Floating plants for aquariums

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

   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 →
3. 3

   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 →
4. 4

   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 →
5. 5

   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 →
6. 6

   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 →
7. 7

   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 →
8. 8

   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 →
9. 9

   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 →
10. 10

    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 →
11. 11

    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 →
12. 12

    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 →
13. 13

    Riccia

    Riccia fluitans

    • Medium
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 2"

    Riccia is technically a liverwort, and it leads a double life: left alone it floats as a tangle of bright forked ribbons, but tied over flat stones under strong light and CO2 it becomes the famous pearling 'Riccia stone' carpet that Takashi Amano built nature aquascaping around.

    $6.99 Out of stockCare profile →