# Nano Plant List



## KrazyK (Feb 4, 2004)

Hi everyone, well I've been doing a TON of research as to what plants to put in a nano aquarium and I'd like some feed back on some of the plants I've found. I have a 2.5 gallon aquarium with a 19watt spiral compact flourescent as lighting, also did a DIY hood and reflector to hold the bulb in its place. Running a mini whisper filter and DIY c02. At any rate here is the list.
Please forgive any spelling mistakes, I grabbed the names of the plants from personal webpages and posts so I don't know if I spelt anything wrong or posting up two different names of the same plant.

Micranthemum Micranthemaides
Glossostigma
Lilaeopsis
Hygrophilia
wisteria
Bacopa Australis
African Fern
Hemianthus Callitrichoides
Eleocharis Acicularis
cladophora aegagrophila
rotala wallichii
Micranthemum Umbrosum
Ludwigia Breuipes
crassula helmsii
vesularia dubyana
Microsorum pteropus
anubias barteri nana
sagittaria subulata (dwarf)
ludwigia palustris
Rotala indica
hemianthus micranthemoides
taiwan moss
junior sword plant
riccia fluitans
glossostigma elatinoides
eleocaris acicularis
rotala rotundifolia
rotala wallichi
glossostigma elatinoides
riccia fluitans
hemianthus callitricoides
vesicularia dubyana
xmas moss
dwarf grass

Thats all have so far, anyone shed some light on these please?

Thanks,

Kevin


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## Steven_Chong (Sep 14, 2004)

You're definitely going to have to cut it down.  

2.5g isn't enough room for much-- I'd say stay 10 species or less. The other thing is that you should choose foreground plants that won't over crowd each other. Glosso + HC in a 2.5 is just asking to kill off a lot of HC.  On the other hand glosso, with some taller foreground plants like hair grass/microsword mixed in is attractive, and both species will do reasonably well. Also consider the fact that at the beginning at least, more space should be dedicated to fast growers. I'd hate to see your little tank become an algae farm because you took up too much room with bolbitis (which is probably going to get too big IMO). Also small leaved plants are good for a small tank (r. indica, micranthemum sp., thin leaf ludwigia, etc.).

Sounds to me like you're going to have a really good set up.


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## Osteomata (Jan 6, 2005)

greenmiddlefinger, I don't think he was implying that he would put all these in the tank, I think he was just gathering a list of all the plants you_ could_ put in a 2.5 nano. An options list.

KrazyK, great list! I cant vouch for its accuracy or completeness, but I definetaly appreciate the effort, and I intend on copying it to a file for future reference. I did a similar but far less complete list when I was preparing my one gallon nano. I suspect you have the same plant duplicated with alternative names in a couple of cases. If I were generating something like this as a reference guide, I would orgainze it such that plants with the same family name were together. That makes it easier to check if you have all the variations/species included. And should you really feel like doing some extra work, including both the scientific and common names is helpful, rather than using a mixture. Good post, thanks.


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

A few notes about your list that I have discovered through two 1-gallon tanks and a 5 gallon tank (not to mention a 10 gallon).
First of all, H. Callitrichoides is a much better choice than glosso. Glosso is so invasive and fast growing that you will have a very hard time keeping it from growing into your background plants and growing so thick it begins growing over itself. It really needs a lot of room. On the other hand you can definately MAKE it work. I have some in my 10 gallon and have to periodically strip the whole damn mat out and replant just a few plantlets to keep it from becoming an unsightly glosso glob. 
Second, I would go very light on the fast growing stem plants such as Hygro. They will take over your tank very quickly and you will discover that some of them can grow an inch a day, meaning you will have to trim them constantly. In a short tank it is surprising how quickly they will reach the surface and begin shading other plants. 
Hygrophilia Difformis (which I believe is wisteria) is too large a plant for smaller tanks like that. I had just one stem in my 10 gallon tank and it fanned out so wide that I finally just took it out.
Riccia, H. Callitrichoides, and baby's tears are awesome plants for small tanks. I would also add Mayaca Fluitans to your list. While it can grow very tall, it is a relatively slow grower and since it is small and fuzzy like R. Wallichi, but bright green, it can be used to good effect. Also, it has little or no roots and thus clipping and replanting really doesn't have any effect on it at all.
-Aphyosemion


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## gnome (Mar 9, 2004)

I can only comment from my own experiences:

