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Floating plants

5K views 8 replies 9 participants last post by  The Dude 
#1 ·
I'm looking for a good floating plant for a 20gal fresh tank. I need something that only needs low light and won't take over the tank.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
Well for true floaters I would say Frogbit. It will grow fairly fast but can easily be removed without much work. I don't know the light requirements for floating plants though. I know the w/g rules doesn't follow the same for them but they do need light. Red Root Floater and Watter lettuce will cover the tank eventually with smaller plants and may get large but the larger ones can be removed for the smaller ones. Red Root Floater seems like it has the best hanging root mass if you are looking for places for fish and fry to hide.

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=7&filter_by=6

The site says alot of them still require higher light but I don't know. I have heard they will grow in as little as 1 w/g because there is no diffusion from the water. No top to the tank might help also because the plants would perform that function.
 
#3 ·
you need to look at why you need it? shelter for fry or just appearance, how is it viewed? top down or from beneath surface- it all affects plant choice, my favourite is riccia, not to fussy easy to shape, and when it grows too large for your surface- cut it and tie it down on your surface floor.
 
#9 ·
im going to go with water wisteria. its so versatile and needs not much light. its gows fast, but you can jus take some out every so often. it grows in stems with leaves coming of and you can either root it in your substrate or let it float around. when i first got mine i had it all rooted.... then i made the stupid mistake of buying a crayfish. well he climbed mt plants and cut the stems but i decided not to take the floaty bits out until they startedgoin brown. its been well over a month and almost all the floating bits are still green and have roots where they were cut which i assume take out the nutrients. only good thing that crawfish did, i swear if i were from the south and know how to make jambalaya id have eaten him.

on a side note if the leaves of water wisteria start browning the first few weeks in a tank, its pretty normal as it sometimes sheds leaves when in a new environtment. pick the brown parts off.
 
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