Aquarium plants for beginners

The species, easiest first

1. 1

   Amazon Frogbit

   Limnobium laevigatum

   • Easy
   • Low light
   • No CO2 needed
   • Max 1"

   Amazon Frogbit floats rosettes of round, lily-pad leaves with long feathery roots that shelter fry and shrimp while stripping nutrients from the water column.

   $7.99 Out of stockCare profile →
2. 2

   Amazon Sword

   Echinodorus amazonicus

   • Easy
   • Medium light
   • No CO2 needed
   • Max 20"

   The Amazon Sword is the classic centerpiece plant: a big, hardy rosette that anchors the back of a community tank.

   $6.99 In stockCare profile →
3. 3

   Anacharis

   Egeria densa

   • Easy
   • Low light
   • No CO2 needed
   • Max 36"

   Anacharis is the classic coldwater workhorse — fast, cheap, and content from an unheated goldfish tank to a tropical community.

   $5.99 In stockCare profile →
4. 4

   Anubias Afzelii

   Anubias afzelii

   • Easy
   • Low light
   • No CO2 needed
   • Max 14"

   Anubias afzelii is a tall, slender Anubias with long lance-shaped leaves, giving a more upright silhouette than the rounder barteri types.

   $6.99 In stockCare profile →
5. 5

   Anubias Barteri

   Anubias barteri var. barteri

   • Easy
   • Low light
   • No CO2 needed
   • Max 16"

   Anubias Barteri is the full-size cousin of Anubias Nana, with broad, leathery leaves on longer stalks that make it a genuine centerpiece epiphyte rather than a foreground accent.

   $7.99 In stockCare profile →
6. 6

   Anubias Congensis

   Anubias barteri var. congensis

   • Easy
   • Low light
   • No CO2 needed
   • Max 14"

   Anubias Congensis grows long, narrow, slightly arched leaves on upright stalks, giving it a more elegant, vertical look than the rounder Barteri.

   $7.99 In stockCare profile →
7. 7

   Anubias Hastifolia

   Anubias hastifolia

   • Easy
   • Low light
   • No CO2 needed
   • Max 16"

   Anubias hastifolia is one of the larger Anubias species, with distinctive arrowhead- or halberd-shaped leaves that lend an architectural look to bigger tanks.

   $6.99 In stockCare profile →
8. 8

   Anubias Nana

   Anubias barteri var. nana

   • Easy
   • Low light
   • No CO2 needed
   • Max 6"

   Anubias Nana is a slow-growing epiphyte with thick, dark, nearly indestructible leaves.

   $7.99 In stockCare profile →
9. 9

   Anubias Nana Petite

   Anubias barteri var. nana 'Petite'

   • Easy
   • Low light
   • No CO2 needed
   • Max 3"

   Anubias Nana 'Petite' is a miniature selection of Nana with leaves barely the size of a fingernail, making it the go-to epiphyte for nano tanks, bonsai trees, and detailed foreground rockwork.

   $6.99 In stockCare profile →
10. 10

    Anubias Nangi

    Anubias barteri var. nana x Anubias gilletii

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 8"

    Anubias 'Nangi' is a hybrid with elongated, pointed leaves and a compact, mid-sized habit that sits between the tiny nana and the larger species.

    $7.99 In stockCare profile →
11. 11

    Bacopa Caroliniana

    Bacopa caroliniana

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 12"

    Bacopa caroliniana is the slow-and-steady stem plant: thick succulent-like leaves on upright stalks that hold their shape between trims, ideal for orderly Dutch-style rows.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
12. 12

    Broad-Leaf Chain Sword

    Helanthium bolivianum 'Latifolius'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 6"

    The Broad-Leaf Chain Sword is a small, grassy sword that spreads by runners into a low foreground-to-midground meadow, with leaves wider and a touch taller than its narrow-leaf relative.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
13. 13

    Bucephalandra

    Bucephalandra sp.

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 4"

    Bucephalandra is a slow-growing Borneo epiphyte prized for its iridescent blue-green sheen and compact size.

    $6.99 Out of stockCare profile →
14. 14

    Christmas Moss

    Vesicularia montagnei

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 4"

    Christmas Moss grows in neat, triangular fronds that overlap like fir branches, making it the tidier, more sculptural alternative to Java Moss.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
15. 15

    Crinum Calamistratum

    Crinum calamistratum

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 24"

    Crinum calamistratum is a bulb plant that sends up long, narrow, deeply crinkled dark-green leaves that twist and sway like ribbons, making a striking low-tech centerpiece.

    $13.99 Out of stockCare profile →
16. 16

    Cryptocoryne Balansae

    Cryptocoryne crispatula var. balansae

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 16"

    Crypt Balansae brings height to a low-tech tank with long, ruffled, strap-like leaves that sway in the current.

