# Favourite aquatic plant thread!



## Catfish Billy (Jun 27, 2012)

Hey people! :-D

Ok, so the idea is that you post your favourite aquatic plant, why it's your favourite/why it's good, what conditions it likes, any requirements such as fertilizers and possibly a pic!

I'm doing this because I'd like some ideas of good plants for my tanks that I could add and I'd like to see what exotic aquatic plants are out there!

I hope this works!


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

Name:Süsswassertang
Grows: anywhere, sinks and attaches to stuff.
Lighting: Low, Med, High
Ferts: None 
CO2: None 
Why I like/love this plant: It's an oddball plant that is extremely hard to kill. Has the wierdest texture and looks edible.


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## JBosley (Jan 28, 2012)

I am so stalking this thread! :-D

What a great idea.


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## Silverfang (Mar 25, 2011)

two- anubis, low light (really... really low light!) can be tethered to driftwood or a rock with cotton string or fishing line, or left to float. My boys love to nest under it.

and cabomba, mid light, ferts help, liquids, co2 can't hurt, but not required I just love how graceful it looks. With large fan like like leaves.


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## Catie79 (Jan 22, 2012)

Name: Water Wisteria
Grows: Floating
Lighting: Low-med (?)
Ferts: None
CO2: None
Why I like it/love it: Because my betta loves to rest in the leaves (see pic), it looks beautiful floating on top of my tank, and it's freaking hard to kill


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Do I have to pick just one?!

Okay. It used to be wisteria, as possibly THE most useful beginner plant. It eats ammonia, floats as a betta hammock, can be planted, and sheds leaves which grow roots and become baby plants.. brilliant stuff.

BUT. I was recently introduced to _Hemianthus callitrichoides, _or 'Dwarf baby tears':











And I adore it!!! Such a cute little ground cover plant. If I manage not to kill it, it may just be my new favourite.

It tends to float, so planting can be a bit of a bother.. basically, shoving it in the subtrate with a few leaves poking out will get it to stay down and put out roots. 

In a low light setting it will grow a bit leggier than under stronger light, but is still very pretty as a foreground plant. It does like fertilisers, but I'm hoping the soil base of the NPT will give it what it needs for now.


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## Catfish Billy (Jun 27, 2012)

JBosley said:


> I am so stalking this thread! :-D
> 
> What a great idea.


Thanks! I thought it was a bit random....:-D


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I absolutely love bolbitis. Particularly this mini strain I have in a couple of my set-ups.

My bolbitis grows in my low-light, no fert tanks, although it does like to be positioned somewhere with good water flow and circulation. 









(in the left back corner)

Alongside this is the also indestructible anubias. I have it in nearly all my set-ups as it doesn't care about lights or fertilisers and it's really easy to incorporate into scapes.


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## Catfish Billy (Jun 27, 2012)

Hmmm....I must look into bolbitis. Nice tank!


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## Catfish Billy (Jun 27, 2012)

Does anyone have experience with Elodea? Any info would be appreciated....:-D


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## ao (Feb 29, 2012)

elodea is a nice fast growing plant. you can grow it floating, tied down or planted. Some claim it is a low light plant. However it does do better in medium lighting. has little white flowers when it decides to flower. no special fertilization or CO2 needed. does prefer colder water, so you will need to acclimate it to tropical temperatures.


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## Catfish Billy (Jun 27, 2012)

aokashi said:


> elodea is a nice fast growing plant. you can grow it floating, tied down or planted. Some claim it is a low light plant. However it does do better in medium lighting. has little white flowers when it decides to flower. no special fertilization or CO2 needed. does prefer colder water, so you will need to acclimate it to tropical temperatures.


Ok, thanks! I might get a SMALL bunch. lol


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

aokashi said:


> Name:Süsswassertang
> Grows: anywhere, sinks and attaches to stuff.
> Lighting: Low, Med, High
> Ferts: None
> ...


I had never heard of that before! What a pretty plant.


