Andrew - 2008-08-07
I found the Brazilian Pennywort to be a hardy plant even at low temperatures. Some dark spotting will appear on older leaves, but they needed to be trimmed by this stage anyway. Trimming will allow a burst of younger shoots to take up the available light & space. At first I couldn't work out how to present this awkward, fragile & spindly tangle. I wanted it to be anchored as a ground cover, sprawling along the bottom and creeping up the sides of my tank, but it would not stay anchored or in the position i wanted. So, in the end i threw a whole lot of stainless steel kitchen hooks at it - to keep the mess at the bottom & gave up on it; walking away...To my surprise & delight the next day, the leaves and stalks had resolved their buoyancy issues - settling into wonderful fantasy-like, lily-pad layers (nature always proving the better designer), giving an unexpected magical appeal (so much so, it remains as the central theme of that tank still today).
My advice with Brazilian pennywort as with most stem plants is to submerge whole plant in water overnight to resolve buoyancy issues, good idea to treat water with an antibacterial preventing unwanted nasties. Try even acclimatising your plant first by just floating it (out of a bag) on the surface of the aquarium for a couple of days.
DESIGN TIPS:
- submerge for 12 - 24 hours prior to design to clear buoyancy problems
- place (enough) s/steel hooks along selected runners to achieve a neutral
buoyancy(mid-floating)
- work with the natural buoyancy of plant in fast flowing tanks, let it settle
where it lands - nature is an incredible designer when given the chance! let the
current determine its best position
- although the stalks/branches are incredibly brittle out of water, with leaves that
should fold & flop in any water flow - it is remarkably resilient even in strong
currents. At first a few leaves may fold, don't worry too much as the plant will
soon compensate for this over a day or 2 rectifying the leaf to upright & open.

Overall I love Brazilian Pennywort or Cardamon as is sometimes called - due to it's sweet spice-aroma emitted when out off water. I've found the perfect lily-pad ascetic without the slow growth & smell!

have fun...

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David - 2010-07-16
I have a pond (small) that initially occupied with different tropical fishes, but they always disappeared maybe because birds, or other.
A few month ago I decided to take a different approach and bought 1 plant (Anacharis)
so the fish could hide from predators, well it didn't work for the fish, so I moved the ones I got left with to my 20 gal tank, now I have so many Anacharis that I wish there was a way to use them and not kill them, Let me know if there is other use for the plant, thank you (Florida)

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Patrick - 2010-03-26
An awesome plant for the aquarium. Its root system that forms beneath each leaf adds an interesting touch. I have mine running vertically up the side of my 75 gallon tank and also horizontally along the bottom. With my light and CO2 set-up, it constantly gives off streams of bubbles.

I often clip sections of it off and transplant into my dad's low-tech 55 gallon. It has done very well, is growing quickly, and looks great.

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Julia - 2008-01-29
I'm not sure if this is the same plant as mondo grass (like you find in your yard), but it looks similar. I've tried planting mondo grass as a widely available, free aquarium plant, and it seems to do well.

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Barbara - 2003-11-18
Pretty and delicate, and tolerates a wide range of temp. and conditions, it is rightfully named and will cause anarchy if not tamed. This means serious frequent trimming, and inproper propgation will lead to a dense cover on the aquariums top which will prevent you from feeding. Lastly, if you have any underwater crabs (fiddlers, thai), dont use this plant, it is strong, hard to topple, easy to climb, and willingly goes ABOVE the waters surface- giving your fishy friends a perfect excuse to take a dry land vacation.

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Kevin Aylward - 2005-11-26
Being a newbie to fishkeeping, this looked like a good place to start with plants. I bought ten bunches of cabomba, and placed them at the back and corners of the tank. The fish seem to love the fact that they can swim around and through them. I think it stimulates them. I know these live plants have it all over the artificials for appearance. Their whispy texture flows gracefully, and is visually pleasant. Thank you for giving me a selection that even us newbies can enjoy and succeed with.

Kevin from Maryland

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Bil - 2006-10-07
Hornwort is a great plant very easy to care for and it reproduces by itself. A good plant for fry to hide in. But beware usually it brings friends like snails to your tank. Everytime we get some hornwort we are plagued with pond snails you'll see a few and then a week later there is about 50 snails in there. The hornwort grows fast like cabomba and still gets pecked at by the mollies especially fry mollies. I have all kinds of baby fry in my hornwort. A very good all around plant for the aquarium and it does shed its leaves but the decaying matter turns into algae for the pleco. For beginners this is the best plant for you.

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Jake - 2004-09-30
I am very disappointed when I see online aquarium retailers selling Brazilian Elodea under the name of "anacharis". This plant, the Brazilian Elodea, is a highly noxious and invasive weed and is obviously non-native. This plant readily outcompetes native plants in lakes where it is "accidentally" introduced into a local lake or pond. I would like to see the chances of this plant impacting our lakes reduced and promote the use of the native plant, the common Elodea, (Elodea canadensis. It is just as attractive and will not harm our lakes if they are introduced, as they are native to North America.

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Michael Brown - 2011-11-27
I have just got 2 bunches of hornwort and floated them I use flora boost too once a week all my other plants are doing well hope the hornwort does the same hope to get some advice? thank you

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Alleen - 2006-04-06
Cabomba is a really good plant, but the roots are damaged very easily, so be carefull when planting them. I recently got some of the red cabomba,and it has a little pinkish\white bloom on it. It is very pretty in the aquarium!

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