Floating Plants

[DeanoL83]

Thanks for all the replies! 
 
Water sprite looks cool, but is very difficult to find around here  I am currently looking into water lettuce and some riccia.....if I can't locate those, then I know I can get some hornwort and just let it float.

 

[Alasse]

I think water lettuce is illegal in Oz

Duckweed, frogbit, Elodea and watersprite would work

 

[NickAu]

I think water lettuce is illegal in Oz

 
FROG BIT is not legal in WA and NSW
ELODEA  legal in VIC,QLD & ACT ONLY!!!
DUCKWEED Not legal Western Australia Or Tasmania
 
I got a lot of plants on Ebay and thats how I know, some sellers will sell to you regardless of where you live, you just have to ask them first.

 

[DeanoL83]

Hmmm, well there are a lot of people willing to sell those illegal plants to NSW lol.
 
I have had frogbit and elodea before and didn't even know they were illegal.
 
I am unable to find silvinia natans, but have found silvinia minima......would that be pretty similar?
 
 
 
Postage is an issue too - I have found plenty of people on gumtree willing to sell floating plants, but not many willing to post! ARGH

 

[DeanoL83]

One good floating plant not yet mentioned is Water Sprite, Ceratopteris cornuta.  This species is the true floater, and it does better floating than planted; there are two other species that are better planted.  Like water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) and Frogbit (the true tropical species, Limnobium laeviatum), once settled it can get large, but the many daughter plants produced on alternate leaves can be gently pulled off and kept with the main plant discarded if you want to keep the surface more open.  Ceratopteris can cover the entire surface of a 48 by 18 inch aquarium with just one plant when conditions are to its liking.
 
To your question of nitrates, live plants will help keep these down, and floating are the best for this because they use more nutrients and grow very fast.  But there is a limit to this assimilation of nitrate; aquatic plants prefer ammonium over nitrate, so they take up the ammonia/ammonium faster than bacteria, and the nitrates are thus less because the ammonia/ammonium has been primarily used by plants which do not produce nitrite and then nitrate.  However, there is likely also uptake of some nitrate as well, more by some species than others.  But this is not great, so if there is a serious nitrate problem, such as high nitrates in the tap or well water, these are not likely to reduce all that much because of the plants, but everything is relative.
 
Byron.

 
 
Hi Byron,  
 
Thanks for the information about the water sprites and the ammonia/nitrate intake by plants.
 
With the water sprite, the only one that I have access to locally is Ceratopteris Thalictroides, commonly called lace fern here in Australia (though some LFS do call it water sprite). It looks pretty similar to Ceratopteris cornuta which you referred to, but wondering if you had any experience with this variety.  Do they float and grow similarly?  Which one is the correct 'water sprite'?
 
Thanks!
 
On a different note, I found some riccia in a LFS so got a couple handfuls of that - how quickly does it grow?? I'd probably like it to grow to four or five times the size it is now.
 
I also bought a beautiful Giant Cardamine - it was already big enough for some of the leaves to reach the surface.  I read on another forum that this plant grows quite well when floating too.  Is this correct?  Does it need any special care or ferts?
 
Thanks for the help! 

 

[Ch4rlie]

Had never heard of cardamine before to be honest, so had to look this up. Seems there are a few varieties of this plant but pretty nice nonetheless.
 
Says :
 
"Cardamine lyrata is actually a marsh plant, but it is also a familiar aquarium plant which thrives under water. A characteristic trailing growth form makes it highly decorative, and ''water roots'' often form on the plant itself. Plant in groups, and make sure the water temperature does not exceed 28 degrees C. for long (this makes the leaves much smaller and the plant more leggy)."
 
From this site - http/www.aquariumplants.com/Cardamine-Cardamine-lyrata-p/bp11.htm
 
Interesting

 

[DeanoL83]

Had never heard of cardamine before to be honest, so had to look this up. Seems there are a few varieties of this plant but pretty nice nonetheless.
 
Says :
 
"Cardamine lyrata is actually a marsh plant, but it is also a familiar aquarium plant which thrives under water. A characteristic trailing growth form makes it highly decorative, and ''water roots'' often form on the plant itself. Plant in groups, and make sure the water temperature does not exceed 28 degrees C. for long (this makes the leaves much smaller and the plant more leggy)."
 
From this site - http/www.aquariumplants.com/Cardamine-Cardamine-lyrata-p/bp11.htm
 
Interesting

 
Thanks for the info, i've been doing some reading myself and I think I might actually have Hydrocotyle leucocephala as opposed to cardamine lyrata.  The leaves are quite large and google photos look similar. It's really quite a pretty plant.

 

[gmc1]

My frog bit is doing great on my main tank.I could never seem to keep water lettuce though.

 

[Byron]

I think I might actually have Hydrocotyle leucocephala as opposed to cardamine lyrata.  The leaves are quite large and google photos look similar. It's really quite a pretty plant.
 

 
This stem plant grows very nicely floating, I have it in one tank.  Cardamine lyrata is similar in appearance, and beyond what has been said of it, Kasselmann notes it tends to do better in cold water aquaria and ponds rather than tropical.
 

With the water sprite, the only one that I have access to locally is Ceratopteris Thalictroides, commonly called lace fern here in Australia (though some LFS do call it water sprite). It looks pretty similar to Ceratopteris cornuta which you referred to, but wondering if you had any experience with this variety.  Do they float and grow similarly?  Which one is the correct 'water sprite'?
 