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

Name: Dwarf hair grass.
Grows: Carpet. Puts out runners when it's happy and grows taller.
Lighting: Medium/High.
Ferts: None needed.
CO2: Not needed. Makes it grow faster, as all plants.
Why I like/love this plant: I love it as a substrate carpet!


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## AquaKai (Jan 2, 2012)

I can't just pick one! So here are my two:
Name: Moneywort, _Bacopa monnieri_
Placement: Midground to background.
Lighting: (Higher end) Low-Medium
Ferts: None needed, but can make it grow faster.
CO2: Not needed, but can make it grow faster.
Why I like/love this plant: I love that it grows so quickly and looks really cool in any aquarium. It also is very succulent-like and since I'm also a cactus/succulent lover it just makes every thing better!

The stuff in the back:









Name: Rotala Rotundiflia
Placement: Midground to background.
Lighting: Medium-High, it's ok with low but it doesn't grow as well.
Ferts: Not needed, but really likes them!
CO2: Not needed, but brings out the red in this plant.
Why I love this plant: I love it because it looks bushy and grows like a charm. This plant can really go anywhere and looks different all the time.

Here it's green, but it often will get red leaves at the top:


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## Catfish Billy (Jun 27, 2012)

I'm also thinking of getting some Rotala Rotundiflia. Thanks for the posts!


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## craiger75 (May 31, 2012)

I like anything that lives in my tank for more than three weeks - lol! I seem to be having some luck with the Amazon Swords. More bang for the buck as they seem pretty hardy and take up a lot of space. Oh yeah, and Java Ferns seem hard to kill at least atm too.


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## bstark (Jul 10, 2012)

I have both Ludwigia repens and four leaf clover in my tank. The clover has been doing wonderfully. The Ludwigia repens is slowly dying off. I was told that it was a hearty plant but it really doesn't seem to be which is a shame. It was really beautiful and my Betta loved it. It was doing well for two weeks and even had some new growth but then it just started dying and there really isn't much of it left now.


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## PaintingPintos (Dec 27, 2011)

Anacharis (Egeria Densa)
Grows usually to 3 feet tall
Must be trimmed if you want a reasonable height
Absolutely beginner's plant
Grows 2 inches a week in high light, becomes thick and lush
Grows 1/4 inch a week in low light, leaves become farther apart
Goldfish love to nibble on it
Does NOT need ferts/CO2
Can be left floating, looks great anchored
Absolutely vacuums up ammonia like mad
Grows in nearly any temp water
Background plant
I love it because I bought a bunch of 6 at Petco for 2.99, each 5 inches tall.
5 months later I have 16 sprigs, each ranging from 5inches-2 1/2 feet long.
Basically very hard to kill, looks cute and can be left to float under light if you'd like it to grow like nuts.
Propagation occurs quickly....side shoots can be plucked off when they are 2-3 inches long, left to float until 6 inches long. Pluck off bottom 2 inches of leaves and anchor in gravel. Enjoy.
My goldies love it too....when they're hungry. Their nibbles aren't very noticeable.


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## deso (Apr 24, 2012)

Aus said:


> Do I have to pick just one?!
> 
> Okay. It used to be wisteria, as possibly THE most useful beginner plant. It eats ammonia, floats as a betta hammock, can be planted, and sheds leaves which grow roots and become baby plants.. brilliant stuff.
> 
> ...


I love the looks of HC as well, but I've killed two plants already. It NEEDS CO2 (or dosing carbon), ferts and greatly prefers strong light, so if you're not running those three things, it may be somewhat difficult to keep it alive. Good luck, though, and keep us all updated on how yours is doing 

I've heard that starting it out in your tank as emersed really increases its chances of living and growing as a submersed plant, so you may want to give that a shot.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Cheers, deso - yeah I was a bit worried about it.. still am, so I'm watching it. It seems to be growing okay, a little leggy - though it's under the brightest portion of light (my tank is a cheap from-China job, worst design ever, I will actually make a thread about it some time..) and it's an NPT so maybe ferts aren't needed just yet. 

