# Best nitrate sucking plants available?



## dkreef (Jan 9, 2005)

looks like my substrate is leaching some nitrate due to being new.
what are best nitrate sucking plants?

i heard hornwort are good.


----------



## Sajacobs (Aug 24, 2012)

Water lettuce. Wisteria. 
You can add riparium planters to your tank and add plants.


----------



## Sake (Mar 30, 2012)

Duckweed, and frogbit are good ones also.


----------



## Dolfan (Apr 8, 2005)

hornwort, duckweed, frogbit are all good. Usually anything that grows fast. I like anacharis too. But hornwort seems to be the best and super easy to grow. Let if float around and do its thing, I cant seem to get it to "plant" very well in any spot.


----------



## dkreef (Jan 9, 2005)

will hornwort with minimal lighting still be able to absorb nitrate efficiently?


----------



## Nami (Apr 15, 2013)

dkreef said:


> will hornwort with minimal lighting still be able to absorb nitrate efficiently?


Yes, depending on what minimal means. Also, it loves hard water.


----------



## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

water lettuce, wisteria, dwarf water lettuce, water sprite, salvinia, several varieties of hygro, and generally any invasive species will do well to soak nitrates.

be aware, if there is either insufficient light or nutrients, hornwort will shed its pine like leaves and liter the substrate... a pitb to clean.

duckweed also will likely get tossed around in a filter return and entangle itself with other plants like mosses, ricca or anything with fine leaves and will be difficult to remove from that point on...


----------



## TheDrake (Jul 18, 2012)

Assuming that fast-growing = nitrate-sucking, I have to go with Salvinia. It is one of the (if not THE) fastest growing of any plant I've had, and it doesn't have some drawbacks of the others...doesn't shed like hornwort, doesn't fragment as small as duckweed or Riccia so easy to keep from transferring tank to tank, doesn't get tangled in moss, etc.


----------



## DogFish (Jul 16, 2011)

acitydweller said:


> .....be aware, if there is either insufficient light or nutrients, hornwort will shed its pine like leaves and liter the substrate... a pitb to clean...


Hornwort doesn't like higher temps around 80. That's when it desoulves. In low light it gets stringy...with longer stems. In low nutrient conditions it's grow slows.

In good light, 74degrees (about) & high nutrient growth of 2-3" a day can occur.

Hornwort is my go to nutrient mop. My #2 is Water Lettuce. Water Lettuce will handle higher temps a little better.


----------



## Sharpchick (Feb 17, 2013)

TheDrake said:


> Assuming that fast-growing = nitrate-sucking, I have to go with Salvinia. It is one of the (if not THE) fastest growing of any plant I've had, and it doesn't have some drawbacks of the others...doesn't shed like hornwort, doesn't fragment as small as duckweed or Riccia so easy to keep from transferring tank to tank, doesn't get tangled in moss, etc.


^^+1 to this. Superb plants.


----------



## gSTiTcH (Feb 21, 2013)

Bacopa Caroliniana


----------



## TheDrake (Jul 18, 2012)

TheDrake said:


> Assuming that fast-growing = nitrate-sucking, I have to go with Salvinia. It is one of the (if not THE) fastest growing of any plant I've had, and it doesn't have some drawbacks of the others...doesn't shed like hornwort, doesn't fragment as small as duckweed or Riccia so easy to keep from transferring tank to tank, doesn't get tangled in moss, etc.


and best of all, I'll send you a bunch for free!


----------



## Saxtonhill (Dec 28, 2012)

Thank you all---(especially dkreef for posting the question) I needed this info too!


----------



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

This is a confusing exchange of information. Given that this is "the Planted Tank" forum, we can assume that we are discussing a tank with plants growing in it. If that's true, then you need nitrates in the water, along with phosphates, potassium and trace elements, for the plants to grow well. If you have very low light, so the plants don't need those nutrients, the plants you have will only barely grow if they grow at all. Our usual goal is to get nitrates, etc. into the water, not to remove them. It is only in a fish only tank that we need to concern ourselves with getting rid of nitrates.


----------



## Saxtonhill (Dec 28, 2012)

Ahhhh....I am wondering if I am getting my terminology mixed up again...(i.e. nitrates and nitrites...) I am a newbie...thanks! My concern was to get a better balance in my tank set up...ie. more plants...I've kept the fish to a minimum...tried not to over feed...dealt successfully with an algae overbloom...lessened my photoperiod to 7 hours...but need to be more diligent with weekly water changes... 

Thanks Hoppy! 




.


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

Looks like all but Hoppy assumed you were talking about nitrites. For it is a new tank.


----------



## Blue Falcon (Nov 9, 2009)

If your talking about nitrite, wait till your biological filtration becomes mature. If your talking about nitrates, then hoppy had the right idea, unless your nitrate production is much faster than your plants can consume it, in which case you need to do water changes, or make your plants grow faster (lighting, CO2, ferts, etc).

But to answer your original post, I like salvinia.


----------



## James M (Jun 21, 2012)

Hard to beat water lettuce


----------