    $9.79 In stockCare profile →
17. 17

    Cryptocoryne Lucens

    Cryptocoryne lucens

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 4"

    Crypt Lucens is one of the smallest cryptocorynes — narrow, glossy green leaves rarely topping four inches — making it the easiest path to a planted foreground without carpet-plant demands.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
18. 18

    Cryptocoryne Lutea

    Cryptocoryne lutea

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 6"

    Crypt Lutea is a slightly taller, darker cousin of Crypt Wendtii with smooth olive-green leaves on upright stalks — equally bulletproof in low light without CO2.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
19. 19

    Cryptocoryne Wendtii

    Cryptocoryne wendtii

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 6"

    Cryptocoryne wendtii is the definitive low-light midground plant, forming slow, dense rosettes in green, bronze, or red depending on the variety and light.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
20. 20

    Duckweed

    Lemna minor

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 1"

    Duckweed is the fastest nutrient exporter in the hobby: a film of pinhead-sized fronds that doubles in days, starving algae and feeding herbivorous fish in the process.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
21. 21

    Dwarf Lily

    Nymphaea stellata

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 16"

    The Dwarf Lily grows from a bulb into a rosette of arrow-shaped leaves that range from green to deep red and bronze depending on light.

    $5.99 Out of stockCare profile →
22. 22

    Dwarf Lobelia Cardinalis

    Lobelia cardinalis 'Dwarf'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 6"

    The dwarf cardinal plant grows rounded, almost succulent bright-green leaves on stout upright stems — the classic plant for the Dutch 'street', a diagonal walkway of identical plants through the foreground.

    $4.99 In stockCare profile →
23. 23

    Dwarf Sagittaria

    Sagittaria subulata

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 6"

    Dwarf Sagittaria is the low-tech answer to a grassy foreground: tougher than hairgrass, happy without CO2, and tolerant of hard, alkaline water.

    $6.99 Out of stockCare profile →
24. 24

    Fissidens Nobilis

    Fissidens nobilis

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 3"

    Fissidens nobilis grows in flat, feathery fronds that look less like typical aquarium moss and more like miniature ferns carpeting a stone — among the most refined textures available for hardscape.

    $13.99 Out of stockCare profile →
25. 25

    Flame Moss

    Taxiphyllum 'Flame'

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 4"

    Flame Moss is unusual among aquatic mosses for growing upward in twisting, flame-like vertical columns rather than spreading flat, giving a tank a fiery, textured look.

    $11.99 Out of stockCare profile →
26. 26

    Giant Duckweed

    Spirodela polyrhiza

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 1"

    Giant Duckweed is the larger cousin of common duckweed, with rounder fronds up to about a quarter inch across and several trailing roots beneath each, making it easier to net out than tiny Lemna.

    $7.99 Out of stockCare profile →
27. 27

    Golden Lloydiella

    Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 12"

    Golden Lloydiella carries round, butter-yellow leaves up sturdy stems — an instant color contrast against standard green plants without any of the demands of red species.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
28. 28

    Green Ozelot Sword

    Echinodorus 'Ozelot Green'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 18"

    The Green Ozelot Sword is a hardy hybrid sword with green leaves scattered with dark maroon-brown spots, giving a centerpiece plant a patterned, almost leopard-print look without demanding equipment.

    $7.99 In stockCare profile →
29. 29

    Guppy Grass

    Najas guadalupensis

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 24"

    Guppy Grass is a brittle, fast-growing stem plant that can be planted, left to float, or wedged into hardscape, making it one of the most flexible nutrient exporters in the hobby.

    $6.99 Out of stockCare profile →
30. 30

    Helanthium Bolivianum 'Quadricostatus'

    Helanthium bolivianum 'Quadricostatus'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 6"

    Helanthium 'Quadricostatus' is a small chain-sword that sends out runners to form a bright green grassy carpet in the foreground or midground.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
31. 31

    Hornwort

    Ceratophyllum demersum

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 40"

    Hornwort is less a plant you grow than a green engine you deploy: rootless, indestructible across a 35-degree temperature range, and so fast-growing it routinely out-eats algae in new setups.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
32. 32

    Hygrophila Angustifolia

    Hygrophila corymbosa 'Angustifolia'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 24"

    Willow Hygro grows long, narrow leaves that arch and sway in the current like a submerged willow — the easiest way to add motion to a tall background.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
33. 33

    Hygrophila Corymbosa

    Hygrophila corymbosa

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 24"

    Hygrophila corymbosa is a big, broad-leaved background stem that turns a bare back wall into a green hedge in weeks, no CO2 required.

