# Floater Roots



## Bldr (Aug 13, 2017)

I've had Amazon Frogbit grow happily in my shrimp tank for a while now, but the one thing that's bothered me is it's root length. My tank is about 22" to the substrate and more often than not these guys reach right into it. It's always cool to see plants succeed but it kinda throws off the look of the tank since it occupies all water levels.

So my question is what affects the root length? I maintain a higher light and higher flow tank for my dad and the roots stay about half as long. I don't fertilize that tank like I do mine.

I want to replace the frogbit with RRF anyway (if I can get my hands on some) but wonder if the same thing will happen. I love the look and function of floaters in my tank so I'll always keep some, it's just a question of which.

If anyone has some answers or maybe more questions I'd like to hear it. Cheers


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## infolific (Apr 10, 2016)

My frogbit roots always grow long and I've had them in a few different set ups. While I like that frogbit is more tolerant to water getting on the leaves, I don't keep them anywhere now where I can actually see them because of the roots.

The roots on my red root floaters stay much shorter. Or maybe they're just really, really slow growing. When I prune old leaves, the longer roots come with them so they never get really long.

My favourite floater is salvinia cucullata. The leaves clump together in a pleasing way unlike the more common salvinia minima. The leaves are fairly dense, but grow slowly too and I prune often enough that the roots are never more than an inch or two.


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## Bldr (Aug 13, 2017)

Okay so it's as I guessed... duckweed will take over the surface with leaves but frogbit will take over the tank with roots... Oh well it'll do for now. 
I'd never heard of S cucullata, interesting floater. Is it much more prone to rot? I imagine that leaf form collects water easily.


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## infolific (Apr 10, 2016)

Salvinia cucullata's leaves will turn brown if they remain wet. They're actually pretty good at channeling water through a slot that runs down the leaf. They're better at getting rid of a lot of water, but fine droplets tend to stay in place.

I run a spray bar out of my canister angled to generate surface agitation, but no bubbles so my floating plants do fine. Anything that does get wet somehow is quickly replaced by new growth too.


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