Duckweed: "Impossible to eradicate". Unless you have 2 goldfish. I covered my 40 gal with it for a goldfish snack and it was all gone within the week. Pigs. Lol.
There is a way to combat this, albeit not covering your tank completely. Simply make a floating raft frame with a net to keep the fish out of it. Of course, some fish might jump that boarder barrier and you may not find it aesthetically appealing, but if you must keep it for goldfish & don't have a second tank (or just can't be bothered), then this works (speaking from experience)
@@condorX2 could have been lol. I have a hard time keeping it in my turtle pond because of the strong filtration needed, just takes the stuff out sometimes. Not alot of slow moving water in my pond lol
And my blood parrot eat it a few times when they have fallen down when I do something in the aquarium. I personally love duckweed. Suspect some fish in my tank eat a lot since it hasn't gotten out of control
I never even had to buy duckweed, I just scooped up some from a pond and took it home in a jar. It came with some interesting little buggies, probably mayfly larva, that my fish eventually ended up eating. I don't see why people hate it when you already have to do tank maintenance once a week or more. It's too easy to just scoop out the duckweed so it doesn't cover the tank. And as a bonus, it's edible! It's very high in protein and you can dry it off and put it on salad or in stir-fry like you would sprouts. Just make sure the water it's coming from is not polluted (or medicated).
I never even bought duckweed either. I bought a different plant, and I guessed the duckweed came along with it for the journey. I never had duckweed before and was very confused about how this plant multiplied so quickly
What about Watersprite? This is my #1 floating plant great at sucking up nitrates and nitrites, grows fast but can be kept in check. Great for male Bettas to build a bubble nest under and give his fry hiding places. Can be fed to chickens and goats if you have the livestock, or can be dug into your garden soil to enrich it with lots of nutrients. Can be composted easily and turned into fish/shrimp food just like duckweed by putting it in a blender and then backing the slurry until it flakes. Good food, as whole plants or leaves, for pet crabs and crayfish (red clawed or land hermit crabs, for example). Good habitat for live bearer fry, and their roots harbor aufwuchs and infusoria, good fry foods. #2 I also like water lilies with floating lily pads, though not technically a floating plant as the bulb or corm is burried or sitting on the substrate the leaves (lily pads) do float and the flowers are spectacular. #3 If you have an open top tank with a hanging light from the ceiling, you can try normal water lettuce which has beautiful crenelated leaves. #4 Any Salvina. #5 Banana plants, though like water lilies they do not actually float at the surface, but their leaves (pads) will reach for the surface just like water lilies. I had a question for you: have you ever grown any papyrus for African Congo river basin tanks? Definitely needs an open top tank though and is a perenial, dying back each "dry season".
My personal favorite is antlerfern (ceratopteris pteridoides), a rare floating fern cousin of watersprite that produces many lateral fiddleheads growing emersed or submerged into full leaves. They produce many offshoots budding off of the leaves and starting root systems much like Java fern. Its root systems are short and the gaps between the leaves allows light to penetrate better than other floating plants. It makes the best bed for bettas too. Snails and other inverts (especially shrimp) love hitchhiking rides on them. Best still, they do not seem to eat the live leaves only the bacterial/algal film on them. I also really like Asian waterweed (hygroryza aristata). It's one of extremely few fully aquatic true grass species and its growth it horizontal and vining like red root floaters. Salvinia cucullata is one of my favorite plants and under high lighting conditions it produces a honeycomb-like growth. This video doesn't truly do it justice, but I'm glad that it's on your list because it's one of the best as far as I'm concerned.
I keep fancy goldfish, so I love duckweed. I have to keep it in other tanks and then move it over to the goldfish tank, because the goldfish can eradicate it in a matter of hours.
My goldfish cows eat everything I can't keep a single plant in their tank they even uprooted the lilypad ball and ate that down to nothing I'm going to get some of this for my 55 gallon tank and do what you do
wyzemann I put frogbit or duckweed in my goldfish tank and my goldfish have never had swimbladder. I can’t say if that’s why they haven’t though and they eat ALL of it so I keep having to buy more as I haven’t had success growing it in other tanks.
@@wyzemann it will neither help nor harm swim bladder issues. It's simply a high protein source that will fatten them up if you don't regulate how much access they have to it.
Thank you, I needed this!!! my one floating plant is dying and nobody sells floating plants near me. My betta loves the floating ones. I'll definitely take a look at the site!
