Aquarium plants that stay under 3 inches

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 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

   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

   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 →
5. 5

   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 →
6. 6

   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 →
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

    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 →
13. 13

    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 →
14. 14

    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 →
15. 15

    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 →
16. 16

    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 →
17. 17

    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 →
18. 18

    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 →