Top 5 Floating Plants to Get Rid of Algae in Your Aquarium

[@GirlTalksFish]

*Any tips on growing dwarf water lettuce so that it grows to a 3-inch (7.5 cm) diameter? Mine always stay small.*

[@brandonjiang5041]

I believe that they are different types of water lettece so when you are searching for it put in water lettece

[@AquaticHobbyist909]

Theres actually two species of water lettuce I keep both in my 55 gallon. Regular water lettuce can grow to be a variety of sizes much bigger than the “dwarf” which tops out at about 6 inches. People miss label the two species a lot.

[@realj7513]

You need very high light and no lid. Try this, get a container, fill it with aquarium water, put a single water lettuce and leave it outside in the sun. After a few days you will see very good growth! they actually grow bushier and compact with nicer colors in high light instead of flat dull look people have in aquariums.

[@mrblue999]

I put my "dwarf water lettuce" outdoors this summer and they got huge. Over 6" inches in diameter and I'm sure they would've gotten bigger over time. They're never more than a couple of inches wide indoors even under my 90 PAR light.

[@vivekvs1992]

Hi I'm not exactly sure whether there are 2 variations of water lettuce.. But the one I have at home grows huge... I have them what's supposed to be a rainwater harvesting tank.. But it gets lots nitrogen from the giant gaurami, tilapia and pearlspot living it them... My suggestion would be to set up a patio pond setup and propogate your floaters there... I get almost wine red red root floater roots there.. Though the leaves won't be red because there's no nitrate limitation

[@cringe5157]

Instructions unclear. There is algae growing on my floating plants

[@IMaqua]

Floating plants are must for begginers. In all my aquariums that have floating plants I noticed less algae. Cheers Irene.

[@GirlTalksFish]

Totally agree!

[@tomDMB]

How many hours do you turn your light on for your floaters?

[@JasonYuSprints]

Based on my experience, water lettuce needs lots of nutrients, lights and oxygen to grow BIG. They grow small in indoor aquariums, yet huge in outdoor ponds. When kept outdoor, water lettuce can overwinter outside in temperature lowest 5-8 Celcius. They make great spawning 'mop' for goldfish too.

[@Camscornershop]

with the dwarf water lettuce I have a bunch and when I first started they all seemed to stay smaller but when I lowered my flow in my tank and added more fertilizer (I use easy green) they started growing like crazy and now I'm starting to see more and more big flower looking blooms.

[@noelbrucker135]

The only floating plant that I’ve been able to try has been the salvinia minima, which I love… in the right tank. In my tanks with hang on back filters, they stay little and don’t do well (even with a floating ring), but they are out of control in my 6g nano tanks with sponge filters - lush and gorgeous with 2-3 inch roots (which my betta and my chili rasboras absolutely love for hide and seek), and they grow so fast I have to clear the tank every 3-4 days. I’m interested in trying some of your larger options for my larger HOB tanks. Great video, as always, Irene! ❤

[@somdov]

The duckweed jumpscares were too much for my little heart 😨

[@whatever833]

I've never encountered duckweed. But I'm always on the lookout

[@GirlTalksFish]

My editor is too good at his job! 😂

[@sleepyfish2157]

HELPPL MEEEE THE DUCKWEED HAS TAKEN OVER MY AQUARIUM IM JUST STARTED WITH FEW😭😭

[@mayaal629]

@@sleepyfish2157 you should keep a couple in a little ring instead of your all tank.

[@ruthief4461]

Duckweed was just too much for my small tank so I took it all out. It was difficult cleaning the tank even with them corralled in a ring.

[@cathlinejohnson1856]

My fancy goldfish devour the roots of frogbit and decimate duckweed lol they basically think I’ve brought them a little tasty treat for being such good water-puppies. 🥰 Thanks for your vids-I love them!

[@MrTorivity]

Try water lettuce. they grow super big.

[@cadenlikespigs]

A layer of floating plants and lowlight plants are a great way to make an aquascape.

[@valiaudet3415]

I'm experimenting with dwarf water lettuce. In outdoor pond grows and propagates quickly. In a tub, in shade, growing just ok. In the inside heated tanks they die quickly if receiving too much water on leaves. Noted that where tops remain drier a single floating leaf will propagate, easy. My latest is placing a pond grown, 2inch diameter plant leaving the long roots to dangle through the hole in a half inch slither of pool noodle to keep leaves out of water. There has been lots of die off. Having tanks with lids keeps too much humidity. So, my conclusion water lettuce is great for outdoors in small pond, partial sun. Indoors in tanks without lids.

