Best Floating Plants for Aquariums

Here at greenvibe.net we can’t forget about our underwater friends. Plants are great additions to most aquariums and can provide some safety and shelter for your fish friends to make them feel at home. Here’s a few of our favorite floating plants for your home aquarium. If you’re looking for plants specifically chosen to remove nitrates from your tank, you can check out our list of best aquarium plants for removing nitrates.

1 - Hornwort

This is a classic aquarium plant that you’ve probably seen at one point or another. It’s an easy to care for plant that adds a nice deep green color to the aquarium and many consider one of there go-to’s for aquarium building. The only thing to watch out for is that it can grow quickly. We don’t have a strong recommendation for buying this online but you can try Imperial Tropicals on Amazon, just beware of things mixed in with the plants!

2 - Java Moss

Picture cropped from Wikipedia/Buchling under CC BY-SA 3.0

We love moss at greenvibe and Java Moss is a lovely moss that does superb in many aquarium settings. It’s best to buy Java Moss in person at a pet supply store. Java moss is versatile and you can lay it in a carpet on the bottom of the tank, wrap it around rocks or other objects, or just float freely within the tank. Java moss is very popular for raising small fish or tadpoles to protect them from cannibalistic adults and can also act as a food source for the young creatures. You can find Java Moss online from Greenpro at Amazon.

3 - Amazon Frogbit

Amazon Frogbit is a super cute clover looking floating plant that covers the top of your aquarium. They are also known as the west indian spongeplant or south american spongeplant. They are also similar to and sometimes confused for the water hyacinth. There are only two things to watch out for, namely that they be kept dry on the top and some types of snails like to eat them.

4 - Pennywort

We love pennywort because it looks like tiny lily pads. This dwarf pennywort is even cuter and one of our faves. Pennywort as a common plant name can refer to multiple types of plants but Asiatic Pennywort is used in asian cuisine and medicine.

5 - Red Root Floater

If you’re looking for something a little different a red root floater could be the thing for you. It’ll add a splash of color to your aquarium to contrast the green leaves and white roots of most of the plants on this list. These tend to be even easier to take care of compared to frogbit. Just be sure you give them at least a moderate amount of light. You can get a red root floater here from Aquarigram on Amazon.