    $9.19 In stockCare profile →
34. 34

    Hygrophila Salicifolia (Hygro Blue)

    Hygrophila salicifolia

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 18"

    Hygrophila salicifolia is a fast, undemanding willow-leaf stem plant that grows in low to moderate light without CO2, making it a reliable nutrient sponge for new tanks.

    $8.99 In stockCare profile →
35. 35

    Hygrophila Siamensis

    Hygrophila corymbosa 'Siamensis'

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 20"

    Siamensis is the mid-sized member of the corymbosa family — smaller leaves and a bushier habit than the full Temple Plant, with the same iron constitution.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
36. 36

    Java Fern

    Microsorum pteropus

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 13"

    Java Fern is one of the most forgiving aquarium plants available: it grows in low light, needs no CO2 or substrate, and is ignored by nearly all livestock.

    $10.99 In stockCare profile →
37. 37

    Java Fern 'Trident'

    Microsorum pteropus 'Trident'

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 8"

    Java Fern 'Trident' is a finely branched cultivar whose narrow leaves split into multiple finger-like lobes, giving a softer, more fern-like texture than the standard plant.

    $6.99 Out of stockCare profile →
38. 38

    Java Fern 'Windelov'

    Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 8"

    'Windelov' is a Java Fern selection whose leaf tips split into delicate, antler-like crests, giving it a softer, lacier silhouette than the plain species.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
39. 39

    Java Fern Narrow-Leaf

    Microsorum pteropus 'Narrow'

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 10"

    Narrow-Leaf Java Fern carries slim, upright blades a fraction the width of the standard plant, reading as finer and more orderly while keeping every bit of the species' toughness.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
40. 40

    Java Moss

    Taxiphyllum barbieri

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 4"

    Java Moss is the workhorse of aquarium mosses: it survives almost any light, temperature, and water chemistry, and anchors itself to stone, wood, and mesh.

    $4.99 In stockCare profile →
41. 41

    Juncus Repens

    Juncus repens

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 8"

    Juncus repens is a true aquatic rush — stiff, grassy blades that creep and angle through the midground, adding a wild meadow texture no stem or carpet plant replicates.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
42. 42

    Jungle Val

    Vallisneria americana

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 36"

    Jungle Val grows ribbon leaves a yard long that bend and flow across the surface, creating the jungle-stream canopy look with zero technology: low light, no CO2, hard water welcome.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
43. 43

    Kleiner Bar Sword

    Echinodorus 'Kleiner Bar'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 12"

    Kleiner Bar is a compact, narrow-leaved sword whose new growth flushes red and copper, staying smaller than the big Amazon-type swords so it fits midground positions in moderate tanks.

    $8.99 In stockCare profile →
44. 44

    Ludwigia 'Super Red Mini'

    Ludwigia palustris 'Super Red'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 8"

    Super Red Mini is a selected form of Ludwigia palustris that stays small and turns a deep blood-red with far less effort than classic high-tech reds.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
45. 45

    Ludwigia Dark Red

    Ludwigia sp. 'Dark Red'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 14"

    Ludwigia 'Dark Red' is one of the easiest ways to get genuine red into a planted tank, holding deep burgundy tones even under moderate light where many red plants fade to green.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
46. 46

    Ludwigia Palustris

    Ludwigia palustris

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 10"

    Ludwigia palustris is a compact, small-leaved red stem that colors up at lower light than almost any other red plant — solid medium light produces rusty red tops even without CO2.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
47. 47

    Ludwigia Peruensis

    Ludwigia peruensis

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 18"

    Ludwigia peruensis is a fast, large-leaved red stem plant that brings bold orange-to-red foliage to the background without the fussiness of finer Ludwigias.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
48. 48

    Ludwigia Repens

    Ludwigia repens

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 20"

    Ludwigia repens is the easiest red stem plant in the hobby — coppery-red undersides even in modest setups, deepening to full red as light increases.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
49. 49

    Marble Queen Radican Sword

    Echinodorus cordifolius 'Marble Queen'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 18"

    The Marble Queen is a variegated radican sword, splashing cream and white across broad, spade-shaped green leaves — a centerpiece plant that needs no CO2, just deep substrate and steady root feeding.

    $9.89 In stockCare profile →
50. 50

    Mexican Oak Leaf

    Shinnersia rivularis

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 24"

    Mexican Oak Leaf is a vigorous green stem plant named for its lobed, oak-like leaves, and it grows fast enough to outcompete algae in a newly set-up tank.