I love duckweed cause it lets more light through than the others, I still take it out when it gets thick. I had red root floaters and they got outcompeted by the duckweed, I'm down to one, they can't seem to get nutrients against it, I love duckweed though
I wish some store would sell _hygroryza aristata_ which is a grass that thrives as a floating plant in Asia. It looks like a bloated bamboo that sends dozens of roots if grown on water.
Debit grows as fast as the rest. I clean out my floating plants twice a week. I have red root floaters, dwarf water lettuce and frogbit. Light also impacts how the water lettuce grows. If you leave a baby in your tank with bright light and nutrients the plant will get bigger. I had one get as big as a dinner plate. Flow doesn’t bother these plants as much as water splash. Water splash will rot most of these. Red root floaters need the right light to grow. Mine love the Hygger lights. Also to get the red to pop you need more light. My floating plants tend to double on the surface everyday, so as I said, I take plants out twice a week cutting back by half. Water lettuce is just as good as duckweed for filtering water. You have to let the roots grow though. I love my floating plants and so do fish and shrimp. If you have floaters on a shrimp take, be sure and shake the plants before removing as you will get shrimp in the roots and shrimp lets love the roots too. Just be careful when you thin out your floating plants.
I love duckweed because it really does help keep my water clean. I have a friend that has goldfish so I take my extra trimmings to him and his goldfish get a tasty treat.
I have a 5.5 gal tank, with a male betta and a nerite snail. I'm preparing to add three or so ghost shrimp, so I'm getting hiding places ready and making sure they're also safe for my betta. I have an amazon sword plant, some unidentified groundcover that I got from seeds from an app called "AliExpress" for like a quarter, and a huge mass of java moss that floats in the right side of my tank that my betta retreats to hide in. I've always thought it would be good to have floor, mid-level, and floating plants in my aquarium, and I'm only missing floating plants. I don't do water changes often, but my betta is always moderately active with a good appetite and solid healthy fins, and my snail keeps me from having to scrub my tank walls. Maybe I'll add frogbit to my aquarium next, as I've always wanted to have something my betta could flop up onto and rest on like I've heard other people's bettas doing. I hope to have a heavily planted aquarium, so that the bioload is eased and all my critters are free from stress with all the places to hide in.
Fluval flex 5 gallon built-in filtration system does a lovely job of sucking up duckweed. When I added my frog-bit, some duckweed went with it, but it's slowly but surely got sucked right into the filter intake, which was way too fine tooth for the from pit. No more duckweed!
I've found salvinia minima will out compete the duckweed in my tanks. I've only recently heard of salvinia cucullata. It's so hard to find! Glad to see some of my favorites on your list!
The only reason I got duckweed is because I have a BUNCH of big goldfish (and varieties) that LOVE the little bit I got stuck in the bag of my algae eaters. They eat it up super quick, and I love the protein in it... they don't go through as much tubifex or bloodworms when they have it.
@@viv8871 I'll keep that in mind. I'm considering a fantail tank, something small compared to the 120. Mostly, and this is when you have a problem, because of this beautiful gem like fine gravel at the LFS for way too much money.
frogbit is my favorite, but I can never seem to keep it growing. I have a few leaves left so I'm hoping they survive (sadly bought from a random seller online). But my other plants from you are finally producing new leaves. I'm still new to floating plants so thank you for this video!!
Duckweed is actually illegal to sell here in Malaga,spain. Went looking for it at 2 different aquarium stores last week and at both places they told me that here in Andalucia its illegal because its so invasive. So bought loads of Pistia seeds and some frogbits instead.
Thank you for another great video. I love floating plants and duckweed is a good plant for me as my goldfish love to eat it and my tropical fish like the surface cover. I keep the very small tropical like Chili restoration and Ember tetras.
Also, duckweed is native to many places and by very definition is NOT invasive. If you live somewhere its not native than yes it is invasive. It is the one plant on this list that is not invasive in the US.
I agree with your choices! Awesome video!! By the way my mollies eat duck weed. Lol. If it gets out of hand in my other tanks I just put the excess in my molly tanks and they eat it up. Lol
my problem with duckweed is if you dont have a cover for your filter the little duckweed will be sucked it and causing your filter to be jammed and you really need to cleean your filter frequently
I had some duckweed hitch a ride home with my nerite snails a few months ago (about 10-15 leaves) and love it… I sectioned off some surface area using airline tubes and it hasn’t got out of hand. I’m planning on getting another floating plant for the duckweed to highlight/accent. I like the red root.