 
I've only kept the C. cornuta, or I assume this is it (I bought the original plant back in 1996 or 7, and by separating daughter plants and discarding the larger plants over the years it is today growing on the surface of three tanks.  If you find C. thalictroides, try it floating and report back.  I only know what I've read that this species is "better" planted, whereas C. cornuta is "better" floating, but "better" doesn't mean only.  I've had poor results trying to plant C. cornuta but then my light is not bright and this may have been the issue.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

This is kind of funny...I was actually going to ask about C. thalictroides as I bought this plant off of ebay on March 23rd. Came in nice and green. Put it in tank and it started to send out roots fairly fast...then I started playing with my light setting as I'm getting algae(my bristlenose was sick at this time before she finally passed so she wasn't keeping the tank clean well, though she may not have ate this stuff anyway, don't know) that is brown mixed in with a bit of green. Anyway..suffice it to say..even though I've played with the settings again to try to get the light brighter, the roots haven't really taken off like they did. It seems to be holding on, making a few baby plants that are sort of growing a bit. I know I've read that "water sprite" can take a while to settle in a tank so I was going to ask how long!
 
I did see the C. cornuta for sell on ebay and was thinking of trying that as well. Have to wait until after payday though(Thursday), and make sure all my bills get paid, but maybe the cornuta will grow better in my light (Fluval Aquasky-I can change the white and RGB settings but don't know what to put them on! lol).
 
I did just buy some crypt retrospiralis to put in this 20 gallon tank with the water sprite(quick question..do I plant the hard end of it that the roots are coming out of?? I didn't if this particular crypt was rhizome like anubias or not...I was just expecting roots like my wendtii!!) Maybe I will try to "plant" one of these water sprite that I currently have now. I want to try to get some really good floating plants in my tank so I can use it as a really good quarantine when I get my big tank up and ready and move it's current inhabitants over. If I don't get good growth I'll have to do other quarantine options like, not all the fish at once!
 
Anyway...if I buy the C cornuta I will post a thread about the difference in growth! Cuz the stuff I have just isn't taking off(though I plan on switching things around to let it get spread out..it is sort of in just one corner right now and I have to angle the light over the tank for it to get light!)

 

[Byron]

This is kind of funny...I was actually going to ask about C. thalictroides as I bought this plant off of ebay on March 23rd. Came in nice and green. Put it in tank and it started to send out roots fairly fast...then I started playing with my light setting as I'm getting algae(my bristlenose was sick at this time before she finally passed so she wasn't keeping the tank clean well, though she may not have ate this stuff anyway, don't know) that is brown mixed in with a bit of green. Anyway..suffice it to say..even though I've played with the settings again to try to get the light brighter, the roots haven't really taken off like they did. It seems to be holding on, making a few baby plants that are sort of growing a bit. I know I've read that "water sprite" can take a while to settle in a tank so I was going to ask how long!
 
I did see the C. cornuta for sell on ebay and was thinking of trying that as well. Have to wait until after payday though(Thursday), and make sure all my bills get paid, but maybe the cornuta will grow better in my light (Fluval Aquasky-I can change the white and RGB settings but don't know what to put them on! lol).
 
I did just buy some crypt retrospiralis to put in this 20 gallon tank with the water sprite(quick question..do I plant the hard end of it that the roots are coming out of?? I didn't if this particular crypt was rhizome like anubias or not...I was just expecting roots like my wendtii!!) Maybe I will try to "plant" one of these water sprite that I currently have now. I want to try to get some really good floating plants in my tank so I can use it as a really good quarantine when I get my big tank up and ready and move it's current inhabitants over. If I don't get good growth I'll have to do other quarantine options like, not all the fish at once!
 
Anyway...if I buy the C cornuta I will post a thread about the difference in growth! Cuz the stuff I have just isn't taking off(though I plan on switching things around to let it get spread out..it is sort of in just one corner right now and I have to angle the light over the tank for it to get light!)

 
Left floating, Water Sprite (C. cornuta) should be fine once it settles.  As for how long this takes, a few weeks in my experience, though it depends upon conditions.  I do know that when I have moved plants from one tank to another, they seem to take a couple weeks to adjust to the different environment--and with all my tanks having the same type of light, water changes and ferts, and roughly the same fish loads, this only shows that two tanks are not identical regardless.  This plant does better in one tank than in the other even long-term.
 
Crypts have a rhizome, but this can (should) be buried.  Unlike Anubias and Java Fern, the rhizome will not rot if buried in the substrate.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Thanks Byron! That helps me tremendously with the crypts! I'll have fun rescaping and planting tomorrow.

As for the water sprite, I don't have the c cornuta yet but i do believe I'll get some soon so for those interested I will start a new thread eventually! Thanks again for the great tips Byron!

 

[DeanoL83]

Thanks Byron! That helps me tremendously with the crypts! I'll have fun rescaping and planting tomorrow.

As for the water sprite, I don't have the c cornuta yet but i do believe I'll get some soon so for those interested I will start a new thread eventually! Thanks again for the great tips Byron!

 
Would definitely be great to see if there are any major differences between the two of them.  I'm thinking of getting some of the C.Thalictroides and see how it goes in my tank.  But I also really like the look of the couple of handfuls of Riccia Fluitans that I have and not sure whether I should have two competing floating plants or stick to just one?