[@bobmorgan476]

I have a couple of hang-on-back filters that cause strong currents that pushed my floating plants around too much. Killed water sprite, frogbit, salvinia, and even duckweed. Then I bought fake plastic plants to give my surface dwellers some cover, and a few weeks ago I added more salvinia and frogbit and duckweed. The floating plastic plants helped corral my live floaters and they’re really doing well. Some folks may frown on fake plants, but they look pretty natural and most people can’t tell the difference. Also, the fish like them just fine.

[@hannyoongi]

I have silk plants and live plants on my tanks. People can't tell the difference between them. It's either they thought all plants are fake or all plants are real.

[@gregnezz]

Thank you so much @GirlTalksFish! Irene your videos have helped me setup a 20 gallon planted little community of shrimp, pygmy cory's, neon tetra and an Otto.

[@Bucephalandra]

I recommend Giant Duckweeds. Their reddish under surface are excellent.

[@shawndoe2834]

I'm just trying it out for the first time. Its taking a while to establish itself but I think its quite beautiful. I'm not getting much red so I'm guessing I can increase the lightning.

[@xx_pup3pwr_xx]

The corrals may literally save my life! I’ve been trying to grow red root floaters for my Axolotl tank so it isn’t too bright for my baby, but even with the gentle flow filter in combination with her little bubbler/airstone…. I’m def struggling haha 😭 Thank you as always!!!

[@typicallyusual6984]

Salvinia cucullata is my favorite type of salvinia! It’s so incredibly easy to remove and the roots are so long! They definitely need liquid fertilizer and medium light for long, thick roots and pretty leaves. Maybe the water lettuce also needed a little more light for bigger leaves…? I noticed that the salvinia cucullata gets smaller leaves and shorter roots with less light and fertilizer. They grow really really fast compared to my red root floaters. Also I think we got the red root floaters from the same seller haha 😂. They gave me the salvinia cucullata as a freebie when I requested that one specifically. Edit: I’m not quite sure why, but in one of my tanks the roots of the salvinia cucullata got up to 10 inches. Would be AMAZING for livebearers and any fish that like to lay eggs in floating roots.

[@GirlTalksFish]

Wow, I had no idea! I got my Salvinia cucullata from a local fish store and roots are fairly short so far. But maybe they'll grow super long in the future!

[@NovusMens]

One floater that I've come to love is ricciocarpos natans. It is a floating liverwort that is closer in size to red-roots but divide instead of growing along root systems. Surprisingly hardy and easy to remove without making to much of a mess.

[@abhie_96]

My experience with dwarf water lettuce is a lot of nutrients and more than 8 hours of light. This would help them grow. Since I had them about a year ago my nitrates are never above 25 PPM. I think that helps.

[@Cora-ex0tic-critterkeeping]

I was just thinking last night about how I needed this exact video for the exact same algae problem last night! Perfect timing! 😂

[@mwoodward1240]

I loooove water sprite. I bought a clump of water sprite about 5 years ago... and I haven't had to since because they've done so well and have given me countless of other plants.

[@janejingyuzhang241]

Same here! I also have trouble growing dwarf water lettuce big. I'm interested in trying water sprites!!

[@alaskacosplay]

I used to have floating plants but I had so much that it killed all my fish at one point. It was like a phase I had and I enjoyed it for the time. The second floating plant is probably a dwarf water lettuce and to get them to grow, you really gotta pump up the nutrients and the fish population in the tank since they thrive off of all the nutrients in the water and of you get a big enough clump that's already growing spreading, you would eventually get the big flower like appearance

[@MoldyBones27]

3:04 keep a single one separate and free from others with more room to expand. It will then take on its full light in-taking form.

[@gardenislandbradda]

After month and many $$$ wasted lol. I am finally able to have my red root floater grow. I did have some duckweed in my pile of red roots so now I have that also growing. Other plants are Christmas moss. I’ve heard some guppy grass but I hated how often I’ve had to trim them lol

[@ADDICTb2st]

My water lettuce is melting. Literally have the same problem with yours. They were beautiful at first. But they’re slowly melting away. I alreay reduced light exposure so that it receives less intense light hopefully it will help. If not I’m looking for frogbit or other plants you have listed here.

[@NiX_aKi]

Water lettuce almost never survive indoors. In my experience they require high light. Mine are outdoors and they are thriving.

