Aquarium plants that grow in low light

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

   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 →
4. 4

   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 →
5. 5

   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 →
6. 6

   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 →
7. 7

   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 →
8. 8

   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 →
9. 9

   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 →
10. 10

    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 →
11. 11

    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 →
12. 12

    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 →
13. 13

    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 →
14. 14

    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 →
15. 15

    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 →
16. 16

    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 →
17. 17

    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 →
18. 18

    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 →
19. 19

    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 →
20. 20

    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 →
21. 21

    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 →
22. 22

    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 →
23. 23

    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 →
24. 24

    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 →
25. 25

    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 →
26. 26

    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 →
27. 27

    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 →
28. 28

    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 →
29. 29

    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 →
30. 30

    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 →
31. 31

    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 →
32. 32

    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 →
33. 33

    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 →
34. 34

    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 →
35. 35

    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 →
36. 36

    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 →
37. 37

    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 →
38. 38

    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 →
39. 39

    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 →
40. 40

    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 →