I have giant duckweeds. It would be suitable to nano tank like batta fish tank although I don't have batta. The roots do not extend so long but absorbs excessive nutrition very well. So allege issue can be solved.
Have found duck weed really useful for the reasons mentioned, Angels love to eat it. If you want to get rid of it try a group of SAE’s, once they moved onto it they cleared my 240 L tank and I’ve never seen it return. Love the video.
Duckweed is a funny plant. I doubt ducks ever eat it. But if you want something to cover the surface and shade it and cut off the oxygen, then duckweed is what you want... 😜
I used to hate duckweed, then I discovered that shrimp love them, and will swim to the surface eat them. Eventually I threw my filter away when I learned about the benefits of having them in the tank. Like most weeds, amazing!
I have 3 large goldfish in a 40 gallon tank and sometimes get nitrate issues. So I just got some duckweed a couple days ago. Lets see how it work out. The goldfish really like to eat it.
I've had duckweed for weeks even months at a time never could get it to grow but now i have some tag along from a different plant I'm just hoping they grow 😉
I love the Duck Weed for guppy fry. The first thing guppy fry do is float to the surface of the water. They will soon go off and hide but at first they float up and the Duck Weed gives them enough cover so they don’t get eaten right away by other fish in my tank. I also love how crystal clear my water has been since I accidentally got Duck Weed in my tank when buying Guppy Grass. I do realize I’ll be scooping and tossing often but I’m just enjoying it for now lol 😏 So…thanks for excluding Duck Weed 😉😉
Noob question: do floating plants not stop the plants beneath them in the tank from getting light? Thinking of putting some in my tank, but i don't want other plants to suffer. Thanks.
B I’m not a pro so take what i day with a grain of salt but I think they do starve the plants at the bottom of light but you can get a little ring for the surface so the plants can still get light which might help you
it depends on the light requirements of the plants you keep in your aquarium! i've not had a problem with floating plants blocking the light so much that the plants below suffer and die, buy y'know being a beginner myself, the plants I bought for my aquarium are hardy and forgiving. it may pay to look up how much light your specific plants need though 👍🏻
Yes... or rather, they "can." See, some plants are called low tech, meaning they don't require a lot of light (or co2) & even they can be blacked out by the full coverage of say, duckweed. So two ways to work with floaters is to 1) restrict their movement (see other responses) or 2) consider low tech plants like some mosses for the substrate level.
I have freshwater angelfish and they need the shade from duckweed. When I have too much, I get an handfuls and feed my jewel cichlids with it. My cichlids goes crazy over duckweed.
duckweed is by far my favorite on this list. I am not sure how anyone calls it impossible to get rid of either. I am guessing the people that say that are not gardeners that have to deal with actual invasive rooted plants. to remove it all you do is remove it. If you get some that comes back...remove that. its not exactly like a deep tap root you have to dig up.
many years ago I stole a tiny bit of Salvina from the NYC botanical garden, so easy to grow, I just put in a plastic container on a window sil, and it just was so easy. Just keep the water up, obviously. salad for the goldfish!! all healthy and that. :)
All my red root floaters been great for half a year. They just made red islands topping on one another, untill they used all the excess nutrients and died.
Giant Salvinia ( Salvinia molesta) is a significant weed in coastal rivers, streams and ponds in eastern Australia. Thrives in urban creeks due to nutrient runoff from gardens and leaky sewers.
I just purchased water sprite as a floating plant. It will be placed in a 30XH tank which is always “sunbathing” year round. I can’t wait to see the growth rate of this so called nutrient buster.
Im 3 years late but loved the video. I like duckweed, water hyacinth, water lettuce, water sprite and frogbit. Never been able to get frogbit though just like the idea of it
Do the red root floater flowers have an aroma? BTW, I have gotten rid of duck weed very easily - in fact I have not even been able to keep duck weed alive - my hand on back filters suck it up & then it is all gone.
I am looking for a video on regular water hyacinth and water hyacinth in the aquarium... so far not finding it . A friend gave me tons of them and I have no idea what to do! lol
Good top 5. Would riccia fluitans be considered a floating plant? I've see people use thing like mesh nets and grow it in the water. I do nothing with minne and it just floats and grows pretty quick on the surface.
