# Floating Plants for a 5gal?



## Fishyrose (Mar 19, 2017)

Hey there. 
I have 5gal all set up with 2 amano shrimp and a mix of 12 chili and strawberry rasboras. Oh and 2 tiny zebra thorn nerite snails.
I'd really like to get some floating plants to help cut the light and provide some more cover for my rasboras. I would prefer not to have super long roots though.
Please ignore my little GSA problem, the nerites are working on it.


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## ichthyogeek (Jul 9, 2014)

Well, there's the usual crew of shade plants: duckweed (recommended if you have a goldfish or vegetarian fish), hornwort, and riccia.

Duckweed, depending on the variant, can have either really short or really long roots. It doesn't add a plant at a time, it multiplies. Similar plants would be things like azolla.

Hornwort is also good, as it tends to form a "mass" rather than send out roots. Same with riccia.

Another thing you could do is just add trimmings from when you trim your plants. I did it for a while with my HC, and it looked pretty cool.


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## NickAu (Feb 24, 2017)

> Well, there's the usual crew of shade plants: duckweed (recommended if you have a goldfish or vegetarian fish), hornwort, and riccia.


Great plants.



> Hornwort is also good, as it tends to form a "mass" rather than send out roots. Same with riccia.


Roots hanging down look cool and small fish love hanging out in them and looking for food among them. 

It also depends on what plants you have and how much light they need, the top of your tank can be a feature just as much as the inside. 

This is the top of my Betta sorority. I went with the top of a pond look.


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## theatermusic87 (Jun 22, 2014)

Red root floater and Silvana both have short roots and are vastly easier to manage than duckweed. Dwarf water lettuce and frogbit both have longer roots and if that's not your thing I would avoid then


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## shhh (Jan 1, 2016)

+1 Salvinia Minima


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

Looks like the OP already has Hornwort, it's a great plant if you can get it to grow well.

Not sure I can add any suggestions. I happen to like Oak Leaf Water Sprite, C. Cornuta, but it has the long roots problem. The OP should consider that micro rasboras are not particularly fond of being surface dwellers, and that providing a floating cover may make them spend more time out in the open, it's probably not going to encourage them to frequent the surface.

Also note that you're also on the edge of overstocking, so keep up the frequent water changes and keep a close eye on the water chemistry so there isn't big swings in pH and hardness.


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## amanda101016 (Jan 22, 2017)

I have water sprite floating in my 5.5 gallon betta tank. The roots grow super long though and it grows like crazy.


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## Nigel95 (Mar 5, 2017)

How is your livestock doing? I'm thinking about to add 4 amano's and 6 green rasbora in a 6.6 gallon.


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## FishRFriendz (Dec 21, 2016)

Is that a Penn Plax tank? Looks like one of the radius curved corners. 

I'm also looking for some floating plants, but more as a means of easy removal of converted waste (fish food goes into tank, plants come out). So far I've been making do with water wisteria which takes to floating fine but has very long roots which don't bug me as it's just a sign that it's ready to get pulled out and put outside in container pond. I'm just sayin', prolly not much to worry about long roots, you'll end up removing plants as a maintenance 'trim' anyways.

+vote for Red Root Floaters and Salvinia Minima, I've been looking for them myself, but it's hard to get off Amazon, and after a bad Ebay of java moss, I'll not waste any more time or money on living products from ebay without someone to vouch for a vendor personally.


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## Fishyrose (Mar 19, 2017)

FishRFriendz said:


> Is that a Penn Plax tank? Looks like one of the radius curved corners.


It is a Penn Plax with an AZOO mini light and sponge filter.


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## Fishyrose (Mar 19, 2017)

GrampsGrunge said:


> Looks like the OP already has Hornwort, it's a great plant if you can get it to grow well.
> 
> The OP should consider that micro rasboras are not particularly fond of being surface dwellers, and that providing a floating cover may make them spend more time out in the open, it's probably not going to encourage them to frequent the surface.
> 
> Also note that you're also on the edge of overstocking, so keep up the frequent water changes and keep a close eye on the water chemistry so there isn't big swings in pH and hardness.


Thanks for all the advice! 
I have noticable growth on my hornwort after only a week, so I think I may stick with that.

I am aware that my rasboras won't be surface dwellers, but they really like to have something over their head and are already hanging out in the open area under the hornwort more.

I do a partial water change every week and test every week as well and my parameters have stayed very consistent. I'll probably switch some snails to my other tank once this one's algae problem is slightly more under control.


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

Frogbit, and duckweed is my favorite floating plant in my five gallons


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## ryry2012 (May 30, 2015)

Salvinia Minima! It has short roots and hardy. Mine got doubled within two weeks. 

I had Brazilian Pennywort floating in my 8.6g. It grew well and looked pretty. Unfortunately, I had to discard it when it got too much diatoms.


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## Blnd (Dec 29, 2015)

I replaced my ailing frogbit with floating fern a few weeks ago. It's so much better.


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## D.Farci (Mar 15, 2016)

Red root floater is great, my Chili Rasboras love it. I'd be happy to mail some to you if you cover shipping and like $1-3 for the plants


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## Fishyrose (Mar 19, 2017)

Blnd said:


> I replaced my ailing frogbit with floating fern a few weeks ago. It's so much better.


Is that the Azolla?


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## Fishyrose (Mar 19, 2017)

Is this a kind of duckweed next to the hornwort? If so, I guess I'm in for it. It must have snuck in with my new baby rasboras.


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## Fishyrose (Mar 19, 2017)

D.Farci said:


> Red root floater is great, my Chili Rasboras love it. I'd be happy to mail some to you if you cover shipping and like $1-3 for the plants


Thanks so much for the offer, but I think I'm good with my hornwort and whatever little plant snuck in with my fish.


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