floating plants for my aquarium

[Kolyska]

I'm on the hunt for a floating plant that'll complement my pea puffer tank nicely and isn't too high maintenance.

Something with a small lily pad appearance or nice stems that'll look good from inside the tank would be ideal.

I do have Salvinia, but I'm hesitant to add it in as I've heard it can take over the tank.

[sSjey]

Yes, it can be completely removed if needed. I've had frogbit in both my tanks and I was able to lift out individual plants with ease. The roots did grow pretty long, though, and I had to trim them regularly to prevent them from getting tangled in the substrate and other plants. I've attached a photo of the frogbit in my shrimp tank - it actually grew a lot thicker in my main tank.

[Kolyska]

I've had frogbit in both my tanks and I can confirm you can remove the individual plants if needed. The roots do grow really long, so regular trimming is a must to prevent them from getting tangled with other plants or stuck to the substrate. I've got a pic of it in my shrimp tank, but I don't have a side view of the roots, sorry. Trimming's pretty straightforward, just cut the roots to the desired length.

[sSjey]

I never got around to taking a side view of the frogbit, but I can tell you how I trimmed the roots. During water changes, I'd grab a clump of roots and just break them off, repeating the process until all the roots were trimmed - not the most recommended method, I know. Despite that, the plants still grew incredibly well. To be honest, I eventually got tired of the maintenance and decided to switch things up - the shrimp tank now has red root floater and the main tank has water sprite again.

Here's an image of what my frogbit looked like in the main tank after weeks of regular root trimming.

[cichlidgirl22]

I've got Water Sprite in my main tank now and I think it's a great choice for a floating plant.

[greensea_1]

Frogbit is a great choice, the roots in my tank have grown really well. It's a fast-growing, hardy plant with beautiful, lily-like leaves. I think it's exactly what you're looking for. Velvet Salvinia is also worth considering, it's a stunning plant.

[floatie]

Let's face it: duckweed.

[infold]

I'm with floatie, duckweed all the way - you just can't go wrong with it.

[petal9]

I recently got some water lettuce for my tanks, and they quickly started producing new off-shoots. However, when I moved them to a newly set up tank, the edges began browning. I've been thinking about this, and I realized the original tank had a lot of wooden hardscape and was heavily planted, which led to an overabundance of nutrients and a lot of ugly biofilm. The new tank is mainly for breeding and doesn't have the same conditions. I've moved the water lettuce back to the biofilm tank. If they start doing better, it's likely they'll help use up some of the excess nutrients. I'll keep an eye on them and report back in a couple of days - they seem to change quickly.