the lesser plant to die away. Tangling in floaters among an established plant stand circumvents this nicely, and it is easy to
prune or pull out if you wish.
The leaf shape of both these plants are also quite unusual. Varying leaf shapes in a stand on plants looks very effective, and
these plants can look great against other more usual oval leaves of other stem plants. Hornwort is quite like tinsel, and the
tips can turn an attractive rusty colour when near the light. Penny wort resembles small lilly pads, each with little roots and
all connected by stems, and it is a pleasing light green. These shapes will easily stand out against other stemmed plants with
the more usual oval leaf shapes, and by combining shapes and the
5. Baby tears/moneywort (Bacopa sp.)
Bacopa australis, B. monnieri, Bacopa caroliniana
A wonderful long stem plant which will take off (and emerge!) when rooted in basic gravel or sand. Clippings taken will also
root - just remove the lower leaves from the 'nodes' they attach too, and watch them sprout roots. Using this method, you will
have a forest in no time. As they grow fast, a little CO2 via liquid supplements and fertiliser in liquid form will also get it
lush and green. If your nitrates are low, blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) can form, so choose a fertiliser with nitrates added
if this is a problem. Algae won't grow where there are healthy plants!
This advice also applies to the following great stem plants:
6. Hygrophillia (Hygrophillia sp.), which includes many forms such as Green hygro - H. polysperma, Water wisteria –
H. difformis, Willow hygro (huge long leaves), and Sunset hygro (reddish tips).
7. Ludwigia ( Ludwigia sp.), another which has many forms, popular being L. arctuata, L. repens , favored for their
hardy nature and pink/red colouring.
8. Lacefern/watersprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides)
An extra note here this plant produces daughter plants like Java fern, pinch them off the mother plant and off you go!
Plus it will grow floating, gouramis, bettas and their kin will love swimming amongst the roots, which can be
attractive handing down into the tank.
9. Crypts (Cryptocoryne sp.)
Crypts are low to medium height plants with a
group of stems growing from a central point, each
topped with a single long leaf. They are stunning
accent plants, often with dark purple undersides to
the leaves. They will tolerate low light well - but
beware when you bring them home. Any change to
their system, light period, gravel etc will cause
them to 'melt' after a few days. Do NOT throw the
plant out however! New leaves will grow from the
rootstock as soon as it adjusts to its new home, it
just may take a while. Once established, they can
send out daughter plants on runners under the soil,
so new crypts may start springing up in the tank
when things are right.
10.Swords (Enchinodorus sp.)
You can think of swords like giant crypts, they can grow huge and put out large long leaves, which are a huge impact
in any planted tank, and just perfect for angelfish etc to lay eggs on. They can also come in types with wavy edges,
red colours, and dwarf forms for smaller tanks. Though they like brighter light, they will also do well in lower light though they will just grow more slowly. Their root systems can be very big, so a fertiliser tablet n V"F