[@marksmith566]

Red root floaters are my no.1 👍

[@musicalfish145]

I have water wisteria and it's kind of like water sprite! I can however say that it took over my tank (at least it was the only plant in there), grew roots, and it's not really a floating plant anymore. It never fully got those lacy leaves and it did melt when I removed a lot of fish (and when my betta went on a fry eating rampage) since it got so used to the insanely high bioload. From a distance it makes my tank look like it's nicely aquascaped, so that is a bonus XD

[@PlatyCove]

I love the duckweed sound effect! 😂

[@Nek0Furby]

Water lettuce loves bright light and high humidity, also needs a lot of nutrients. In my indoor tanks they do okey but similarly they don't shape nicely, only if i have CO2. However, in my outdoor tank with direct sunlight they grow beautiful and even flower specially in spring and summer.

[@skan7677]

Hi. Water lettuce needs lots of ligth. So a very powerfull light would be nedded, then you need to avoid humidity on top so do not put a lid on top, or let bubbles splash on top of the plant.

[@krzysszwajnos5511]

The best way to grow water lettuce is to keep the nutrients high. If you want a really big plant. Keep your biggest plant, and remove the rests of them. Let that one plant get big over time. A new plant and let that new water lettuce grow till it is also big. Also keep it attached to the original. It’s how they boost their growth. I’ve had alot of success after I accidentally created the same problem.

[@hillariat2147]

Hate to be *that* person but my fave floater is giant duckweed. All the aggression and durability of regular duckweed but easier to scoop out. Also i personally think it looks nicer than normal duckweed (green sludge, ew).

[@gooeygolden3414]

CANT AGREE MORE

[@Tulips_6]

Consistent reliable information…thank you!

[@littlemidwestrebornsdolls]

I am going to try floating plants. I have never used them before.

[@wheelbite9]

Dwarf water lettuce loves high light. I have hard water, idk if that helps too. Definitely my favorite floater!

[@Wazzit2ya]

Had red root floaters. Didnt went well . After 2 weeks, it turn brownish and to the point that the roots itself detach from the leaves. Im guessing that either my water agitation was a tad strong although i did push it to the furthest end of my tank away from the hob filter or there is a lack of nutrients for them to absorb. Still couldnt revive it. Maybe i should try out floating water sprite.

[@dylanneff]

My dwarf water lettuce only grows into those big beautiful rosettes when they have an inch or two to extend upward (the water level isn’t too high), and I have a vented lid to keep the humidity up but not too high. I have it in about 12 tanks, and it’s only the 3 tanks with those conditions where they get the big flower shape and super long roots. This is purely correlation, so it’s possible that something else in those tanks is actually causing it.

[@heavenecho]

I use a mixture of red root floaters and water sprites. It took me a while to realise that my current was killing my red roots so I got the water sprite to replace them but what happened was it created a natural corral for the red root and they came back with vengeance! I now have a pretty half dark and half light tank because of my two floating plants ☺️.

[@unicorntulkas]

Technically related to salvinia but with very different leaves I'm currently trying my hand at Azolla filiculoides. They look gorgeous in my opinion.

[@clairanna]

My tank it going through the worst Algae bloom. I’m a beginner and would love frogbit but heard it’s illegal in California!?

[@NatashaReeder]

All my frogbit melted even with nutrients and light but I noticed that there are little sprouts all over my tank now :)

[@sophiafailing9743]

Love your vids so much thanks so much😀

[@frogwithadog]

salvina is by far my fav floater

[@reecechapman7286]

My dwarf lettice grew pretty big I use liquid fertiliser and also its more of an ecosystem tanks like snailes shrimps and so on and heavily planted my lettice grow to about 8 inches or more and the roots were massive my cherry shrimp loved them

[@jimmyjames2022]

I let my Salvinia minima battle my duckweed in my shrimp tank, sometimes it won, sometimes it lost, overall it was a draw. I like Salvinia and duckweed for a low maintenece shrimp tank.

[@watzegjemedaarnouvan]

Tips for growing biger water lettuce is to have as little flow as positive and lowering the water line soo they have more space to grow big.

[@soogymoogi]

Great video! My 40 breeder is mostly loaches so I'm always looking for something they won't dig up. I'm not super concerned with shading out other plants because of that, the only stuff I've had luck with is dwarf lily. I'll have to see if I can find some of that cool cup-shaped salvinia online because most of our freshwater LFS have gone out of business here :(

[@GirlTalksFish]

I'm really liking Salvinia cucullata so hope you can find it online!

[@justanotherhumanperson9424]

my favorite floaters have to be duckweed. I didn’t voluntarily get them, but they work.

