# Types and Pxs of floating plants



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

I'd like to see all the choices of floating plants, px included. I see people wondering what kind of floaters they should have. I'll start off:

Red Root Floater- approx 1 cm in diameter. Roots are red, (surprise!).
My px.









Not my px - I wonder if it can get this red?


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

These are not my pictures, but I have them in my tanks. The first photo is Pistia stratoides and the second one is Salvinia natans (with a small amount of Lemna minor mixed in). I believe they are considered noxious weeds though, so when I have too many and need to thin back, I try to compost them.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Tranr- thanks for posting. Is the first one similar in size to frogbiit?

I saw a floater in an LSF that was quite interesting. They gave me a piece but it got lost in my tank. I really liked it.

Come on people post your pxs.


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

TexGal - P. stratoides *can* grow to be quite large with vertical leaves, but this has not happened when I've kept them in my tanks. They stay flat as you see in the pictures, with individual leaves growing up to about 1.5". Overall, I think the largest P. stratoides rosettes I've had have been about 3.5-4" in diameter (still flat though). They're pretty and are more manageable than the S. natans, in my experience.


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## kerokero (May 4, 2009)

Yeah, take the baby water lettuce and toss it in an outside pond and you'll get the full sized plants. I recently had to pull a bunch of this stuff out of a tank because even tho the plant didn't get broader than 4in wide, they sent down roots to the substrate in a 10g. It looked like a quirkly kelp forest deal (lol) and they weren't totally floating anymore... so they got pulled and are on their way to a new home. More managable than Salvinia in that they are easier to collect because they are bigger (like how Salvinia is easier than duckweed...) but pulling the roots out totally ripped up my substrate! I've also grown them potted in a vivarium with wet feet.

I've had a lot of luck with Salvinia in the past (natans and minima species - there are a few others that get WAY bigger) and really wish to snag some of the S. oblongifolia (spelling?) I've seen up on aquabid in the past. Very cool shape. As for other floating ferns... I've collected Azolla from local pond suppliers in the past but have had a horrible time accimating full sun plants to indoor conditions  

One I need to take a pic of... Ricciocarpus natans. It's a floating liverwort and very cool - not "floating" like how riccia will float if you leave it loose, but a true floater. I added some to my 2.5g nano which I guess has higher light and is turning them a dark maroon red, while plants under more typical flourescents on a plant stand are just green. The stuff just kepts growing and breaking up into smaller plantlets! Each is basically a V shape, and as it gets full sized the tips of the V start branching, and the plant breaks apart at the base of the V... leaving two new V frond liverworts!


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Don't other have some px of floaters as well? I wish I could find the one I saw at the LFS...


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## ashappard (Jun 3, 2006)

kerokero said:


> ... Ricciocarpus natans...


hey I keep that one! x2 on being a cool plant.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Sorry it took so long to post this. I have duckweed and salvinia that work well together (as long as I stay on top of thinning).


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## tranr (May 20, 2009)

davemonkey said:


> Sorry it took so long to post this. I have duckweed and salvinia that work well together (as long as I stay on top of thinning).


Yeah, I had the duckweed and salvinia too for awhile, but then I switched to water lettuce because it was easier for me to thin out (bigger - easier to handle). Now, I have the duckweed and salvinia in my paludarium (the tadpoles like to eat the duckweed) and the water lettuce in my other tanks.

Ricciocarpus natans - I haven't heard of that before, but it looks cool. =)


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Wolffia arrhiza:


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Neat guys! Keep 'em commin'!


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

ashappard said:


> hey I keep that one! x2 on being a cool plant.


Loving this one!


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## siharimau (Apr 6, 2006)

ashappard said:


> hey I keep that one! x2 on being a cool plant.


Say, where did you get your *Ricciocarpus natans* from? I've been having trouble getting hold of some, even though it's supposed to be found ~worldwide! Did you buy it at your LFS or did you collect it yourself?

Rik in Dallas


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## hariom (Sep 2, 2008)

heres mine guys:




























@Texgal: i believe the ones you have in the picture are from my batch?? I have got red leaves only under direct sunlight. Have them in a plastic bucket or any container (the bigger the better)..under direct sunlight for a week and they will turn into beautiful shades of purple, pink and red (usually in 3 days of full sunshine). Just make sure to drain your water and fill up cold water in the afternoon as warm water above 81 F will met the plants away.....i tried keeping them in a water fountain so they would have cool water but they don't like too much water movement and will not replicate as quickly as in stagnant water.

i have seen, water lettuce on the other hand loves water movement and North american frogbit is somewhere in between.


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## northtexasfossilguy (Mar 6, 2009)

Everybody forgot the riccia! 

Nice red plant, Texgal. If you ever get a hold of it let me know, I'd go half-sies on some.


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## ashappard (Jun 3, 2006)

siharimau said:


> Say, where did you get your *Ricciocarpus natans* from? I've been having trouble getting hold of some, even though it's supposed to be found ~worldwide! Did you buy it at your LFS or did you collect it yourself?
> 
> Rik in Dallas


I got mine from a collector, PM me if you'd like to have some.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

water sprite anyone??? i don't have anymore pictures but it can get pretty dang biG about a square foot before i take it off, loooooong roots and wide leafs :d


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