Micranthemum micranthemaides - too invasive
Glossostigma elatinoides - too invasive
Lilaeopsis - might work; try L. brasiliensis
Hygrophilia - too invasive, most too big
wisteria (= Hygrophila difformis; see above)
Bacopa australis - too invasive, but might be good as initial fast-grower
African Fern - gets big
Hemianthus callitrichoides - perfect for small tank
Eleocharis acicularis - probably invasive, gets tall for tiny tank
Cladophora aegagrophila - nice idea!
Rotala wallichii - might work as background plant; try to find var. 'short leaf'
Micranthemum umbrosum - wonderful plant if you keep under control
Ludwigia brevipes - leaves get long
Crassula helmsii - ??? (never tried this plant, myself)
Vesularia dubyana - depends
Microsorum pteropus - plantlets would work but will get big
Anubias barteri nana - will get big; your lighting might be too strong
Sagittaria subulata (dwarf) - doesn't stay "dwarf" AFAIK
ludwigia palustris - too big
Rotala indica - might work as background plant; good fast-grower for initial set-up
Hemianthus micranthemoides - same as Micranthemum micranthemoides
taiwan moss - nice
junior sword plant - ?
Riccia fluitans - will work under your lighting, but will be fast-growing
Rotala rotundifolia - never figured out the difference between this and R. indica
xmas moss - ??? (never tried this plant, myself)
dwarf grass - Eleocharis parvula, I presume... Took over the whole tank in about 4 months.

Here are some to add to your list:
Lobelia cardinalis 'small-form'
Mayaca fluviatilis - didn't work for me, but you'll have stronger lighting than I do
Micranthemum sp. ("Amano pearlgrass" or "two-leafed hemianthus") - grows fast, but upwards, like M. umbrosum; easy to "corral" by snipping creepers
Ranalisma rostrata - still experimenting with this, myself; jury's still out 
Lysimachia nummularia 'aurea'
Bacopa monnieri - (banned in many states but I see the stuff at Petco all the time)
Lindernia rotundifolia 'variegated'
Didiplis diandra - didn't work for me, but may grow fine with your lighting
Cryptocoryne parva - too dang slow for me
Elatine triandra (or other species) - needs LOTS of macros

If you didn't have such strong lighting, I'd recommend Anubias 'petit' - under strong lighting, Anubias tend to get crusted over quickly with green spot algae. 

If you want a rosette, maybe consider Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica.' You'll have a hell of a time uprooting it, if you decide that you need to after it's already established roots. 

There are also a few "new" varieties of Bacopas and Rotalas that are supposed to stay small, but I've never had luck with Rotalas and I haven't had a chance to try the rarer Bacopas. If you have really soft, acidic water, rich nutrients and good CO2, you can give Tonina fluviatilis a try. They need to be *behind* other plants to hide their rotting lower leaves. HOWEVER, they cannot be shaded over or the whole stem will die. 

Good luck! I think you'll have fun with a tiny tank.

-Naomi


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## KrazyK (Feb 4, 2004)

Thanks everyone! greenmiddlefinger, osteomata is correct. This isn't a list of everything I'm planning on putting in my aquarium. Just a list of plants that would be suitable for nano aquariums. This way it won't only help me out but also help out other people who would like to have a list of plants to do their own research on. 
Osteomata, I like the idea of rearranging them and including their common name. I'll do my best today to do that I don't know if plantgeek.com has common names though. Guess I'll be doing a lot of google searches.

Aphyosemion- Thanks I'll edit my list when I update this post

Kevin


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## ThomE (Aug 26, 2004)

Add petite nana to that list. That’s one of my favorite plants.

I believe they have contest with small tanks. If I can find the link I'll post it.

I remember seeing one really sweet tank with just nana, driftwood, stones, shrimp, & hc.


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## StLouisGuy (Nov 12, 2004)

The AGA contest has a category for small tanks. Here is a link to last year's (and previous) entries...AGA small tanks


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## Aphyosemion (Oct 15, 2004)

Oh yeah, petite nana is on my immediate list of "to buy" plants. I want it in my 1 gallons and my 10 gallon.
One other thing I think I forgot to mention is that dwarf sag gets WAY too tall for any kind of nano tank. I had it in my 10 gallon and it grew all the way to the surface and began shading the other plants. Plus it grew very, very thick and I had a hard time keeping it in the background. Take dwarf sag off your list and switch it to E. Tennelus. That can get a little big for a very small tank as well, but not nearly as big as dwarf sag.
-Aphyosemion


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## Jerm (Sep 26, 2005)

How can i shade anubias nanas in my nano efficiently? Driftwood with moss? I don't want the leaves to get full of algae, and i'm not sure how to shade them from the light. Also, would it be a good place to grow small java ferns, until thye get large and i move them to another tank? I want to multitask my nano, and use it for my extra other plants from my ten and 29 gals.


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## JBN (Oct 31, 2005)

Great list KrazyK roud:! It'll help out beginners and experience nano keepers alike. If you could (though it'll be time-consuming), could you find some pictures of the plants you listed?


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