Frogbit

[FishGuest5123]

Is frogbit a good floating plant? Pros/cons???

 

[seangee]

I think its great. Its the one with the trailing roots I posted about in this thread Floating plants and water changes. If you go up to the first post its the one with the big shiny leaves. Grows fast and the fish love it. When I thin it out it goes into the goldfish pond, they love it too but for a different reason.
It can collect muck in the roots, I just give it a good stir every couple of days.

My first attempt at growing it didn't work out - I assumed it was the humidity, but the next time I bought a little tub of tissue cultured plants. These seem a much better quality and are thriving. Everything in that tank started with one little tub of frogbit and another of salvinia. Its also covered over my little 15G flex and the goldfish get a litre jug full of plants 2-3 times a week. I do fertilise with Seachem Flourish Comprehensive at half dose twice a week

 

[FishGuest5123]

I think its great. Its the one with the trailing roots I posted about in this thread Floating plants and water changes. If you go up to the first post its the one with the big shiny leaves. Grows fast and the fish love it. When I thin it out it goes into the goldfish pond, they love it too but for a different reason.
It can collect muck in the roots, I just give it a good stir every couple of days.

My first attempt at growing it didn't work out - I assumed it was the humidity, but the next time I bought a little tub of tissue cultured plants. These seem a much better quality and are thriving. Everything in that tank started with one little tub of frogbit and another of salvinia. Its also covered over my little 15G flex and the goldfish get a litre jug full of plants 2-3 times a week. I do fertilise with Seachem Flourish Comprehensive at half dose twice a week

Thanks for the report. I ordered some yesterday to give it a try. I tend to do better with floating plants than the ones that grow in substrate.

 

[Byron]

It does better if it is the true tropical species, Limnobium laevigatum. I got stuck with a temperate species and while I still have it some 8-9 years later, it has never done as well as it could/should, presumably due to the permanent tropical temperatures in the aquarium. This excerpt I wrote back then will explain:

There are other plants very similar in appearance that may be confused with Limnobium laevigatum. L. spongia is a native North American Frogbit, and Hydrocharis morsus-ranae is a European/Asian plant sometimes referred to as Common or European Frogbit. This latter is a very invasive plant that was intentionally introduced into North America via Ottawa, Canada in 1932. It has since spread quickly and by 2003 was known to occur throughout much of southeastern Ontario, southern Quebec, northern New York and Vermont and eastern Michigan. "Frogbit" is classified in several states including California and Washington as a noxious weed. It is likely that some aquarium plants are in fact not L. laevigatum but one of the other two.​

I discovered this after I posted some photos on another forum of the flowers produced by my plants a few weeks after I acquired them. I had assumed I bought the tropical species as it was labelled as Amazon Frogbit, and I added the flower photos to the profile of this plant I had posted on another forum. The forum owner received an email from someone in the US Department of Agriculture, pointing out that this plant was a noxious weed and illegal in some states, and aquarists should not be cultivating it as it might easily spread outside. So it was through the flowers (which are different for each species) that we determined I have the temperate species Hydrocharis morsus-ranae. Here is a photo of my Hydrocharis morsus-ranae in flower; it reproduces rapidly but the plants I now have are not as "healthy" as these were initially, maybe due to the temp issue.

 

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What a beautiful plant and the flower in that picture is exquisite. Very definitely a plant to acquire.

 

[FishGuest5123]

It does better if it is the true tropical species, Limnobium laevigatum. I got stuck with a temperate species and while I still have it some 8-9 years later, it has never done as well as it could/should, presumably due to the permanent tropical temperatures in the aquarium. This excerpt I wrote back then will explain:

There are other plants very similar in appearance that may be confused with Limnobium laevigatum. L. spongia is a native North American Frogbit, and Hydrocharis morsus-ranae is a European/Asian plant sometimes referred to as Common or European Frogbit. This latter is a very invasive plant that was intentionally introduced into North America via Ottawa, Canada in 1932. It has since spread quickly and by 2003 was known to occur throughout much of southeastern Ontario, southern Quebec, northern New York and Vermont and eastern Michigan. "Frogbit" is classified in several states including California and Washington as a noxious weed. It is likely that some aquarium plants are in fact not L. laevigatum but one of the other two.​

I discovered this after I posted some photos on another forum of the flowers produced by my plants a few weeks after I acquired them. I had assumed I bought the tropical species as it was labelled as Amazon Frogbit, and I added the flower photos to the profile of this plant I had posted on another forum. The forum owner received an email from someone in the US Department of Agriculture, pointing out that this plant was a noxious weed and illegal in some states, and aquarists should not be cultivating it as it might easily spread outside. So it was through the flowers (which are different for each species) that we determined I have the temperate species Hydrocharis morsus-ranae. Here is a photo of my Hydrocharis morsus-ranae in flower; it reproduces rapidly but the plants I now have are not as "healthy" as these were initially, maybe due to the temp issue.

