# Floating plants



## HawkinsStu (Feb 27, 2010)

Hi Guys,

I was looking on the web and am really finding it hard to find some sort of list of possible floating plants.

I have 1 pleco, 2 oscars, 5 giant danios and a pictus catfish. I know my oscars and pleco will just rip-up any plant if i tried to plant them but then what about floating plants?

Looked at Java fern but that look quite fiddly and looks like it can get out of control if your not carefull. What i was hoping for is to fins something that i could place on one of the corners that wouldnt get out on control, so something faily bigish if you know what i mean?. So what are the alternitives?

Picture of the tank: (150gal)










Thanks for any surgestions.


----------



## fmueller (Jan 11, 2004)

Wow - that's one of the nicest looking Oscar tanks I have seen :thumb:

But I agree that it might look even better with some green. I also agree that plants rooting in the substrate won't have much of a chance with the Oscars. Floating plants might look like a good idea at first glance, but in practice all floating plants have very soft, succulent leaves that any plant eating fish will love to devour - and even non-plant eating fish will have fun shredding them and making a mess.

What remains are plants that prefer to root on rocks and driftwood, and the two most popular types here are Java fern and Anubias sp. I have never heard about Java fern getting out of control - in my experience it is rather slow growing in low tech setups (meaning no CO2 etc). If that was my tank, Id definitely get a big bunch of Java fern, tie it to one of the roots (actually, I use a staple gun to attach the roots to the wood), and see what happens to it.

That said, I think Anubias sp. would have an even better chance. It is always hard to tell from photos, but the tank looks quite dim, and Anubias love dim lighting conditions. In fact, in brighter tanks they can easily get overgrown with Algae, but under poor lighting conditions Anubias tend to successfully out-compete algae. Anubias are not usually eaten by fish, but fish like Oscars might bite into a large leaf just out of boredom. I am guessing that they'd be less tempted by some of the small leaf varieties, and I'd try those on a few driftwood pieces in your tank - again using a staple gun to attach the Anubias roots to the wood.

Best of luck!


----------



## benny71 (Sep 30, 2010)

1. Tagged for future reference.

2. That tank is outstanding...It IS the nicest/coolest looking Oscar tanks I've seen. :thumb:


----------



## PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn (Dec 26, 2005)

frogbit 








it gets decent sized leave on it.

java fern and anubias attached to some bogwood further up, but tier not strictly floating plants

might want to try something like Giant Valis, yes its in the sand (might be worth protecting the roots with large pebbles or a basket of some sort) but its long leaves will float to the surface, and it grows pretty quickly (water onions are similar, not as fast growing though)

if its just plant cover, Hygrophelia polysperma is a good option, its a complete weed, and grows wherever you put it (it is strictly speaking a stem plant, but its quite happy at the top of a tank.)

on a purely aesthetic note, see if you can get some bogwood to hide the equipment, and maybe add a few oak leaves (it depends on the set up, I've seen it look wonderful in some (and indeed it does in my geo tank) but I found it ends up berried in teh sand pretty quickly.


----------



## Cyclesafety (Feb 8, 2010)

Hydrocotyle leucocephala (sometimes AKA Brazilian pennywort) is a handsome fast-growing available floater that _might_ stand up to Oscars. If you can get it very cheap, it might be worth a try. http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/foru ... ydrocotyle

Otherwise try hornwort. http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/foru ... &spec=Very Easy If you don't like its looks, keep it around to soak up nuutrients.

A possible epiphyte beyond the above recommended java fern (several varieties) and anubias (several varieties) would be African bolbitis http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/foru ... c=Epiphyte


----------



## naegling23 (Jan 4, 2008)

I would go with hornwort, its a pretty neat floating plant, water wisteria will also grow as a floating plant. There are several water lettuce type plants that you could try as well. If the oscars eat the wisteria or hornwort, they should regenerate fast enough to keep up.


----------



## Nina_b (Jan 3, 2011)

+1 On Java fern. It's thriving in a mbuna setup (I have to give away some newly sprouted leaf ends soon), that plant is pure gold. My favourite easy. I love the trailing roots.

Also worth a try, if you can find it, is a water lettuce. So pretty 
pistia stratiotes
http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/parks/plant_ ... pisstr.pdf

Healthy plants will always eventually need a trim or so.


----------

