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Floating plants larger than Salvinia Auriculata

BarryH

Member
Joined
25 Feb 2017
Messages
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Location
Derbyshire
Can anyone recommend floating plants that have a larger floating head than Salvinia Auriculata please?
 
Hi all,
Welcome @Witcher.
Ludwigia sedioides but its roots need to be partially buried in the substrate.
Have you grown it successfully? We have a <"few threads"> about it, but not many/any people have had success for long. Every time I see it I want it, although I know I don't have a suitable tank for it.
Can anyone recommend floating plants that have a larger floating head than Salvinia Auriculata please?
There is a Salvinia with bigger leaves, S. cucullata. @jameson_uk <"had some">, but I don't know how he got on with it.

Pistia stratiotes
(Water Lettuce) is probably your best bet, even though that tends to form a <"smaller flatter rosette in the winter">.

@Edvet has/had <"Ceratopteris pteroides"> (below), which looks like something out of "Little Shop of Horrors", but I've never seen it for sale in the UK.

9689364597_11cf02cc9f_o-jpg.jpg


You can also see (in Ed's photo) that Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) can get quite big <"if you pamper it">.

Under high light, high nutrients there are a <"few other species that are quite big">, I think the trouble is that they all tend to be <"turned up to 11 plants"> and it is all or nothing. Have a look at <"Ludwigia helminthorrhiza"> as well.

cheers Darrel
 
There is a Salvinia with bigger leaves, S. cucullata. @jameson_uk <"had some">, but I don't know how he got on with it.
l

Not great

It did pretty well but I think it actually ended up getting squished under the excessive amount of frogbit. It kept separating I to smaller and smaller bits until it disappeared.

It did change a bit from the state I received it in (became much flatter and less condensed) and I suspect to keep it like that would require more light (and possibly more ferts ) than I have in my tank.

Without the frogbit I think it would still be ok albeit in a slightly different form.

The red root floaters I received at the same time didn't last more than a few weeks in my main tank but I now have quite a bit in my much lower energy shrimp tank (really thin leaves and roots aren't particularly thick or red) which was more surprising than the salvinia
 
Hi all,
Welcome @Witcher. Have you grown it successfully? We have a <"few threads"> about it, but not many/any people have had success for long. Every time I see it I want it, although I know I don't have a suitable tank for it. There is a Salvinia with bigger leaves, S. cucullata. @jameson_uk <"had some">, but I don't know how he got on with it.

Pistia stratiotes
(Water Lettuce) is probably your best bet, even though that tends to form a <"smaller flatter rosette in the winter">.

@Edvet has/had <"Ceratopteris pteroides"> (below), which looks like something out of "Little Shop of Horrors", but I've never seen it for sale in the UK.

9689364597_11cf02cc9f_o-jpg.jpg


You can also see (in Ed's photo) that Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium laevigatum) can get quite big <"if you pamper it">.

Under high light, high nutrients there are a <"few other species that are quite big">, I think the trouble is that they all tend to be <"turned up to 11 plants"> and it is all or nothing. Have a look at <"Ludwigia helminthorrhiza"> as well.

cheers Darrel
Thanks for all the help, the links and the advice about the sizes some of them can achieve Darrel. Some whoppers there.
 
Hi all,
Welcome @Witcher. Have you grown it successfully? We have a <"few threads"> about it, but not many/any people have had success for long. Every time I see it I want it, although I know I don't have a suitable tank for it.

Hi @dw1305 , I had it only once few years ago and unfortunately without long therm success. I've made most of the newbie errors with it: low light, low temp, too much flow, unsuitable substrate/water, high alkalinity etc. But still tempted to grow it again, it's one of the most stunning floating plants I know.
 
larger floating

A large floating plant that does well even under cover glass is Ceratopteris cornuta, a very nice fern. Grew it as a kid under incandescent lighting (the only type going) and in very hard water (my job was to chip the kettle out). New plant lets grow from established leaves. May benefit from added magnesium. You will need to start a compost heap once it gets going.
 
A large floating plant that does well even under cover glass is Ceratopteris cornuta, a very nice fern.

That looks different. I found it on YouTube and some seem to plant it while others just let it float on the surface.
 
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