Aquarium Plants

The following is a list of aquarium plants I have experience with. Those listed in green are those I still have in one or more of my tanks. I'll be adding pictures of more plants as I manage to take decent ones. Photos are resized and some cropped for this page; click on the picture for a larger, uncropped version. Plants are listed by scientific name, with common names in parentheses.

Bacopa Monnieri (Moneywort)

A fast-growing stem plant. Mine doubled in size in a few days, but seems to be slowing down and becoming a victim of black beard algae. Now that the algae is somewhat under control, this algae seems very selective in the plants it attacks.

Cabomba caroliniana (Cabomba)

A delicate stem plant, and one of my favorites. I haven't been able to figure out how to keep it terribly healthy; some stems seem to grow like crazy while others die off. None are attacked by algae, though.

Ceratophyllum Demersum (Hornwort)

A free-floating, rootless stem plant that vaguely resembles a pine tree. Mine is very healthy and, in order to look really good, would need to be pruned almost daily. I don't have the time, so I may end up getting rid of it. I like to "root" the stems in the gravel, but they only last a couple of weeks, at the most, before floating to the surface.

Echinodorus bleheri (Amazon Sword)

This was one of the first plants in my tank. It grew like crazy and developed 9-10 plantlets on the flower stalks. Unfortunately, the entire tank was eaten by beard algae. This plant wasn't able to grow fast enough to survive the attack, and I ended up discarding it. If it hadn't died off, this one would have outgrown my 18" tall tank.

Echinodorus "Oriental" (Oriental Sword)

A slightly smaller species of sword plant that I added to the tank recently, after the algae calmed down. This is a beautiful plant with bright red young leaves, which turn green as they get older. It's growing fast and has no trouble keeping up with the algae, although the older leaves have a slight algae fringe.

Echinodorus tenellus (?) (Pygmy Chain Sword)

This is a tiny sword plant with thin leaves. It doesn't really form an underwater "lawn" as I had hoped, but does reproduce like crazy once it settles in. The runners stay above the surface of the gravel and the plants are usually about 5" apart on the runner. Sometimes they don't root, so the end of the runner and a few plants float above the gravel.

Egeria densa (Anachris)

The "classic" stem plant. Still one of my favorites, mostly because it was the only plant I could grow in the old days before I started learning about planted aquaria.

Hemianthus micranthemoides (Pearlgrass, pearlweed)

An attractive, tiny stem plant that tends to grow as a "hedge" rather than individual stems, spreading across the surface. Mine has some beard algae on the older portions, but grows fast enough to keep up with it.

Hydrocotyle leucocephala (Pennywort)

A floating stem plant. I have mine anchored to the heater, and it trails up to the surface of the tank. Grows reasonably fast. It was affected by algae when I first added it, but the newest leaves have no algae at all.

Hygrophilia difformis (Water Wisteria)

Another popular plant. This is a leafy stem plant that can grow in various ways; I've seen it act much like a normal stem plant, or like a "tree" with few leaves on the bottom and more on top. Due to the high light levels, mine likes to creep across the surface. I've been training it to grow upward as something of a hedge instead.

Hygrophilia polysperma (Green Hygro)

A popular and supposedly easy-to-grow stem plant. I added a large bunch of it as one of my first plants. In several months, it grew perhaps an inch. Since the algae grew much faster, I ended up discarding it.

Hygrophilia polysperma "Tropic Sunset"

Supposedly the same species, this variety grows wonderfully in my tank and attracts very little algae. Of course, with the brighter lighting and better nutrient balance, I could probably grow the standard variety now too. This is a very attractive plant with red and green vein patterns in the leaves. This picture is cropped from a larger one and doesn't really do it justice.

Lilleapsis Brazilensis (Micro Sword)

This is a grass-like plant that looks to me like an underwater lawn. I wish I could get it to grow well. My first specimen was a victim of the algae problem. I added another bunch after the algae was under control. Surprisingly, it has also become covered with black beard algae. The algae apparently likes this plant even more than the Bacopa.

Microsorum pteropus (Java Fern)

A classic aquarium plant, and among the easiest to grow. It is usually attached to a rock or driftwood. I've never had terribly good luck with this plant, largely because it is slow-growing and can be covered in algae easily. My latest one is finally growing and reproducing with a minimum of algae. It forms new plants both on the rhizome and on the ends of the older leaves, which looks a bit odd. I also tied the one remaining leaf from an older plant to my driftwood a couple of months ago; new plants are now springing up there.

Rotala indica / rotundifolia

Another stem plant. When healthy, some of the upper leaves show a red color. Algae likes this plant, unfortunately. While the beard algae stays away from it, a green, hairy algae grows on my Rotala and practically nowhere else. It is surviving nonetheless.

Sagittaria Subulata (Dwarf Sag)

Looks similar to a pigmy chain sword (E. tenellus) but has wider leaves. It grows and reproduces very fast in my tank, sending out runners all over and covering the substrate. I bought this one to replace the E. tenellus, which wasn't growing very well. However, immediately after I added the Sagittaria, the tenellus started growing again. I moved most of that plant to my new 15 gallon tank so it wouldn't be choked out by the dwarf sag.

Valisneria (Corkscrew Val)

Another classic plant, a jungle plant with long leaves that twist into a corkscrew pattern. The species I have grows somewhere around 25" tall, too tall for either of my tanks; I still keep it in the back of the 29 gallon tank and let it drift across the surface.