# Live plants for small aquariums?



## lastbook87 (Apr 5, 2010)

As my betta-acquiring habits progressed a little more quickly than I had expected (by which I mean I caught the madness that seems to have afflicted others in this forum), I've picked up a few of the medium-sized kritter keepers as cheap individual housing options. I want to set up some live plants, all that stuff, but I'm just not sure what kinds would be appropriate. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to use for that type of unlit aquarium? It's about 8x12x8, so nothing too tall. I'm particularly interested in plants with an Eastern flair, because I plan to theme at least one of the tanks in that way.


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## LoneHowler (Apr 24, 2010)

Something with big leaves, my betta loves resting on the leaves like a hammock


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## McAttack (May 13, 2010)

Low light plants that are easy. In my community tank (non betta obviously) I have a dwarf anubias. I really like that plant. It does better in low light, broad style leafs, and looks real nice attached to a piece of driftwood. 

Hornsworth might be ok also. I'm trying it in my betta tank now. I hated it in my main tank cause I had to prune that thing constantly. It's fuzzy and will cover the background though. Soft for a betta's fins.


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## Narnian (Mar 20, 2010)

> Hornsworth might be ok also.


You mean hornwort? :lol:


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## Sella (Mar 21, 2010)

Or Javamoss except I didn't care for that plant as much as I thought I would after I introduced it to my aquarium. However, I did place it in a vase with a whole bunch of sea glass, driftwood and a snail as a decoration and it looks amazing there.


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## Sella (Mar 21, 2010)

The other thing with Javamoss is that you can tie it down to a piece of driftwood and it'll grow there, or another thing I tried was to get a huge ball of it, and had it so it floated basically from the top to the bottom and created a bunch of swim holes through it so my betta could do loops. He enjoyed this alot and found safety within the moss so there was no need for a cave type decoration to give him a secure place. However once again I thoughtit looked messy this way, but it's fun for a while!


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## shmifty5 (May 12, 2010)

i would personally recomend a marimo moss ball, it will definately keep the algae down and it is the softest thing i have ever felt in a tank, a single fair sized marimo can be ripped into however many pieces you need for your tank without any harm to the marimo, they also do not need any fertilizers and mine have grown fine in a particularly dark newt tank in my basement (water kept at around 65).

they also originate from lake akan in japan where they are considered a national treasure, so they are definately eastern.

the care is as simple as roll and squeeze in seperate bucket to clean, no mess, no hassle, they also collect debris like a junkyard so it really has almost no negative (and my friends betta just loves the marimo, he loafs on it all day).


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## McAttack (May 13, 2010)

Narnian said:


> You mean hornwort? :lol:


Ya! Every time I hear that name I keep thinking of Harry Potter anyways.


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## lastbook87 (Apr 5, 2010)

Cool, thank you guys so much! Once I get the plants ordered and the tanks set up the way I want them, I'll definitely take some pictures and let you see how it went. That Marimo Moss sounds great for a bunch of small tanks, so that may be the first thing I invest in just to get some plants going before I dive into the more advanced landscaping.


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## shmifty5 (May 12, 2010)

good choice, and since the marimo is slow growing you can use it as a mat or wrap in your tank to make objects softer or to even just make a small carpet.

hope ya like your marimo (ps, its actually a form of algae, crazy).


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