I get rid of my duckweed with a wet/dry vac. I did keep it at one point but now I have declared war against it. All your other choices are great. I feel like with duckweed that you should have mentioned there was a giant duckweed which is also not as terrible as the small stuff that covers your arms and spreads like mad.
wouldnt duckweed encourage bloat in goldfish? i've debated it but thats my big concern as they would be going to the surface to eat it and bringing in air.
I have read that if you have multiple tanks, if one has duckweed, it’ll spread to all the tanks eventually, will this same issue occur with the frogbit or dwarf water lettuce or salvinia?
Top tip to buying aquarium plants. Take all the rules people give you (other than water parameters etc.) and throw them out. Grow that duckweed. Grow that hornwort. Do what you want.
I bought savinia mínima from you and you are definitely right about it taking over a tank. Got 12 pieces and I need to spread it out to my other tanks. 😂
What about plants where the roots dont grow long or stay short? I have frogbit and the roots grow so fast and long, the roots grow to the botton of my 70 gallon tank.....
i am really annoyed with the plants I have, they look like frogbit but get really long roots, they just keep growing and cover the whole aquarium in no time and grow into the substrat. can you reccoment some floating plants that dont get long roots? I have a 70 gallon aquarium and id like the roots not be longer than 10cm / 3-4 inches
![[Top 5] Floating Plants for your Aquarium](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8WkUnwXS-YQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![[Top 5] Floating Plants for your Aquarium](/img/tr.png)
1:00 frogbit
2:20 dwarf water lettuce
3:46 red root floater
5:28 silvinia
7:35 duckweed
Thx
You tha real MVP 😎
blesu
Thanks
Duckweed: "Impossible to eradicate". Unless you have 2 goldfish. I covered my 40 gal with it for a goldfish snack and it was all gone within the week. Pigs. Lol.
There is a way to combat this, albeit not covering your tank completely. Simply make a floating raft frame with a net to keep the fish out of it. Of course, some fish might jump that boarder barrier and you may not find it aesthetically appealing, but if you must keep it for goldfish & don't have a second tank (or just can't be bothered), then this works (speaking from experience)
Are you sure your filter wasn't the culprit? 🤣
@@condorX2 could have been lol. I have a hard time keeping it in my turtle pond because of the strong filtration needed, just takes the stuff out sometimes. Not alot of slow moving water in my pond lol
I saw one one of my Mollys eat duckweed a couple of times.
And my blood parrot eat it a few times when they have fallen down when I do something in the aquarium. I personally love duckweed. Suspect some fish in my tank eat a lot since it hasn't gotten out of control
am i the only one that likes the faster growing?... i like to trim them lol
Me
I leave for work and business
Plants
LETS GROW
Lol me too
My betta sleeps on top of a frogbit leaf with just his head out of the water. It freaked me out the first time I caught him doing it
Wtf, :D
hahaha so funny
Lmao
Bruh I caught my betta taking Sun bathing on the stone. Only thing that was missing was the sun glasses
I never even had to buy duckweed, I just scooped up some from a pond and took it home in a jar. It came with some interesting little buggies, probably mayfly larva, that my fish eventually ended up eating. I don't see why people hate it when you already have to do tank maintenance once a week or more. It's too easy to just scoop out the duckweed so it doesn't cover the tank. And as a bonus, it's edible! It's very high in protein and you can dry it off and put it on salad or in stir-fry like you would sprouts. Just make sure the water it's coming from is not polluted (or medicated).
Kaiser Frost Yep, would you rather scoop up some duck weed or perform a water change?
@@ericlind6581 i'd rather scoop it up
Im too worried about parasites to do that.
I never even bought duckweed either. I bought a different plant, and I guessed the duckweed came along with it for the journey. I never had duckweed before and was very confused about how this plant multiplied so quickly
That’s nasty hahah
Just got red root and duckweed on eBay the other day for my first aquarium, a 20 long. Glad I picked well!
Essie S Ha Red Root Floaters are awesome. Duckweed I love too. I love seeing my shrimp climb on it.