[@MrCarponizer]

use Fluo Carbon Fishing line in size 70.. invisible under water and thick enough to hold the plants on spot. u can connect the ends of the line to the glasses with lighter and dip it to the glass :) works perfect

[@sovrappensiero1]

I’ve always wanted to try frogbit. Can’t find it anywhere near me. I bought some water lettuce online…it came without roots and melted. Cory said on a recent livestream that water lettuce doesn’t like to get wet in the middle and he is right (of course, LOL). I should start listening to him and stop buying floating plants online.

[@bd9057]

Got some Frogbits on etsy. Came without roots also but it grew out after a couple days. It's been a few weeks and now it's multiplied about 3x what I bought 😅

[@sarahwoodring5587]

Unpopular opinion: my favorite floating plant is DUCKWEED! Since I got goldfish, I can't grow it fast enough to keep them happy 😂

[@GirlTalksFish]

Lol, goldfish = nature's little lawnmowers

[@davidmazza1359]

i grow the in a kiddie pond and they get 5 in diamter. Not too hot sun, but do need around 5-6 hrs a day. hope this helps

[@anoobis_]

Salvinia Cucullata will grow similar leaves to that of Salvinia Minima if there is little nutrient or low light.

[@WhatIsMisophonia]

Your water is soft and low in nutrients, and in my experience, floating plants in general need a lot of everything; They do best in hard polluted water with high light, though some floating plants are tougher and more flexible about these conditions than others. The toughest floating plants are gonna be those that grow naturally in moderately soft water, as they're evolved to contend with low nutrients and minerals.

[@williamparker2922]

Fun fact!... If you want water lettuce to grow, just throw it in any Florida Lake. Water lettuce is illegal to posses in the State of Florida without a special permit usually reserved for schools and research institutions, because it grows so fast it becomes invasive. I live in Florida and have personally seen the stuff completely cover a small lake or pond.

[@bat8512]

I agree - water sprite is THE EASIEST!!!!!

[@AmyManchel]

I have gorgeous dwarf water lettuce that grows to those bigger sizes like you want. I get so much that I give it away. (If you want some I can ship it to you!) But for me it's just been high light and low water flow.

[@budiawan1784]

Yeah, saya sudah pakai watersprites untuk melunakkan sinar lampu aquariumku. Blackneonku kurang suka cahaya terang. Sekaligus sebagai tempat perlindungan bayi platy,

[@azntactical4884]

I have red roots. They are a pain. Sometimes they grow big and full and sometimes they grow small. I guess it depends how much fish is in my tank to provide the waste needed to feed them.

[@stephenbrown2054]

I can't keep floaters alive. My red root floaters all died and even the Duckweed is dying off. Yet, my submerged plants are doing fine. Is it not enough ferts?

[@whatever833]

I float water wisteria as well.

[@kafishteh7198]

Hi irine...😊 I also really need a floating plants.. thank you 😊

[@alinahavlishyna2389]

Thank you!nice informations

[@XMS1212X]

Which of these would help algae control the best? Suffering from green water

[@BBsBeasties]

I LOVE water sprite!

[@brightbrains8803]

Dwarf water lettuce need a lot of light to grow into flower form

[@djsuss552]

Tried dwarf water lettuce and my festivum tore them apart. Do floating plants help eliminate black beard algae?

[@CreativePets]

I had frog bit and I had to keep saving it from the filter then we went on vacation… and that was the end of the frog bit (the filter caught it all where it couldn’t get any light) 😂

[@Desperado070]

I can't keep frogbite in me female only guppy tank. No matter how much I put in there, they be nipping at the roots and at the end the plants melt away. But then in me male only tanks, no problem there.

[@Matt-du9ez]

everyone forgets about poor lil' azolla... theyre a pretty cool plant imo.

[@SequoiaElisabeth]

Nice job Irene. What about Hornwort? It is my favorite. 🙂

[@GirlTalksFish]

I'm afraid of the shedding needles! But my friend keeps them in his Mbuna tank and loves it. Good suggestion!

[@SequoiaElisabeth]

@@GirlTalksFish They only shed when unhappy.

[@asurajeff6316]

I think for dwarf water lettuce it’s really lack of nutrients that melts them, personally I tried to bring my big long rooted dwl from a newly build tank with fresh aquasoil to my to yrs old tank and it melted

[@katarzynafaras8033]

Hi. What is the name of the 2 plant🌿 ? Thank you

[@neutronshiva2498]

Frogbit never produces long roots for me. Lettuce on the other hand reaches substrate.

[@sugarmuffin319]

Hi! Where did you get the floating containment ring? I NEED that lol! Nevermind. You just explained 😂

[@Matt-du9ez]

you can make it using airline tubing and a connector i believe.