    $6.99 Out of stockCare profile →
51. 51

    Moneywort

    Bacopa monnieri

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 12"

    Moneywort is a hardy, undemanding stem plant with small, rounded, succulent light-green leaves along upright stalks — a tidy, brighter-green alternative to Bacopa caroliniana.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
52. 52

    Narrow-Leaf Chain Sword

    Helanthium tenellum

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 4"

    The narrow-leaf chain sword is the fastest natural lawn for a medium-light tank: grass-like rosettes that fire off runner after runner until the foreground is a meadow.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
53. 53

    Peacock Moss

    Taxiphyllum sp. 'Peacock'

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 2"

    Peacock Moss is named for the iridescent, fan-shaped fronds that fan out in overlapping tiers resembling peacock feathers, especially attractive under good light.

    $14.99 Out of stockCare profile →
54. 54

    Pearl Weed

    Hemianthus glomeratus

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 8"

    Pearl Weed is the shape-shifter of aquascaping: trimmed hard it creeps into a tight carpet, left taller it builds dense bright-green mounds and hedges, all on tiny paired leaves.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
55. 55

    Red Ozelot Sword

    Echinodorus 'Ozelot'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 18"

    Red Ozelot Sword is prized for its dramatic foliage: reddish-brown leaves freckled with darker maroon spots, like an animal print, that hold up well even in moderate light.

    $7.99 In stockCare profile →
56. 56

    Red Root Floaters

    Phyllanthus fluitans

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 1"

    Red Root Floaters are the showpiece floating plant: under strong light the leaves flush deep red and the trailing crimson roots match.

    $10.99 In stockCare profile →
57. 57

    Red Rubin Sword

    Echinodorus 'Red Rubin'

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 20"

    Red Rubin Sword is a large rosette plant whose broad lance-shaped leaves emerge deep wine-red and mature to a reddish-bronze, making it a striking centerpiece for bigger tanks.

    $8.99 In stockCare profile →
58. 58

    Red Tiger Lotus

    Nymphaea zenkeri

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 12"

    Red Tiger Lotus erupts from a bulb into a fountain of burgundy, tiger-streaked leaves — the easiest deep-red focal plant in the hobby, needing no CO2 to color up.

    $4.89 In stockCare profile →
59. 59

    Rotala Rotundifolia

    Rotala rotundifolia

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 20"

    Rotala rotundifolia is the standard background stem of nature-style aquascaping: fast, forgiving, and quick to form the soft pink-orange bushes seen behind iwagumi stone work.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
60. 60

    Salvinia Cucullata

    Salvinia cucullata

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 1"

    Salvinia cucullata is a floating fern whose paired leaves fold upward into little cupped pockets, giving it a distinctive bead-like texture quite different from the flat, hairy Salvinia minima.

    $8.99 In stockCare profile →
61. 61

    Salvinia Minima

    Salvinia minima

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 1"

    Salvinia minima is a small floating fern whose fuzzy, water-repellent leaf pairs spread into a quilted surface mat — large enough to net out easily, unlike duckweed, but just as effective at shading and nitrate export.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
62. 62

    Salvinia Natans

    Salvinia natans

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 1"

    Salvinia natans is a floating fern with paired oval leaves covered in tiny water-repellent hairs that keep it riding high and dry on the surface, shading the tank and exporting nutrients fast.

    $4.99 Out of stockCare profile →
63. 63

    Staurogyne Repens

    Staurogyne repens

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 4"

    Staurogyne repens is a compact, slow-growing bush plant that stays under a few inches — the easiest path to a structured green foreground without committing to a true carpet.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
64. 64

    Vallisneria Spiralis

    Vallisneria spiralis

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 24"

    Vallisneria spiralis is the tank-sized Val: the same effortless ribbon-grass look as Jungle Val, but topping out around two feet instead of three, so it suits standard aquariums without constant leaf-folding at the surface.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
65. 65

    Water Lettuce

    Pistia stratiotes

    • Easy
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 3"

    Water Lettuce floats velvety, ribbed rosettes with long feathery roots that fish fry and shrimp treat as nursery habitat, while the plant itself strips nitrates faster than almost anything else in the tank.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
66. 66

    Water Sprite

    Ceratopteris thalictroides

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 18"

    Water Sprite is a fast, lacy fern that works planted or floating, growing dense thickets that bettas and fry treat as furniture.

    $6.99 In stockCare profile →
67. 67

    Water Wisteria

    Hygrophila difformis

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 20"

    Water Wisteria is a fast, lacy-leaved stem plant that thrives on neglect and drinks up excess nutrients, making it one of the best plants for a new tank fighting algae.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
68. 68

    Weeping Moss

    Vesicularia ferriei

    • Easy
    • Low light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 3"

    Weeping Moss is named for its drooping, teardrop-shaped fronds that hang downward, making it the go-to moss for creating a weeping-willow effect on tree-style hardscape and the undersides of branches.

    $5.99 Out of stockCare profile →