Which Floater to Choose?

I personally like the look of a nice floating pad of riccia.

Hrm. I don't think I've ever seen a photo of that while used as a floater. Does it break apart and such and get all over everywhere?

My red root floater is dying on me for unknown reasons but the frogbit it thriving so I would vote for frogbit. But on aquabid I usually see floaters offered as a package so I don't see why you need to only choose one.

I understand your hatred of duckweed, it is the herpes of fish tanks. But right now I have Giant Duckweed and its a lot better than common duckweed.

Floaters don't need CO2, they get that from the air. That is prolly the main reason why they usually grow faster than other plants. But they do need a lot of fertilizer and turn yellow pretty fast if they don't get it. If you don't want to dose ferts you might need to keep the number of floaters low.

My rrf died off, water lettuce grows like crazy with low light, no co2 or ferts. I take handfuls out on a regular basis, plus the root structure is really cool.

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I have large mats of Riccia in several of my tanks, it holds together quite nicely. Occasionally a piece or 2 will break off but it floats so I usually just put it back with the group. My tanks are low to medium light, no fert, no co2 and I have no problem growing it. Not real great for a baby fish saver though, if that's what you want it for, shrimp like to hang out in it. (I'd put up a picture for you but mine has a little duckweed stuck in it that I'm trying to get picked out.)

i love the water lettuce in my tank! it's multiplied by double these last few weeks, but it's really cool looking so i don't care XD

I'll take a look about and see if I can find some water lettuce then ... Thanks!

I like both the riccia matts (I have some in both my tanks) and the rrf, the only problem with RRf is it grows so darned fast constant harvesting is a must. I am currently using a circle of floating airline to contain my rrf and I prune whatever grows outside the boundaries of the air line. the invisible floating fence it works great.

but I haven't tried the rrf in my low(ish) tech tank but the riccia does great in it.

I have lots of broad leaf sagitarus floating on top and some planted into the substrate for my 75. It grows easily without a lot of light. Any excess can be given away. But do a good job of aquascaping. Look at my profile pictures to get an idea. They've grown quite a bit since and look like little islands from the bottom. Plus, the fishes love it.

Sorry, I named the wrong plant. There are some sagitarus, but primarily broadleaf watersprite.

don't the floaters block a lot of light? Can someone link or post some pics of your floaters? I'm interested in trying some true floaters but I keep reading of people trying to remove theirs...

Yes, they do block light. But they are great for inhabitants. In terms of pictures, I have this from a couple months ago. The watersprite have spread little. But for some, if it is somewhat heavily planted, it is not always a bad idea. I give away the new floaters on occasion. In my opinion, this enhances the aquascape. I am running a 75 gallon system without CO2 and just running basic three 50 watt ecolux plant bulbs,

If the watersprite is not available. You can try using the smaller duckweed to see if you like it. It depends on your flow and intake from your filter. These small duckweed plants can clog easily. When it comes to your own planted tank. It is sometimes a "trial and error" thing.

Duckweed, Once you put it in, it's never leaving! You think it's gone, but you miss one little tiny bit and it's back with a vengeance.

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If you are interested in floaters I have some amazon frogbit for sale with no contaminents or duckweed...If interested PM me...

I have had two types of riccia. One type breaks apart easily and is not as green, the other type is strong and has never broken apart. Both kinds grow easily and quickly. I have even had both kinds in the same tank at the same time.
PM if interested.

Do you guys use glass lids on your tanks or are they open? What do you recommend?

Mine is open. Depends on what kind of light you get. If you are going low light/low tech, I'm sure riccia would do fine under stock aquarium bulbs that come with a tank setup, as long as you leave the lights on for 8 hours a day.

I have Water Lettuce, duckweed, and frogbit. The watter lettuce and duckweed grow like mad and double in less then a week. The frogbit is spreading, but slower. I am going to get some red root floaters as well. The nice things about all of these is how easy they are to remove when they get crowded. just dunk your hand in and scoop some out!