some good low to medium light floating plants?

Question

i will soon be setting up my 55 gallon tank, my first, and would like the top half of the tank to be planted. what are some good beginner floating plants? and plants in general. would like y'alls opinion.

Answer 1

i use water sprite -- if you have a betta they will push themselves up on top of it and bask. other anabantids seem to like it too.

you can also stick a weight on a clump and drop it -- it doesn't like having its roots planted though.

its also a great place for fry to hang out.

oh and it grows like a weed. i got some that were maybe 2" across that were easily 8" across in a month.

another good floater especially for cycling is duck weed.

there are lots of good low tech plants -- they just need moderate light and iron fertilizers (the easiest to use and won't change your ph).

try these -- anubias, apongeton, bolbitis, cryptocoryne, echinodorus, hygrophelia, nymphaea, java fern, and java moss.

i like hyros a lot for background. water wisteria looks kind of similar to water sprite and temple plant reminds me of bamboo -- the real bamboo not the lucky stuff.

as a word or warning a lot of places sell bog plants as aquarium plants. they will survive underwater but not grow and will eventually die. there are lots of them -- many of them are house plants like dracaena and spathyphyllum. anubias is actually a flood plain bog plant. it adapts well to life underwater all year around. the dwarf "nana" variety will even flower on occasion.

Answer 2

If you can find something that would float, like a block of styrofoam, you can tie Java Moss to it with kite string, After a while, the string will decompose and the Moss will attatch itself to the styrofoam. There are other floating plants that would be easier though, I just don't know what they are...

Nosoop4u

Answer 3

Java Fern, Anubias nana, Some Cryptocoryne.

Answer 4

Hornwort might be a really good choice for you. Here's a site that can help you make plant selections for all areas in your tank, and for all kinds of lighting.

Answer 5

try some water hyacinth