What about Watersprite? This is my #1 floating plant great at sucking up nitrates and nitrites, grows fast but can be kept in check. Great for male Bettas to build a bubble nest under and give his fry hiding places. Can be fed to chickens and goats if you have the livestock, or can be dug into your garden soil to enrich it with lots of nutrients. Can be composted easily and turned into fish/shrimp food just like duckweed by putting it in a blender and then backing the slurry until it flakes. Good food, as whole plants or leaves, for pet crabs and crayfish (red clawed or land hermit crabs, for example). Good habitat for live bearer fry, and their roots harbor aufwuchs and infusoria, good fry foods.
#2 I also like water lilies with floating lily pads, though not technically a floating plant as the bulb or corm is burried or sitting on the substrate the leaves (lily pads) do float and the flowers are spectacular.
#3 If you have an open top tank with a hanging light from the ceiling, you can try normal water lettuce which has beautiful crenelated leaves.
#4 Any Salvina.
#5 Banana plants, though like water lilies they do not actually float at the surface, but their leaves (pads) will reach for the surface just like water lilies.
I had a question for you: have you ever grown any papyrus for African Congo river basin tanks? Definitely needs an open top tank though and is a perenial, dying back each "dry season".
Pup314 nice
1:04- Frog bit
2:18- Dwarf water lettuce
3:45- Red Root Floaters
5:25- Salvinia cucullata
7:33- Duck weed
My personal favorite is antlerfern (ceratopteris pteridoides), a rare floating fern cousin of watersprite that produces many lateral fiddleheads growing emersed or submerged into full leaves. They produce many offshoots budding off of the leaves and starting root systems much like Java fern. Its root systems are short and the gaps between the leaves allows light to penetrate better than other floating plants. It makes the best bed for bettas too. Snails and other inverts (especially shrimp) love hitchhiking rides on them. Best still, they do not seem to eat the live leaves only the bacterial/algal film on them.
I also really like Asian waterweed (hygroryza aristata). It's one of extremely few fully aquatic true grass species and its growth it horizontal and vining like red root floaters.
Salvinia cucullata is one of my favorite plants and under high lighting conditions it produces a honeycomb-like growth. This video doesn't truly do it justice, but I'm glad that it's on your list because it's one of the best as far as I'm concerned.
I keep fancy goldfish, so I love duckweed. I have to keep it in other tanks and then move it over to the goldfish tank, because the goldfish can eradicate it in a matter of hours.
Darryl Moore Will duckweed help prevent or treat swim bladder issues in fancy goldfish?
My goldfish cows eat everything I can't keep a single plant in their tank they even uprooted the lilypad ball and ate that down to nothing I'm going to get some of this for my 55 gallon tank and do what you do
wyzemann I put frogbit or duckweed in my goldfish tank and my goldfish have never had swimbladder. I can’t say if that’s why they haven’t though and they eat ALL of it so I keep having to buy more as I haven’t had success growing it in other tanks.
@@wyzemann it will neither help nor harm swim bladder issues. It's simply a high protein source that will fatten them up if you don't regulate how much access they have to it.
deadfred821 Thank You
I LOOOVE Duckweed, for my projects! I'm super happy that it was your #1
Thank you, I needed this!!! my one floating plant is dying and nobody sells floating plants near me. My betta loves the floating ones. I'll definitely take a look at the site!
When you said superfood I thought you meant for people 😆
It is a superfood for people!
It's extremely high in protein, like red meat level. So yeah, it's a super food for humans as well...🤷🏾♂️
I immediately thought of trying to eat it!
Gianluca Ciocca It’s also a natural source of bio-available B12. Duckweed is great stuff! 😃 💖🍃🌸
It is lol
I love duckweed cause it lets more light through than the others, I still take it out when it gets thick. I had red root floaters and they got outcompeted by the duckweed, I'm down to one, they can't seem to get nutrients against it, I love duckweed though
I wish some store would sell _hygroryza aristata_ which is a grass that thrives as a floating plant in Asia. It looks like a bloated bamboo that sends dozens of roots if grown on water.
Hygroryza
Salvinia is amazing. in the dfw area its hard to find red roots right now
Debit grows as fast as the rest. I clean out my floating plants twice a week. I have red root floaters, dwarf water lettuce and frogbit. Light also impacts how the water lettuce grows. If you leave a baby in your tank with bright light and nutrients the plant will get bigger. I had one get as big as a dinner plate. Flow doesn’t bother these plants as much as water splash. Water splash will rot most of these. Red root floaters need the right light to grow. Mine love the Hygger lights. Also to get the red to pop you need more light. My floating plants tend to double on the surface everyday, so as I said, I take plants out twice a week cutting back by half. Water lettuce is just as good as duckweed for filtering water. You have to let the roots grow though.
