Foreground plants for aquariums

The species, easiest first

1. 1

   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 →
2. 2

   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 →
3. 3

   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 →
4. 4

   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 →
5. 5

   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 →
6. 6

   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 →
7. 7

   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 →
8. 8

   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 →
9. 9

   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 →
10. 10

    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 →
11. 11

    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 →
12. 12

    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 →
13. 13

    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 →
14. 14

    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 →
15. 15

    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 →
16. 16

    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 →
17. 17

    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 →
18. 18

    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 →
19. 19

    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 →
20. 20

    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 →
21. 21

    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 →
22. 22

    Cryptocoryne Parva

    Cryptocoryne parva

    • Medium
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 3"

    Cryptocoryne parva is the smallest of the crypts, forming tight little rosettes of narrow green leaves just a couple of inches tall — one of the few crypts usable as a true foreground plant.

    $6.99 Out of stockCare profile →
23. 23

    Dwarf Hairgrass

    Eleocharis parvula

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

    Dwarf Hairgrass forms the classic grassy lawn of iwagumi layouts, spreading by runners into a field of fine green blades.

    $4.99 In stockCare profile →
24. 24

    Hydrocotyle Tripartita

    Hydrocotyle tripartita

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

    Hydrocotyle tripartita is a fast, versatile creeper with small three-lobed, clover-like leaves on wiry stems that can be grown as a low foreground carpet, a midground bush, or trailing over hardscape.

    $6.99 Out of stockCare profile →
25. 25

    Micro Sword

    Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae

    • Medium
    • Medium light
    • CO2 beneficial
    • Max 3"

    Micro Sword forms a grassy foreground carpet of short, flat blades — broader and a touch more lush-looking than hairgrass — spreading by runners across the substrate.

    $6.99 Out of stockCare profile →
26. 26

    Monte Carlo

    Micranthemum tweediei 'Monte Carlo'

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

    Monte Carlo is the most achievable true carpeting plant: round, bright-green leaves that creep along the substrate and form a dense lawn.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
27. 27

    Pogostemon Helferi (Downoi)

    Pogostemon helferi

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

    Pogostemon helferi, known as Downoi, forms low star-shaped rosettes of crinkled, wavy-edged leaves that make an unmistakable foreground accent.

    $10.99 Out of stockCare profile →
28. 28

    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 →
29. 29

    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 →
30. 30

    Dwarf Baby Tears

    Hemianthus callitrichoides 'Cuba'

    • Advanced
    • High light
    • CO2 required
    • Max 1"

    Dwarf Baby Tears is the iconic iwagumi carpet — the smallest-leaved aquarium plant in the trade, forming a dense lawn of millimeter foliage that pearls with oxygen under bright light.

    $5.99 In stockCare profile →
31. 31

    Glossostigma

    Glossostigma elatinoides

    • Advanced
    • High light
    • CO2 required
    • Max 1"

    Glossostigma is one of the smallest carpeting plants, forming a low lawn of tiny paired round leaves that hugs the substrate when conditions are right.

    $6.99 Out of stockCare profile →