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[Retired Viking]

Im waiting for the hornwort to fill in more, theyre small clippings. I want it to form a floating cover like a curtain. I had it totally covered in salvinia auriculata but it blocked water movement. So i have a smaller portion of it contained now.

Blackwater environments dont have much plants anyways. So i want to keep it relatively minimal but effective so sticking with hornwort since its good in any light, versatile, and is a nitrate sponge. I have anacharis too, but not in this tank. My anacharis grows thinner so i dont like the appearance in a small tank for it

I have both in my tanks too, Hornwort was the first floating plant I added to my 55 gallon "sunken forest" tank and my tetra fry like to hide in it but it does break down after awhile. Like a pine tree looses it needles and it turns brown. There is some new growth too so I have about 1/4 of what it use to have floating. I planted it too but my mystery snails loved to eat it. Annacharis I have both floating and planted in my 30 gallon shrimp tank. I have an anacharis "forest " in my sunken forest tank also. I ordered some water sprite to try in my 30 gallon LOTR dark castle tank that I am working on.

 

[CassCats]

I have both in my tanks too, Hornwort was the first floating plant I added to my 55 gallon "sunken forest" tank and my tetra fry like to hide in it but it does break down after awhile. Like a pine tree looses it needles and it turns brown. There is some new growth too so I have about 1/4 of what it use to have floating. I planted it too but my mystery snails loved to eat it. Annacharis I have both floating and planted in my 30 gallon shrimp tank. I have an anacharis "forest " in my sunken forest tank also. I ordered some water sprite to try in my 30 gallon LOTR dark castle tank that I am working on.

Yeah i had huge clumps of it in my livebearer tank but the apple snails demolished it i had to remove it and let it recover. What was usable right away i moved to other tanks. I still have a handful recovering in my bedroom window lol

My anacharis is my native ones, collected from the wild. It doesn't tolerate my betta tanks temps. I find it starts to die off if its in water higher than 77F so i keep it in my cooler water tanks and it thrives. Mine is anacharis canadensis/elodia canadensis. It was originally 3 stems that ive propagated into 3 different tanks.

The hornwort is more tolerable of warmer temps so i use it for the betta tanks as well. My boy betta also has java fern and anubias lanceolata as he has a taller tank.

 

[Retired Viking]

I have thought about collecting some local plants too but worry about picking up bugs like mayfly nymphs. I had one in my shrimp tank and he killed 6-7 shrimp before I caught the little $%@&* and killed it. Your anacharis is probably the same stuff we have around here too.

 

[angelcraze]

That is interesting about the anacharis elodia densa. That's the stuff I used to grow. But now that you mention it, it started to die off and now has completely melted at temps of 80°f. That's what happened to it! And your right, it was much finer than other types of anacharis.

I'm going to vote for black but I'm torn because I usually prefer a different color than the usual black. I like the brown, I find it goes well with the blackwater feel, but does make the tank look bright. Although, think about when your hornwort makes a nice canopy, the light shining through it would look pretty sick and subdue the brightness.

Another color I like for blackwater coloured tanks is light blue. With the tannins it takes on a natural greenish look. Makes it look like deep in the lake. But that's just me and maybe not a good look for a betta now that I think of it......