I love my floating plants and so do fish and shrimp. If you have floaters on a shrimp take, be sure and shake the plants before removing as you will get shrimp in the roots and shrimp lets love the roots too. Just be careful when you thin out your floating plants.
I love duckweed because it really does help keep my water clean. I have a friend that has goldfish so I take my extra trimmings to him and his goldfish get a tasty treat.
Awesome! I got some Red roof floater for free, I accidentally got it when I bought my fish
That's cool, but how did you accidentally get a plant?
@@briannawarren4174 they scoop up the plant by accident when I got my fish.
😂🍬
I have a 5.5 gal tank, with a male betta and a nerite snail. I'm preparing to add three or so ghost shrimp, so I'm getting hiding places ready and making sure they're also safe for my betta. I have an amazon sword plant, some unidentified groundcover that I got from seeds from an app called "AliExpress" for like a quarter, and a huge mass of java moss that floats in the right side of my tank that my betta retreats to hide in. I've always thought it would be good to have floor, mid-level, and floating plants in my aquarium, and I'm only missing floating plants. I don't do water changes often, but my betta is always moderately active with a good appetite and solid healthy fins, and my snail keeps me from having to scrub my tank walls. Maybe I'll add frogbit to my aquarium next, as I've always wanted to have something my betta could flop up onto and rest on like I've heard other people's bettas doing. I hope to have a heavily planted aquarium, so that the bioload is eased and all my critters are free from stress with all the places to hide in.
How did the betta react to the shrimp? I want to get some
@@Jose-ki6si careful it may go crazy
there's a snail on the frogbit ._.
Can you cut the root when too long?
Fluval flex 5 gallon built-in filtration system does a lovely job of sucking up duckweed. When I added my frog-bit, some duckweed went with it, but it's slowly but surely got sucked right into the filter intake, which was way too fine tooth for the from pit. No more duckweed!
I've found salvinia minima will out compete the duckweed in my tanks. I've only recently heard of salvinia cucullata. It's so hard to find! Glad to see some of my favorites on your list!
8:02, I think every other floating can do the same thing, with the added bonus that they aren’t so invasive in the aquarium.
Just say NO to duck weed... Dont fall victim to peer pressure
It's a gateway drug
Pier pressure is a terrible thing.
Could lead to a full blown goose cabbage addiction 😂
The only reason I got duckweed is because I have a BUNCH of big goldfish (and varieties) that LOVE the little bit I got stuck in the bag of my algae eaters. They eat it up super quick, and I love the protein in it... they don't go through as much tubifex or bloodworms when they have it.
@@viv8871 I'll keep that in mind. I'm considering a fantail tank, something small compared to the 120. Mostly, and this is when you have a problem, because of this beautiful gem like fine gravel at the LFS for way too much money.
Duckweed. seriously! Ok, I get it. But not my favorite. However will be reconsidering it as Goldfish are currently on my radar.
Frogbit sounds awesome
frogbit is my favorite, but I can never seem to keep it growing. I have a few leaves left so I'm hoping they survive (sadly bought from a random seller online). But my other plants from you are finally producing new leaves. I'm still new to floating plants so thank you for this video!!
5:28 salvinia cucullata
Gonna try getting this.
Duckweed is actually illegal to sell here in Malaga,spain. Went looking for it at 2 different aquarium stores last week and at both places they told me that here in Andalucia its illegal because its so invasive. So bought loads of Pistia seeds and some frogbits instead.
Thank you for another great video. I love floating plants and duckweed is a good plant for me as my goldfish love to eat it and my tropical fish like the surface cover. I keep the very small tropical like Chili restoration and Ember tetras.
The red root floaters I bought from you are doing great in my aquarium :)
I had duckweed in my tank and it just kinda disappeared. I even wanted it in my tank and all my other plants are doing fine
Water hyacinth is my go-to and popular in my region.
Also, duckweed is native to many places and by very definition is NOT invasive. If you live somewhere its not native than yes it is invasive. It is the one plant on this list that is not invasive in the US.
