Looking for SMALL PLANTS! Help!

Grimmjow

;)

But seriously, anybody got some suggestions on small plants or really slow growing ones?

And not grass ones, I got one called hygrophilia something "compacta" but it looks just like this one plant I have that grows huge.

redchigh

Compacta is quite small, but is very similiar to Hygrophila Augustifolia. Except, it's more compact.



What kind of height were you thinking? An inch? Couple inches? Few inches?

Grimmjow

Maybe like 4 inches tops. But growing out of the water isnt so much a bad thing as I like watching those little bugs that sit on the water surface.

I was just thinking about the plants in my 75. The flimsy ones arent bad cause they stay in the water but if I pulled them up theyd be at least a foot out of the water above an already 2 ft tank, the plants with a sturdy stem however are growing against the lid and the part actually in the water is like curving being pushed down but would probably be a foot out of the water if I straightened it.

In short, I should trim them but Im lazy.

These smaller plants are for a 20H, and I want the shorter ones cause they wont be on the bottom but on a "shelf".

iamgray

Anubias barteri... not sure how big it ends up getting, but the one I've got is pretty small... they are slow growing and don't need tons of light.

edit: Also, the leaves are pretty tough so they are unlikely to be eaten by fish.

DanMarion

Alot of crypts would work. They tend to stay pretty low, and don't at all look "grassy"

Mikaila31

so you want plants that don't grow??? Even if you get plants that have limited upwards growth most will instead send out runners and daughter plants.... you will still have to prune eventually. Some Crypts get big IMO. One plant will also make a forest pretty quickly.

Eshnon

Great suggestion! I was going to say the samething. Anubias don't grow fast, or big but depends on the kind of plant you get. However, there is a down side to slow growing plants like the Anubias.. and that is they are very likely to have algae growth. Make sure to either have them in a spot with little-moderate water movement, or little light. I found that my Anubias has very very little algae growth from time to time.. and my Red Wagtails love picking it off. lol.

excal88

I'd recommend java fern as well. Its pretty slow growing, and looks quite nice. I just bought one and anchored it to my rock. Hopefully it roots and stays on the rock. Haha. But anubis is probably the best bang for your buck; plus its really nice looking :)

1077

Java fern,Anubias,Bronze crypt,Crypt Pontederiifolia, Crypt parva, are some slow grower's I have had success with.

Ferret

Just to second the comments on anubias, it stays small and is one of the slowest growing plants I know of. The smallest varieties of anubias (that I know of) are anubias barteri var. nana ("dwarf anubias"), and anubias var. nana petite ("petite nana").