What are both of these?

I'm lucky enough to know a guy who has owned a fish store for over 40 years. He's in the process of moving to a new location. What a nightmare that must be with all his tanks including huge salt water tanks. I don't envy him, lol!

At any rate, I went in to got some live plants as he was tearing down and he gave me a steal of a deal. I got some lively java moss, some little floating lily pad type things and these two pictured below. All of which was about 8 bucks. Online I would've paid 40+ easily and they would probably arrive dead(ish) as I have encountered before.

The first plant I'm curious about is this floating bunch. They're very vibrant and my fry love them. Plus, they're not so dense that you can't see into them like java moss. What are these? Wisteria I'm thinking, but not sure.

Secondly, what are these long stems? The came in a bunch and all compressed. Though, once I separated them they started to spread their leaves and are looking great after barely a week! I'm thinking if they can be cut into separate pieces and continue to grow than I'll put a bunch of them around my heater and filter to disguise them in the background.

Any suggestions/feedback is always welcome

Also, they're about 5-7 inches long. If they can be cut, how short can they be cut to stay healthy and continue to grow?

Hi, the first one looks like Ceratopteris Cornuta ( I love this plant! ) difficult to see from the pic but if so just let it float no cutting needed it will produce new plantlets on it's leaves that can be removed and refloated to make a new plant, the second one is Elodea prob densa, this plant unfortunately does not do well in tropical aquaria and will eventually shed it's leaves and die as it prefers cold water, this can be cut or trimmed into smaller pieces and will regrow.

Thank you betta fish!

Sorry the first pic was up close because I wanted to capture the leaf pattern in hopes of making it easier to identify. Attached is a larger pic with the whole group of plants floating at the top.

The second plant, elodea prob densa, seems to be doing great in my tank. It's flourishing and the leaves are blooming out. I was hoping I could keep cutting it into smaller pieces to plant and effectively put a "wall" around my aquarium's heater and filter to keep them hidden.

I agree on the Ceratopteris species (Water Sprite). Some of the plants are upside down, I would gently separate the larger and ensure each is floating right side up. The leaves spread horizontally across the water surface and the roots hang down vertically into the water. Once settled, and if conditions are to its liking, it will rapidly grow.

The stem plant is probably Egeria densa, also sometimes called Elodea densa though that is a synonym taxonomically; common name pondweed. This plant will be OK in warm temperatures if light is sufficient. There is a very similar plant, Elodea canadensis, or Canadian pondweed, and this one does prefer cooler temperatures.

Thanks for the info Byron! I see what you mean by some of the sprite being upside down. I had just tossed them in before I took the picture. Though, now I have them all upright.

I believe the pondweed will be fine since after just a week it seems to be thriving. The tank sets right next to a window so I can open the blinds to let in natural light and there is also a 9 LED light I can turn on. I keep the tank steady at 78 degrees for my fry. My hope is that by clipping them and lightly tucking the clippings in to the substrate (small gravel) just enough to secure them that they will continue to grow and form a wall around my heater & filter to hide them and give the tank a more natural look. I'll post pictures in the future if it works out the way I hope

Rouxster said:

Thanks for the info Byron! I see what you mean by some of the sprite being upside down. I had just tossed them in before I took the picture. Though, now I have them all upright.

I believe the pondweed will be fine since after just a week it seems to be thriving. The tank sets right next to a window so I can open the blinds to let in natural light and there is also a 9 LED light I can turn on. I keep the tank steady at 78 degrees for my fry. My hope is that by clipping them and lightly tucking the clippings in to the substrate (small gravel) just enough to secure them that they will continue to grow and form a wall around my heater & filter to hide them and give the tank a more natural look. I'll post pictures in the future if it works out the way I hope

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Light from windows can be dangerous for an aquarium as it is variable and not under control in the way tank lighting is. You may find algae issues developing.


If the upper portions are able to grow well, one solution to this is to regularly pull up the stems, cut off the upper growing ends at whatever length suits the situation, and stick the cut ends back in the substrate. How often you need to do this will depend upon the light (and nutrients which must balance the light intensity) which determines how fast the plant stems will grow.

Stem plants do not often make a good "barrier" around things for the above reason. I have two other options to hide filters/heaters. The easiest is a chunk of wood that can be placed vertically, resembling a tree trunk or whatever. Another is to have a smaller chunk of wood or a rock, with Java Fern attached; this plant is low light, slow growing, and withstands water currents from filters much better than some other plants. This would give you a dark green screen.