Frogbit roots can go up to 1.2ft. When he said duckweed, I ran away. 🤣🤣
I agree with your choices! Awesome video!! By the way my mollies eat duck weed. Lol. If it gets out of hand in my other tanks I just put the excess in my molly tanks and they eat it up. Lol
I like all those floating plants but red root is my favorite!
my problem with duckweed is if you dont have a cover for your filter the little duckweed will be sucked it and causing your filter to be jammed and you really need to cleean your filter frequently
Perfect timing! I was just thinking about getting floating plants for one of my tanks.
I had some duckweed hitch a ride home with my nerite snails a few months ago (about 10-15 leaves) and love it… I sectioned off some surface area using airline tubes and it hasn’t got out of hand.
I’m planning on getting another floating plant for the duckweed to highlight/accent. I like the red root.
I just put duck weed in my 38gal I really like the way it looks seems like it would be easy to scoop out some at water changes pet store gave it to me
I always wanted some frogbit
I have giant duckweeds. It would be suitable to nano tank like batta fish tank although I don't have batta. The roots do not extend so long but absorbs excessive nutrition very well. So allege issue can be solved.
Have found duck weed really useful for the reasons mentioned, Angels love to eat it. If you want to get rid of it try a group of SAE’s, once they moved onto it they cleared my 240 L tank and I’ve never seen it return. Love the video.
Duckweed is a funny plant. I doubt ducks ever eat it. But if you want something to cover the surface and shade it and cut off the oxygen, then duckweed is what you want... 😜
Zom Bee Nature actually it’s called duckweed because ducks actually do love to eat it:
Ducks favourite!!!
Yumyum for ducks
I used to hate duckweed, then I discovered that shrimp love them, and will swim to the surface eat them. Eventually I threw my filter away when I learned about the benefits of having them in the tank. Like most weeds, amazing!
Do you have to put CO2 to keep these plants alive?
No they take co2 from the are above the fish tank
I have 3 large goldfish in a 40 gallon tank and sometimes get nitrate issues. So I just got some duckweed a couple days ago. Lets see how it work out. The goldfish really like to eat it.
what are the optimal growth settings for red root? light? current? additives?
I've had duckweed for weeks even months at a time never could get it to grow but now i have some tag along from a different plant I'm just hoping they grow 😉
Thanks for the info on duck weed
I love the Duck Weed for guppy fry. The first thing guppy fry do is float to the surface of the water. They will soon go off and hide but at first they float up and the Duck Weed gives them enough cover so they don’t get eaten right away by other fish in my tank. I also love how crystal clear my water has been since I accidentally got Duck Weed in my tank when buying Guppy Grass. I do realize I’ll be scooping and tossing often but I’m just enjoying it for now lol 😏 So…thanks for excluding Duck Weed 😉😉
Noob question: do floating plants not stop the plants beneath them in the tank from getting light? Thinking of putting some in my tank, but i don't want other plants to suffer. Thanks.
B I’m not a pro so take what i day with a grain of salt but I think they do starve the plants at the bottom of light but you can get a little ring for the surface so the plants can still get light which might help you
it depends on the light requirements of the plants you keep in your aquarium! i've not had a problem with floating plants blocking the light so much that the plants below suffer and die, buy y'know being a beginner myself, the plants I bought for my aquarium are hardy and forgiving. it may pay to look up how much light your specific plants need though 👍🏻
Yes... or rather, they "can." See, some plants are called low tech, meaning they don't require a lot of light (or co2) & even they can be blacked out by the full coverage of say, duckweed.
So two ways to work with floaters is to 1) restrict their movement (see other responses) or 2) consider low tech plants like some mosses for the substrate level.
I have freshwater angelfish and they need the shade from duckweed. When I have too much, I get an handfuls and feed my jewel cichlids with it. My cichlids goes crazy over duckweed.
Hi, your videos are so informative, I would like to see a video on anacharis Densa (elodea densa ) please Thnks
duckweed is by far my favorite on this list. I am not sure how anyone calls it impossible to get rid of either. I am guessing the people that say that are not gardeners that have to deal with actual invasive rooted plants. to remove it all you do is remove it. If you get some that comes back...remove that. its not exactly like a deep tap root you have to dig up.
Duckweed!
Super food!
👍
i have duckweed, azolla, and salvinia minima in my tanks they are my first floating plants so they have not grown alot yet
many years ago I stole a tiny bit of Salvina from the NYC botanical garden, so easy to grow, I just put in a plastic container on a window sil, and it just was so easy. Just keep the water up, obviously. salad for the goldfish!! all healthy and that. :)
All my red root floaters been great for half a year. They just made red islands topping on one another, untill they used all the excess nutrients and died.