[@JaspersAquariums]

That’s the easiest way to do it. If you want it to stay in place, use airline tubing clips that suction to the side of the tank.

[@briandixon4931]

They need some form of c02 and nurtirent of course

[@Hadassah022]

Can you put floating plants in a Beta fish tank?

[@jimmynoname4089]

I purchased from your recommended seller and was not a good experience. Tiny portions, mostly doa, and no extra plants. Maybe it was just me. The one tiny sprig of guppy grass that did arrive is on life support and i do not expect it to survive.

[@pauloantoniomabanta3503]

Water lettuce are going to be WAY bigger and flowerier (is that a word???) in a shallow container. At least, based on my experience

[@rohanarts1158]

why is your tank wather so durty on the surfice???

[@Batmancontingencyplans]

If You do lists, always give list in about or comments

[@JaspersAquariums]

I noticed on one of your tanks a cover you have clipped to the airline. I’m guessing that’s to reduce the “spray” from your sponge filter. What did you use and how did you do that?

[@GirlTalksFish]

Ah, they're called suction cup holders for airline tubing. www.aquariumcoop.com/products/airline-holder

[@JaspersAquariums]

@@GirlTalksFish when you were talking about wisteria, you were showing a view down at your tank. It looked like a black square your airline tubing went through down to your sponge filter

[@GirlTalksFish]

@@JaspersAquariums Oh, gotcha! Those were the suction cup holders that came with the floating corral kit I bought on Etsy (see the link the description).

[@ezra7479]

How Many Pellets Do U Feed Ur betta fish

[@jomarguillen]

Water letus need sunlight to have a bigger leaves.

[@Alivia_2018]

Give water cabbage mor sunlight thay will grow like flowers and big

[@whinni8982]

PLEASE HELP I JUST CANT GET MY FLOATING PLANTS TO GROW THEY ALWAYS MELT AWAY EVEN DUCKWEED WONT GROW MY FISH AND OTHER PLANTS ARE JUST FINE I HAVE MOLLIES AND 1 goldfish

[@vincenttongos1988]

water sprites? i thought that is water wisteria?

[@Aedanjrc]

I have floating plants especially Water Lettuce, i also had the same results: small leaves, short roots. So i had to switch things up, and i will reveal you all the secret...and its direct sunlight!! I transferred them outside with a pond that i dint do waterchanges, and they grew really big and lushful, and they are directly hit by sunlight for approximately 5-6 hrs per day

[@jamesclough2638]

Water sprite is the only plant I can grow.

[@BradMakula]

Sounds like you accidentally got DWARF water lettuce. I've got some huge water lettuce, we should swap for the cucu latte 🤣🤣

[@jbahena12t]

I can never keep any floating plant alive. Not even duckweed! Lol i might be doing something wrong 🤷‍♀️

[@joshuawhitehead6013]

platys do the work for the floaters

[@hifikla]

Насколько я знаю, чтобы пистия была крупная, нужно отщипывать боковые отростки.

[@DahLekKnight]

Duckweed is a great floating plant. I noticed that the roots grew longer on my duckweed that was being blown around in small circled compared to duckweed that was staying in place.

[@GirlTalksFish]

Haha, I'm on Team Kill-It-With-Fire when it comes to duckweed, but tons of people love it.

[@jenname4669]

I don’t mind it either tho I did just scoop about a cup out and still have tons in my 25g! I got the duckweed when it hitched a ride on my water lily, oh well more nitrate reducing powers for my tank! I will say it grows much faster than the salvinia I have… more nitrate reducing powers for my tank tho so I don’t mind!

[@betsyjackson-wright9005]

When ordering floating water sprite, is the name water sprite different from "floating" water sprite? Did my question even make sense? 😂 What I'm trying to figure out is if ordering water sprite is the same as ordering floating water sprite...... 🤔

[@GirlTalksFish]

Nah, you just buy regular water sprite and then let it float in the water instead of planting it in the substrate. 👍

[@bobmorgan476]

Or you can plant it if you want and it grows new plants from the leaves. You can pluck the new ones, or they’ll eventually break loose on their own.

[@loganwilder5262]

I CANT KEEP DUCKWEED ALIVE

[@billyshadoan6881]

love you irene

[@Hawaiianshirtoperator]

Hear me out duckweed isn’t that bad. If it’s growing too fast you have to much nutrients

[@Jerry4baker]

I have tons of frogbit anyone wanna buy some?

[@c4mmyw4mmy]

you need to put a trigger warning if you are going to show duckweed