Thanks for the heads up. I’m going to check my order and see if it says what kind it is.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Thanks for the heads up. I’m going to check my order and see if it says what kind it is.

@Byron Naturally, it doesn’t give the true name. This is a pic. No flowers though. Can you tell anything?

 

[seangee]

There are other plants very similar in appearance that may be confused with Limnobium laevigatum. L. spongia is a native North American Frogbit, and Hydrocharis morsus-ranae is a European/Asian plant sometimes referred to as Common or European Frogbit.

And that is a very plausible explanation for my own experience. I do buy plants on-line and until I started keeping shrimp never bothered too much about the source. First time around I bought Amazon Frogbit from a UK grower. This was most likely Hydrocharis morsus-ranae as it is able to survive outdoors in winter (which also explains why it is so invasive). I most likely had plants that were grown outdoors and didn't adapt with the transition to tropical temps.

By contrast when I made my most recent purchase I specifically searched for Limnobium laevigatum, and because of the shrimp chose the in vitro option.

 

[Byron]

View attachment 92936
@Byron Naturally, it doesn’t give the true name. This is a pic. No flowers though. Can you tell anything?

The leaves of the three species are very similar, if memory serves me. I just did a quick photo search now, but the problem is that one never knows how reliable the identification of a plant in a photo is unless one knows the people behind the photo, and that is usually impossible unless the photos are on accredited plant sites like Tropica. Their photo of this species (Amazon Frogbit, Limnobium laevigatum) is attached below.

The flowers are the distinguishing differences in these plants, something that is also the key with many of the other aquarium plants. Cryptocoryne species for example frequently need flower ID to determine the correct species.

 

[FishGuest5123]

The leaves of the three species are very similar, if memory serves me. I just did a quick photo search now, but the problem is that one never knows how reliable the identification of a plant in a photo is unless one knows the people behind the photo, and that is usually impossible unless the photos are on accredited plant sites like Tropica. Their photo of this species (Amazon Frogbit, Limnobium laevigatum) is attached below.

The flowers are the distinguishing differences in these plants, something that is also the key with many of the other aquarium plants. Cryptocoryne species for example frequently need flower ID to determine the correct species.

Thanks for the reply. I purchase most of my plants from The Plant Factory but I have purchased a number of times from this seller too. We’ll just have to see how it does, I guess. I wish I had your knowledge of aquatic plants.

 

[seangee]

Armed with this knowledge I have now started being much more aggressive with my thinning out of the salvinia. I suspect its a battle I can't win (easily) , but I had left it there as a backup because of what happened on my previous attempt to grow frogbit. That frogbit has only been in for six weeks, at the hottest time of the year, but it looks like it will be a success this time.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Armed with this knowledge I have now started being much more aggressive with my thinning out of the salvinia. I suspect its a battle I can't win (easily) , but I had left it there as a backup because of what happened on my previous attempt to grow frogbit. That frogbit has only been in for six weeks, at the hottest time of the year, but it looks like it will be a success this time.

Unfortunately, no plants will grow in my garden pond because it’s on the patio under cover. In the winter I put hornwort in just so the fish have something to snack on when days are too cold to feed. Poor babies are robbed of the joy of plants.

 

[Back in the fold]

Unfortunately, no plants will grow in my garden pond because it’s on the patio under cover. In the winter I put hornwort in just so the fish have something to snack on when days are too cold to feed. Poor babies are robbed of the joy of plants.

You get to have an outdoor pond in the winter !?!? You are a lucky duck.

 

[FishGuest5123]

You get to have an outdoor pond in the winter !?!? You are a lucky duck.

I live near the coast in Texas. Only a few freezing days each year. About once every decade we get a little snow for a day. Play day for everyone!