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hello all, i have read on this site somewhere , but can't find it now , of a plant that floats on the surface , and whose roots dangle in the water and have excellent nitrate reducing characteristics . can anyonone tell me what it is please?..lawrie

Do you mean Limnobium laevigatum?

Ceratofyllum demersum is one of the best nitrate absorbers but has no roots. The common name is hornwort.

I'm also interested. Can someone post a pic.

The easiest way is to check here:

http://www.aquabase.org/plant/view.php3?id=9 (click on the photos to expand them). The Tropica Link can also be used to find info about other plants

also here:

http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/cedepic.html

and here: http://www.tropica.dk/productcard_1.asp?id=021 - the Tropica link can be used also for other plants.

More info about the plant here:

http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/aq ... yllum.html

That was here: http://www.zebrapleco.com/forum/viewtop ... highlight=

I have bought this plant and I'm in the process of getting this plant used to having it's roots in water so that I can test it Very interesting concept!

For the plants to actually soak up any nutrients there must be an abundance of light which is used for photosynthesis. If there is not enough light then the plant will slowly die which would in turn cause/contribute to the problem.

Also the amount of plants needed would be another issue since one or two plants are not gonna make much difference so that would be another thing to consider.

The plant in question here is one that is famous for surviving just about any conditions, which is why it's a very popular house plant here in Norway, with our dry and sometimes dark indoor enviroment. Still, I haven't manage to make them survive more than a few months

I bought one 4 days ago, cleaned it for all soil, and put it in a container (only the roots) with only water. now it has grown one new leaf already! I've never seen that with the plant in soil... It seems so far that it's growing better in water only than in soil. I'm amazed at what I've seen so far. I'll put it in the tank (only the roots!) soon and see what happens

I have roots of these plants in a couple of my tanks too. You can take a cutting anywhere from the main plant, stick the end in water, and it'll start growing roots too. It's the cuttings that I started in my tanks, not the original soil-bound plant.

Lawrie 909

My guess for this plant would be Amazon frogbit, which floats on the surface & roots act as a secondary filter.

I use this plant in my Discus tanks with slower flowing water, i did try it my Zebra tank but the plant didn't do too good with the faster flowing water & the lower light levels.

Pete wrote:I have roots of these plants in a couple of my tanks too. You can take a cutting anywhere from the main plant, stick the end in water, and it'll start growing roots too. It's the cuttings that I started in my tanks, not the original soil-bound plant.

I noticed that that's how they had started the plant I bought too There was 4 sticks in the soil, and the roots had grown out of them into the soil.

Must be a mint to be made for the nurseries in this plant

Hi
I have been using this plant in 2 of my tanks for around 2 months now bought 2 small plants from B&Q (£1.99 ea) just got the roots dangling in the tanks. The fish don't bother with it and it seems to be growning ok which is good I will take cuttings later in the year for the other tank. If it removes anything polutant from the tank its got to be worth a try right?. Although I am lead to believe that the leaves are quite toxic to other house hold pets (cat, dogs) so if they are partial to nibbling plants makesure its out of reach.