I actually want to grow this emmersed around the base of a bamboo pot on my coffee table.


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## deso (Apr 24, 2012)

Aus said:


> Cheers, deso - yeah I was a bit worried about it.. still am, so I'm watching it. It seems to be growing okay, a little leggy - though it's under the brightest portion of light (my tank is a cheap from-China job, worst design ever, I will actually make a thread about it some time..) and it's an NPT so maybe ferts aren't needed just yet.
> 
> I actually want to grow this emmersed around the base of a bamboo pot on my coffee table.


Oh it would look lovely emmersed around a bamboo pot! And it grows like a weed emmersed, sometimes with beautiful tiny white flowers, so that would be a great idea. HC does tend to get very leggy when under insufficient light, but it sounds like it's doing pretty well so far under your care  If you do decide to start ferts, Seachem Excel would be the best idea, as it's basically liquid carbon and can replace dosing CO2.


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## Catfish Billy (Jun 27, 2012)

Oops, I haven't been on here for a while! Thanks for the plant info! Keep them coming please!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I grow HC emersed in a Chinese take-out container (lid on) placed right under my light which is a T5 H/O 50 watt. It's in ADA aquasoil and growing really well from the original straggly bits I picked off my hairgrass roots. 

I'm thinking of using it emersed in a riparium style set-up sometime but it is a really neat little plant. Wouldn't want to add it to my aquarium though as it would more than likely just melt and die haha.


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## teeneythebetta (Apr 29, 2012)

I like java fern because it's the one plant I've managed to not kill yet  It can live in practically any betta tank. Low light, doesn't require fertilizer but I give mine fertilizer and it's growing a lot and making baby java ferns :3


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## Relic (Jul 14, 2012)

I find it hard to just pick one. I really like Anubias...Mores specifically Anubias nana.
My betta tank currently has Anubias nana,Anubias congensis,Dwarf hair grass,Micro sword,Banana plant,Amazon sword and a Apongeton. All of which require moderate lighting and for the most part fertilization{I just use root tabs} and they do really with the addition of CO2.
Here is a pic of mine...crappy pic but you get the idea.


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

Relic said:


> I find it hard to just pick one. I really like Anubias...Mores specifically Anubias nana.
> My betta tank currently has Anubias nana,Anubias congensis,Dwarf hair grass,Micro sword,Banana plant,Amazon sword and a Apongeton. All of which require moderate lighting and for the most part fertilization{I just use root tabs} and they do really with the addition of CO2.
> Here is a pic of mine...crappy pic but you get the idea.


I really love this tank! You did a very good job designing it.  Mine was so impromptu and happened over time and I wish I'd had the chance to plan it out better.


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## Relic (Jul 14, 2012)

kfish said:


> I really love this tank! You did a very good job designing it.  Mine was so impromptu and happened over time and I wish I'd had the chance to plan it out better.


Thank you! I'm getting ready to do a 50+ gallon planted tank{Haven't decided on the tank yet}...for the past month or two I have researching what I want to do and have come to the conclusion that it's gonna have to be one of those "Do what ya can when money is available" kinda things. It's gonna cost quit a bit..most of the money will be going to the lighting and a CO2 system...hopefully by this time next year it will be completely finished and fish added.


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## Relic (Jul 14, 2012)

Forgot to add....I'll be putting some java moss in that 10gallon tank tomorrow. It'll be my first attempt at any kind of moss...I wanted to get a feel for it so I can do a moss wall when I get my big tank.


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## Catfish Billy (Jun 27, 2012)

@Relic Nice tank! Your aquascaping is a lot better than what I could do....

Hmm....I think I will get some Java Ferns, as not only are they really cheap on eBay, but they're also sound quite easy to grow, which suits me.....XD


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## Spazzfish (Feb 12, 2012)

I love my ozelot sword and my bannana lillies.


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