Easy floating plants

[Lebeeze]

Just curious, what is the easiest floating plant that I can buy , no matter for what tank( 20 gallon to 135 gallon), that i can just plop in there with the normal led lighting and never have to buy anything to keep it growing.

Also would putting them in with cichlids(african or south american) be a waste of money?

Edit: please no duckweed

 

[Sheena-Phx]

Cichlids generally don't pay attention to floaters in my experience, but I'm sure that can vary from breed to breed. Which floaters will work best will depend on how strong your light is. Water Lettuce prefers higher light, but will still grow under less, it will just be smaller. Salvinia Minima(top choice for this scenario) isn't picky at all, and grows in a wide array of conditions and parameters. Amazon Frogbit is a tad bit more picky, but not too much. Those would be my top 3 recommendations, from personal experience and Cichlids. Just comes down to what look you are going for. : )

 

[Kribensis27]

Frogbit is fairly easy. Make sure you always have some nitrate in the water and don’t splash too much water on it and it should do fine.

 

[Lebeeze]

Cichlids generally don't pay attention to floaters in my experience, but I'm sure that can vary from breed to breed. Which floaters will work best will depend on how strong your light is. Water Lettuce prefers higher light, but will still grow under less, it will just be smaller. Salvinia Minima(top choice for this scenario) isn't picky at all, and grows in a wide array of conditions and parameters. Amazon Frogbit is a tad bit more picky, but not too much. Those would be my top 3 recommendations, from personal experience and Cichlids. Just comes down to what look you are going for. : )

Honesty not as much worried about look as just something to provide some cover and help keep nitrates down.

The cover is more for my other non cichlid tanks. Some fish don't want the light on them so they like to hide under plants or decorations.

 

[blennylover2323]

I have water sprite in my betta tank and it is an absolutely amazing plant. it grows so fast and my betta loves to rest in it''s roots.

here is some pictures:

 

[MacZ]

You have Mbuna, haven't you? With them all floaters are no more than expensive fishfood.
With South Americans all floaters are good, no matter which.

 

[jake37]

frogbit or water letuce if current is low; hornworth works well as does anacharis. Not a floater per sey but dwarf lily will send leaves to the top that 'float'

 

[ProudPapa]

Pearl weed will float and form a dense mass.