Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Tank Plant Advice => Topic started by: Ally2 on November 06, 2016, 01:02:25 PM
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Hi
Can anyone recommend an easy floating plant for the waters surface ? I have Led lights on and a small 22 l tank.
Ally
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@Ally2 You are welcome to try some dwarf water lettuce if you like - see the freebie section :)
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If you want small floating plants for a small tank, there's always duckweed :o This isn't as bad as some people make out, and you can always scoop out handfuls if it threatens to take over.
Or google Silvania natans and S. minima. They both stay quite small.
I currently have the water spite, Ceratopteris cornuta (not C. thalictroides) in my 180 litre which might be a bit on the large side for your tank.
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I have had salvinia auriculata in my betta tank which was quite nice.
I currently have some small amazon frogbit plants and something which I can't really identify which I bought as dwarf water lettuce, and which sits flat on the water rather than having the upright habit of the big water lettuce, but I have no idea what it actually is. It's green and it floats though, so it's fine by me. :)
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Floating red root is great for a small tank. Bigger than Duckweed and much easier to get rid of if you decide you've had enough of it!
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You can also grow mosses like java moss floating should this be more up your street...
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Hi
Might go with frogbit as I think all the others say don't like lids as it creates condensation !
That was on the aqua essentials plant guide . Unfortunately there also out of stock of it !ally
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I got some frogbit from here within the past 3 weeks and it was great.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Frogbit-Limnobium-laevigatum-Aquarium-Floating/dp/B00CPM9IB8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1478704665&sr=8-3&keywords=frogbit
The large is quite big, closer to the top end of their measurements, and very well established.
They also do medium and small.
;D
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Hi Ally
An easy to grow floating plant to grow is Limobium Laevigatum. Another easy to grow floating plant and something a bit different is Hygroryza Aristata. It's from the water grass family. Looks are deceiving it looks like a stem plant, but it's actually a floating plant. :)
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I just bought some Limnobium Laevigatuma couple of weeks back and it does seem to be coping better with the surface flow in my tank than others I've tried. :cheers:
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These https://www.amazon.co.uk/Feeding-Square-Aquarium-Feeder-Floating/dp/B00UF0HTCM help "contain" floating plants, preventing them from getting buffeted around; the fish also seem to like resting underneath them given the full coverage they provide when filled with plants and they're not an eyesore at all due to the way they're disguised when sitting on the waterline with only the plant roots visible.
IME, salvinia natans is a much more robust, heavier plant which seems to sit better in one area on the tank surface and not be subject to as much buffeting as other floating plants such as Amazonian frogbit (limnobium laevigatum) or red root floater (phyllanthus fluitans).
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I might try and dig something like that with some spare airline... my previous attempt failed but I've another idea...
Salvinia natans lasted a while for me and I got a few baby plants too but it didn't last permanently. Red root floating was not successful at all!
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I use this stuff, cut it to shape and support it with cable ties about 5mm below the water to keep the plants out of the skimmer. I have also penned plants in other areas to balance where the shade is for the fish. It allows free movement of the water surface so the skimmer still works. It is a good cow-catcher for filter inlets as well.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sheets-Plastic-Canvas-Tapestry-Stitch/dp/B004H2241A/ref=sr_1_4?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1502913000&sr=1-4&keywords=tapestry+canvas
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Have removed the remainder of this thread to its more appropriate location "Plant deterioration - diagnosis & suggestions?" and am merging the two threads into one. C:-)