Aquarium plants for betta tanks

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

   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 →
3. 3

   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 →
4. 4

   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 →
5. 5

   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 →
6. 6

   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 →
7. 7

   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 →
8. 8

   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 →
9. 9

   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 →
10. 10

    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 →
11. 11

    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 →
12. 12

    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 →
13. 13

    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 →
14. 14

    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 →
15. 15

    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 →
16. 16

    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 →
17. 17

    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 →
18. 18

    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 →
19. 19

    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 →
20. 20

    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 →
21. 21

    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 →
22. 22

    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 →
23. 23

    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 →
24. 24

    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 →
25. 25

    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 →
26. 26

    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 →
27. 27

    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 →
28. 28

    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 →
29. 29

    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 →
30. 30

    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 →
31. 31

    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 →
32. 32

    Lagenandra Meeboldii 'Red'

    Lagenandra meeboldii

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

    Lagenandra meeboldii 'Red' is a crypt relative with thick, leathery leaves that flush reddish-pink to copper, offering a slow, low-light alternative to demanding red stem plants.

    $8.99 Out of stockCare profile →
33. 33

    Willow Moss

    Fontinalis antipyretica

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

    Willow Moss is a coldwater moss with larger, darker, keeled leaves arranged along trailing stems, giving a coarser, more cascading look than Java or Christmas moss.

    $6.99 Out of stockCare profile →