 5/25/2024 at 3:26 PM, clownbaby said: Do you think pennywort would do okay in higher light? Absolutely! I didn’t expect it to do well in lower light because I’ve heard it’s more of a med-high light kinda guy. In higher light I’d expect it to grow like crazy! Plus, once it takes over the top of the tank you can grab a stem and plant it in the substrate for a cool eye catcher😉 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 Pennywort is a floater? I did not know that, I knew frog bit, duckweed, water wisteria, but didn’t know pennywort. Learn something new every day! On 5/25/2024 at 6:37 PM, EricksonAquatics said: Absolutely! I didn’t expect it to do well in lower light because I’ve heard it’s more of a med-high light kinda guy. In higher light I’d expect it to grow like crazy! Plus, once it takes over the top of the tank you can grab a stem and plant it in the substrate for a cool eye catcher😉 Hmmm, gotta add it to the cart lol. If it grows in high light, then I am in, my light is really bright. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricksonAquatics Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 It’s not technically a floater but most of the people I know that keep it say it does better floating than planted. I think it’s a pain to get it to stay in the substrate, but it does better closer to the light and surface anyways! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony s Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 On 5/25/2024 at 7:29 PM, Whitecloud09 said: Learn something new every day Lots of stem plants and others are often floated until they develop better root systems. And then planted. Makes it easier to keep down. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macdaddy36 Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 Water chestnut is an unusual larger one I’ve been wanting to try. It’s probably invasive though 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyxxl Posted May 28 Share Posted May 28 (edited) On 5/26/2024 at 10:58 AM, macdaddy36 said: Water chestnut is an unusual larger one I’ve been wanting to try. It’s probably invasive though Not sure where you are located but Amazon will let me in SC order water chestnut seeds. They were how I found I could not get water lettuce. Edited May 28 by johnnyxxl Autocorrect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownbaby Posted May 28 Author Share Posted May 28 On 5/28/2024 at 1:33 PM, johnnyxxl said: Not sure where you are located but Amazon will let me in SC order water chestnut seeds. They were how I found I could not get water lettuce. Unfortunately my state is very strict on invasive species (which I am grateful for, but sometimes bummed about it too haha) and quarantines a lot of exotics before they even are sold in the state. The only floaters I can get here in my state is water lettuce, duckweed, azolla fern, and salvinia minima. So that's why I am trying to find larger species since only water lettuce is big hahaha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumplkrum Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 I'm personally a fan of Pogostemon Stellatus 'Octopus' as a floating plant. It's easy to manage, doesn't block out the light because the leaves stay thin, and there's enough spaces for the fish to root around in a clump of it. I use it a lot in my guppy tanks, which also host corys. I can have a giant clump of it in the tank, and the fish can still wiggle through it looking for food. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricksonAquatics Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 I loved seeing that stuff when Cory had his pond tubs in his fish room. The Pogo looked like it was THRIVING just under the light from the skylights! I need to get my hands on some so I can try it out! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 Same, i am on a rampage for plants right now lol. I was not sure i should try it because i cannot even pronounce the name LOL On 5/29/2024 at 12:27 PM, EricksonAquatics said: I loved seeing that stuff when Cory had his pond tubs in his fish room. The Pogo looked like it was THRIVING just under the light from the skylights! I need to get my hands on some so I can try it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumplkrum Posted May 29 Share Posted May 29 On 5/29/2024 at 12:27 PM, EricksonAquatics said: I loved seeing that stuff when Cory had his pond tubs in his fish room. The Pogo looked like it was THRIVING just under the light from the skylights! I need to get my hands on some so I can try it out! Yeah. I like water wisteria as well, but OP listed it as one he can't use ... and it really does grow too fast. I have to chop it back on a regular basis. The hanging roots are nice though. Pearl Weed also works, but I don't like it as much. It tends to collect algae and block the surface more than I like. The fish have a harder time navigating through it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clownbaby Posted May 29 Author Share Posted May 29 On 5/29/2024 at 10:07 AM, Whitecloud09 said: Same, i am on a rampage for plants right now lol. I was not sure i should try it because i cannot even pronounce the name LOL Po go stem on Still at us Scientific names are easy if you break it down into "real" English words. Also,,, this is a good idea! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitecloud09 Posted May 30 Share Posted May 30 On 5/29/2024 at 1:57 PM, sumplkrum said: Yeah. I like water wisteria as well, but OP listed it as one he can't use ... and it really does grow too fast. I have to chop it back on a regular basis. The hanging roots are nice though. Pearl Weed also works, but I don't like it as much. It tends to collect algae and block the surface more than I like. The fish have a harder time navigating through it. True, mine is in the substrate and has lots of algae, but is still thriving right now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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