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floating plant I can't identify

Kate

Far too old to grow up now.
Hi again,

A few weeks ago I was in a garden center looking at the selection of bog plants when these tiny little plants caught my attention. When I asked about them the garden center guy knew nothing about them except that they grow like duck weed and fish eat them. He gave me some and since then I have been trying to figure out what they are so I know how to look after them.

So far I have figured out that they are a "floating fern" which seems to be a catch all term for roughly fern shaped floating plants.

I have a picture but it isn't very detailed so here is a brief description. Leaves are oval shaped, well actually kind of hard taco shaped and they have tiny little hairs that look something like the hairs on a sundew, the picture should describe the rest.

Any information would be very helpful

T.I.A.

Mae
 
Hi,

It's definitely a Salvinia, probably Salvinia minima.

Chris F.
 
Thank you!!!!

That's the one!
 
Now the question is how do I look after it??? lol need to look into these things BEFORE I get the plants...
 
Hi,

Bright lighting, 20-25 deg. C, but shouldn't be allowed to become 'burned' as often happens with artificial lighting. Needs above average humidity but also needs a little air circulation. According to an aquarium book I have, it prefers soft water, but when I had it, the water quality varied and didn't seem to affect it much. The water was however nutrient rich, if that makes any difference. (It was in an outdoor bucket) It grew well for me, but I could see it being problematic for others nonetheless. It divides quickly enough, so once you have a few batches of it, you should be able to play around with it to see what works best.

Take care!

Chris F.
 
thank you, mostly looking at it as a surface cover in a small area and as fish food/tank filtration so far though no luck getting it to spread, judt the same peices I brought home, maybe not enough sun and nutrients. I will keep trying
 
most water plants need full sunlight to thrive as they also need nutrients but if u have fish u should be ok

do you have a filter in the pond because if u do I would take it out all it does is take the nutrients out of the water

another mistake alot of people do is they make sure there is absolutly no algea in the pond this is a big mistake it is healthyer to have some algea in there beacause it will die off at the tips and ends up putting more nutrients into the water hope that helps if u have any more info just pm me
 
I have Salvinia growing in my aquarium for about a year now. Originally, I also had Azolla growing, but the Azolla had mold and after thinning them out, the Salvina took over. I no longer have any Salvinia.

They get indirect sunlight and I don't worry about the humidity as they are growing on top of water. I leave the aquarium uncovered. They grow proliferically. Just wait and after they adjust to the new environment, I'm sure they will cover the surface completely.
 
Thanks everyone for all your help, they are now growing wonderfully, to the point where I felt confident enough to feed a fairly large handful to my fish today (I have happy fishes!&#33
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It seems the fish water and the sunlight did the trick

Mae
 
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