Aquarium plants that don't need CO2

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

    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 →
14. 14

    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 →
15. 15

    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 →
16. 16

    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 →
17. 17

    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 →
18. 18

    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 →
19. 19

    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 →
20. 20

    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 →
21. 21

    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 →
22. 22

    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 →
23. 23

    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 →
24. 24

    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 →
25. 25

    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 →
26. 26

    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 →
27. 27

    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 →
28. 28

    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 →
29. 29

    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 →
30. 30

    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 →
31. 31

    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 →
32. 32

    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 →
33. 33

    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 →
34. 34

    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 →
35. 35

    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 →
36. 36

    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 →
37. 37

    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 →
38. 38

    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 →
39. 39

    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 →
40. 40

    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 →
41. 41

    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 →
42. 42

    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 →
43. 43

    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 →
44. 44

    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 →
45. 45

    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 →
46. 46

    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 →
47. 47

    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 →
48. 48

    Echinodorus Fancy Twist

    Echinodorus 'Fancy Twist'

    • Medium
    • Medium light
    • No CO2 needed
    • Max 14"

    Fancy Twist is a hybrid sword grown for its dramatically curled and rippled leaves, with new growth flushing pink or red over a green, lightly speckled base.

    $7.99 In stockCare profile →
49. 49

    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 →