Plant · Floating

Duckweed

Lemna minor · Nearly worldwide, including Canada · also Common duckweed, lesser duckweed

Photo: Kostka Martin, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

It grows so fast it can cover the whole surface in weeks, so scoop out a handful every week. Once it is in a tank it is very hard to get rid of, so think before adding it. Height here is root length; each leaf is only a few millimetres.

At a glance

Light

Low light

CO₂

No CO₂

Growth

Fast growth

Where it goes

Floats

Temperature

6–30°C

6.5–8

Height in a tank

1–2 cm 0.4–0.8 in

Difficulty

Easy

What it does for your tank

Shades the tank, gives fry cover and soaks up nitrate.

Fish that eat or uproot it

Goldfish, koi, silver dollars and many other plant-eating fish eat it.

Growing more

Each tiny leaf splits into new plants on its own.

Duckweed

Plant · FloatingEasy

Low light
No CO₂
Fast growth
Floats
6–30°C

Shades the tank, gives fry cover and soaks up nitrate.

Duckweed

Lemna minor

Nearly worldwide, including Canada

Temperature: 6–30°C
pH: 6.5–8
Height: 0.4–0.8 in · 1–2 cm
Light: Low
CO₂: Not needed
Growth: Fast
Goes: Floating
Difficulty: Easy

More plants. Each tiny leaf splits into new plants on its own.

Goldfish, koi, silver dollars and many other plant-eating fish eat it.

Full care guide

Photo: Kostka Martin, CC0

Sources

The care values on this page come from these sources.

Grows well with

Same light and temperature, but a different spot in the tank, so they fill it out together.

Amazon sword

Plant · RosetteEasy

Low light
No CO₂
Steady growth
Middle
20–28°C

A big, classic centrepiece whose broad leaves give shade and are used by angelfish and other egg-layers for spawning.

Amazon sword

Echinodorus grisebachii 'Bleherae'

Central and South America

Temperature: 20–28°C
pH: 6–8
Height: 8–20 in · 20–50 cm
Light: Low
CO₂: Not needed
Growth: Medium
Goes: Middle
Difficulty: Easy

More plants. Baby plants grow on long flower stems; let them root, then cut them free and plant them.

Goldfish, silver dollars and large cichlids tear or uproot it, and some plecos rasp holes in the leaves.

Full care guide

Photo: Salvatore vitale, Public domain

Anubias barteri

Plant · RhizomeEasy

Low light
No CO₂
Slow growth
On wood, rock
22–26°C

Tough leaves give shade and spawning spots and survive plecos and cichlids.

Anubias barteri

Anubias barteri var. barteri

West Africa (Nigeria, Cameroon, Bioko)

Temperature: 22–26°C
pH: 6–7.5
Height: 10–18 in · 25–45 cm
Light: Low
CO₂: Not needed
Growth: Slow
Goes: On wood or rock
Difficulty: Easy

More plants. Cut the rhizome into pieces with a few leaves each.

Herbivorous fish leave its tough leaves alone; big cichlids may uproot it.

Full care guide

Photo: Tocekas, CC BY-SA 3.0

Anubias nana

Plant · RhizomeEasy

Low light
No CO₂
Slow growth
On wood, rock
22–28°C

Tough, low leaves that bottom fish and plecos rest on and that do well in shady corners.

Anubias nana

Anubias barteri var. nana

West Africa (Cameroon)

Temperature: 22–28°C
pH: 5–8
Height: 2–6 in · 5–15 cm
Light: Low
CO₂: Not needed
Growth: Slow
Goes: On wood or rock
Difficulty: Easy

More plants. Cut the rhizome into pieces with a few leaves each.

Almost nothing eats it, so it is a top choice for cichlid, goldfish and pleco tanks.

Full care guide

Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0

Bucephalandra

Plant · RhizomeEasy

Low light
No CO₂
Slow growth
On wood, rock
20–26°C

Small, colourful leaves that suit nano tanks and rocky scapes and give shrimp a grazing surface.

Bucephalandra

Borneo

Temperature: 20–26°C
pH: 5–7
Height: 2–4 in · 5–10 cm
Light: Low
CO₂: Not needed
Growth: Slow
Goes: On wood or rock
Difficulty: Easy

More plants. Cut the rhizome into pieces with a few leaves each.

Almost nothing eats it, though pieces can be knocked loose by digging fish.

Full care guide

Photo: Manuel Werner, CC BY 4.0

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