Dan's Aquatic Plant Archive

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Aquatic Plants I am Familiar With
	Anubias barteri var. nana Easy plant to keep, even in non-CO2 tanks. Does not appreciate high light levels or its leaves will be covered in algae. Prefers to be tied/attached to driftwood/rock as opposed to being buried in the gravel.
	Aponogeton ulvaceus Grows very big so use it for the background. I keep mine in check by pruning its leaves. Nicely blocks the view of my surface skimmer well! Impressive background specimen for larger tanks.
	Blyxa echinosperma An easy plant which grows very big (around 8in), therefore use it as a background specimen. Tolerant of medium to lower light levels. Unsuitable smaller tanks.
	Bolbitis heudelotii Slow grower. Needs a lot of light to grow well although tolerant of lower light levels. Will grow better when tied or attached to driftwood (and not rock or stone, for some reason).
	Blyxa japonica Red colour will intensify under lots of light. An easy stem plant which propagates by producing side-shoots. Excellent as a foreground plant. Used by Takashi Amano in his tanks.
	Cabomba furcáta Used to be known as Cabomba piauhyensis. You will find it listed as such in some websites. Difficult plant to keep in the long term. In the FLS (Local Fish Shop), it's leaves are lush and long but after awhile, it takes on a less attractive form in the tank. Requires higher light levels to do well with lots of fertilisation. Personally, I've found that it is hard to make it thrive in the long run (after few months).
	Cryptocoryne wendtii ''brown'' Grows very wide so do take this into account when scaping with it. Prune its leaves to limit its size. An easy red (or rather brown) plant very tolerant of medium to lower light levels. Requires a lot of patience (a few months) before producing adventitious plantlets at the roots.
	Cryptocoryne wendtii ''green'' Tolerates medium to low light levels well. Like all cryptocorynes, it is a slow grower producing adventitious plantlets at its roots. More prone to the "Crypt Melt" syndrome than its brown cousin and it grows more slowly too.
	Echinodorus 'Rubin' Requires higher light levels to look better with longer leaves and faster growth. A lovely cultivar and like all swords, it grows big. Prune its leaves to limit its size. The purple colours in its leaves will intensify with iron tabs.
	Eusteralis stellata It will look better with plenty of light and fertiliser especially iron (to intensify the purplish colour on the underside of its leaves). Prune it by uprooting the plant and cutting off the lower ends to manage its height. Excellent background specimen. Propagates by stem cuttings.
	Echinodorus uruguayensis Grows very big. Keep it in check by pruning its leaves. Needs more light in order to flourish. Excellent background specimen.
	Glossostigma elatinoides Ideal for smaller big tanks as its used frequently by Takashi Amano in this respect. Excellent creeping foreground specimen which in time, will grow to become an attractive lawn. Will remain short given enough light. Under lower levels of light, the plant will start to creep upwards. Its popularity is now being eclipsed by Hemianthus callitrichoides 'Cuba', yet another creeping foreground plant which is not so light demanding and with finer leaves.
	Green Temple Narrow (Hygro corombosa) Relatively easy and fast growing plant which will flourish with enough light and CO2. Requires a big tank as it is too large for a smaller one. Attractive slim and long leaves which can reach 6in in length. Propogates by stem cuttings. Excellent background specimen.
	Marsilea hirsuta Tolerates low light levels but to retain its "four-clover" leaf shape, taller and more attractive height and size , it requires more light. Propagates well but its submerged leaves are a little smaller and shorter than the ones which you originally get when you buy it (emersed form). Excellent as a foreground plant and very low maintenance. Requires a little more patience for it to fill out well.
	Pearl Grass (Hemianthus micranthemoides) Fairly undemanding nutritionally but requires more light. Propagates easily by stem cuttings. Great for smaller tanks due to it's leave size. Yet another plant which is used frequently by Takashi Amano.
	Needle Leaf Ludwigia (Ludwigia arcuata) An easy plant which will sprout red leaves at the shoots with enough light, great for beginners. Needs better lighting although it tolerates medium and lower light levels. Nutritionally, not so demanding. Excellent middle to background specimen. Amano uses this plant a lot in his smaller tanks as its fine leaves give the tank a larger illusion. However, if left unpruned, its leaves will grow bigger.
	Ludwigia repens An easy plant which will sprout red leaves with enough light, great for beginners. Needs better lighting. Nutritionally, not so demanding. Excellent background specimen. Will grow tall and at an angle. If left unpruned, it will tend to block out light for lower plants as this plant will then grow across or above the water surface. Once above the water surface, it will shed its underwater leaves to assume its emersed form.
	Rotala rotundifolia A relatively undemanding plant which tolerates medium light levels although it prefers more light. Nutritionally, not so demanding. Excellent background specimen as its slim and tall appearance can be used to an advantage.
	Spatterdock (Nuphar Japonica) Fairly easy with enough CO2 and light. Not very light demanding as mine's doing well in medium level lighting. I use it as a middle ground plant. I did use it as a background specimen initially but its tall older leaves died and its replacements were shorter and slightly smaller. One can propogate it by rhizome division.
	Red Tiger Lotus (Nymphaea lotus) Relatively easy plant which will thrive with a nutritious bottom. Needs some iron tabs for colour enhancement. Grows very wide. I pruned mine to limit its growth. However, I had to get rid of it in the end as it grew too big for my 50G tank. Although it will sprout taller leaves, shorter leaves will sprout once the former ones are pruned.
	Giant Red Rotala (Rotala macrandra) Listed as a difficult plant. Mine's not in optimum condition as it's leaves should be bigger and thicker at the stems. Prune it by uprooting the plant and cutting off the lower ends to manage its height. Propagates by cuttings. Excellent background specimen although I use mine for the middle to foreground.
	Sag, Dwarf Subulata (Sagittaria subulata) Extremely easy plant, very suitable for beginners. Tolerates low light levels well and will grow anywhere, even in unwashed sand. When crowded it will tend to grow taller. This is when pruning of the leaves is required. To prevent this, I tend to thin out the plants by removing surplus runners.
	Vals, Jungle (Vallisneria gigantea) Relatively easy plant and propagates through adventitious offshoots near the roots. Requires a big tank as its long leaves are unsuitable for a smaller one. Excellent background specimen.
	Vallisneria americana 'Mini twister' Relatively easy plant which will grow large with fertilisation and adequate lighting. This plant does not tolerate lower light levels well. Excellent background specimen.

Aquatic Plants I am Familiar With