Slow growing water plants.

[HYUN007]

Some of my water plants grow way too fast.
What type of water plant grow slowly and is beautiful in an aquarium?

[magpie]

You can try Downoi which is native from your country Thailand.

[shrimpsdotcoza]

anubias and java ferns, depends how much light you have over your tank. if you lessen the light, the plants will slow down. light is like an accelerator pedal in your car...

[Robert]

Hi,
a really good choice is Anubias baerteri var. nana and its varieties like A. b. var. nana 'petite' (it's only half the size of the normal nana). The Anubias barteri var. coffeefolia is also very nice and grows very slowly. The other A. barteri varities are also nice but some become quite big.

Pogostemon helferi aka downoi is also a good choice and grows for a stem plant extremly slowly. Hygrophila corymbosa grows also rather slowly for a stem plant if your don't provide extra CO2 or lots of fertilizer (it's starts to starve and grows much slower). I would only recommend the compact form because the other varieties become quite big and grow much faster.

Always a good choice are Cryptocoryne species. You can get them in all sizes and all shades of green and brown. Some of them grow extremely slow and need years to reach their final size or to form a carpet/group. But you don't have to care much about them and they don't require a regular dosing of fertilizer. The Cryptocoryne x willisii, Cryptocoryne parva and C. spec. 'Legroi' stay especialy small and grow very slowly. The last one looks like a tiny brown Cryptocoryne wendtii and grew into a 5-7cm high group in my tank within the last 3 years. So even after years it stayed small but grew quite well. Cryptocryne species sometimes need years to reach their adult size and to grow properly. So while the plant matures the weak slow growth suddenly changes to a much stronger and faster growth although the conditions did not change at all. I have seen this with several species in my show tank (http://www.flickr.com/photos/17723972@N08/3041120684/) which is mainly planted with Cryptocoryne species.

A good choice is also java fern. The needle leaf variety grows rather slowly and stays smaller than the other varieties. Bolbitis heudelotii is also a rather slow growing fern species but it's not that easy to keep in my experience. It prefers soft and slightly acid water. But the dark green fonts look quite nice.

The prothalium of the fern Lomariopsis lineata looks a bit like a liverwort. If you bind it on driftwood or stones, it can stay like this for years and you just have to trim it once or twice a year. At least for me this works for 4 years now and I did not even move driftwood, yet. The liverwort Riccardia chamedryfolia aka "mini pelia" grows also quite slowly while most mosses should grow relatively fast under good conditions.

best regards,
Robert

[shrimpsdotcoza]

nice tank robert!

[MaroussiaDK]

You have also the Java ferns, of the genus Microsorum. Fantastic plants, I have them in almost all my tanks.

[HYUN007]

I bought Anubias baerteri today, one thick grass looking type and one with fern(I suspect these 2 might not be for aquarium though)
Java fern is difficult to find at the weekend market, you guys in Singapore are lucky to get them so easily and cheap.
Although fish are cheaper here.

[leroi]

in my experience i find moss as one of the slow growing plants
most plants that survive out of the substrate and in the water level grow slow specially if you dont dose fertilizer
these types of plants rely on the nutrients in the water level
unlike rooted plants which absorbs nutrients in the substrate


Some of my water plants grow way too fast.
What type of water plant grow slowly and is beautiful in an aquarium?

[verseoneverse]

I also find Moss as slow growing plants. Especiallly Fissiden Fontanus and Christmas Moss. For plant wise, your Anubias baerteri will be the slowest.

[adrianng1996]

you can also try staurogyne

[retardo]

A lot of good suggestions here. Bolbitis (African fern) is another option that you may want to try. If you are looking for a tall grasslike effect in the background, try Cyperus helferi, Cryptocoryne balansae, Crytocoryne spiralis, or C. retrospiralis. Staurogyne repens/tropica/049 [they are the same] or porto velho [aka, low grow] are good choices for foreground. Mosses look great anywhere. It really depends on the type of effect you are going for in your tank. I personally have a mix of fast growers (as a nutrient sop) and slow growers. I don't mind doing the maintenance as long as the tank looks great!

[seiji64]

My favorite slow growing foreground plant is Cryptocoryne parva. Awesome little plant. In my experience it is less prone to melt than other crypts too.
Doug

[Frank]

My favourites are as follows.
Slow growing: Staurogyne, Anubias, Lomariopsis and mosses.
Fast growing and easy to remove: Najas, Ceratophyllum demersum,
Floating: Pistia stratiotes, Limnobium laevigatum