I can't wait for my red root floater to come in!
Giant Salvinia ( Salvinia molesta) is a significant weed in coastal rivers, streams and ponds in eastern Australia. Thrives in urban creeks due to nutrient runoff from gardens and leaky sewers.
I have duckweed in one of my 20 gallon long tanks and really like it!
What is a good floater for a tank with common goldfish?
I have a hang on filter Ruth decent flow, any tips to keep the flow low to add in some floating plants?
The only way I’d ever even consider gettin’ duck weed is if I had goldfish and I don’t right now
I'm curious about keeping red root outdoors. I live half hour to an hour from the gulf coast. I just wonder what winter temperature is in the amazon.
I have Water Lettuce and I love it but that duck weed sounds awesome I'm going to have to get some
my duckweed dies.. any reason?
i have LED light. run it for 10 hrs minimum.
i have spong filter with low bubble raise..
I just purchased water sprite as a floating plant. It will be placed in a 30XH tank which is always “sunbathing” year round. I can’t wait to see the growth rate of this so called nutrient buster.
I enjoyed your video. Good information
Im 3 years late but loved the video. I like duckweed, water hyacinth, water lettuce, water sprite and frogbit. Never been able to get frogbit though just like the idea of it
i have low light , which will be the best ?
can you recommend plant with high flow water?
Do the red root floater flowers have an aroma? BTW, I have gotten rid of duck weed very easily - in fact I have not even been able to keep duck weed alive - my hand on back filters suck it up & then it is all gone.
Can we plant water lily in our aquarium show us how to do it
I am looking for a video on regular water hyacinth and water hyacinth in the aquarium... so far not finding it . A friend gave me tons of them and I have no idea what to do! lol
My frogbit grows VERY fast! It grows from 20% surface area coverage to 100% in just 1 week. I have to remove it very often haha.
Good top 5. Would riccia fluitans be considered a floating plant? I've see people use thing like mesh nets and grow it in the water. I do nothing with minne and it just floats and grows pretty quick on the surface.
Is that frog bit a special kind because it is huge mine are tiny they are healthy but smaller leaves
I get rid of my duckweed with a wet/dry vac. I did keep it at one point but now I have declared war against it. All your other choices are great. I feel like with duckweed that you should have mentioned there was a giant duckweed which is also not as terrible as the small stuff that covers your arms and spreads like mad.
I absolutely love duck weed it is my favorite plant I feed it to my chickens they love it better than the fish too
wouldnt duckweed encourage bloat in goldfish? i've debated it but thats my big concern as they would be going to the surface to eat it and bringing in air.
I have read that if you have multiple tanks, if one has duckweed, it’ll spread to all the tanks eventually, will this same issue occur with the frogbit or dwarf water lettuce or salvinia?
Duckweed is great, also a good way to filter lights
Top tip to buying aquarium plants. Take all the rules people give you (other than water parameters etc.) and throw them out. Grow that duckweed. Grow that hornwort. Do what you want.
Hi, my neighbor has some Giant Salvinia is this good for fishponds, I have never seen it before.
Thought you may know!
Thanks
my frogbit is growing crazy 1 day new leaf idk how that happened i tought they grow slow but i love it
Waiting for my red root floaters and mote carlo I ordered from your website. Thank you h20
I bought savinia mínima from you and you are definitely right about it taking over a tank. Got 12 pieces and I need to spread it out to my other tanks. 😂
Crystal Rosado what’s the flow like in your tank
Do you have to be licensed to sell aquarium plants typically?
What about plants where the roots dont grow long or stay short?
I have frogbit and the roots grow so fast and long, the roots grow to the botton of my 70 gallon tank.....
Nice...video so informative....Thanks
First time seeing your site.
Adding duck weed I cool I think, multiple functional
My back yard pond is over grown with these floating plants
Give me
You should sell them
Parasites though
i am really annoyed with the plants I have, they look like frogbit but get really long roots, they just keep growing and cover the whole aquarium in no time and grow into the substrat. can you reccoment some floating plants that dont get long roots? I have a 70 gallon aquarium and id like the roots not be longer than 10cm / 3-4 inches
If purchased from a store or shipped, Can duckweed be bleach dipped before adding to aquarium ?
Great list.