4 comments to “What is a good plant to get for my freshwater aquarium so my fry have a place to hide in/under?”

1. KityKity wrote:
   25. March 2008 at 7:16 pm :

   Any aquatic plant that is sold at petstores. Pick something bushy or leafy so there are lots of places for the fry to hide.

   Anachris (aka elodia) are good leafy plants that are available a lot of places, mainly because a lot of animals eat them (turtles, crayfish, even mollies!).

   I forgot to mention that mollies love to eat plants. So you may have to replace them frequently. You could also add some plastic plants so the fry will always have a place to hide.

2. Robert O wrote:
   27. March 2008 at 1:30 am :

   Leafy small plants Like the Java fern it needs moderate lighting so a power compact would do well

3. Ani wrote:
   28. March 2008 at 2:26 pm :

   Java moss and hornwort work beautifully in my tank.

   Mollies tend to destroy plants, especially delicate ones. I have found with my tanks that the mollies and platies love to eat java moss. They like hornwort, but it is tougher and the javamoss is softer. In my tank they devour and pull apart the java moss and leave the hornwort alone. That gives the fry the chance to hide in the hornwort. Also, Ive found that both grow like wildfire. I took an old fish bowl, stuck a bit of moss in it and put it in front of a window and before I knew it the moss had taken over and I had plenty of “food” for my mollies.
   And the hornwort grows so fast in the tank that Ive taken to clipping it and using it as mulch for my house plants.

4. vort3xyz wrote:
   31. March 2008 at 8:06 am :

   Amazon Frogbit for the top. it grows in just about any water.

   Java moss in clumps is nice. Its also hard to kill unless the temperature is too high.

   Java ferns are hard to kill.

   Outside of those plants, it depends on your water parameters. Many things kill plants. In my local water (Pittsburgh). Water Wisteria grows VERY well in the aquarium. Almost too well to believe.

   You may want to opt for some plastic options…..

   Walmart sells plastic baby fish mats for $1 a square.

   Pet stores sell floating / burryable fish mats for $7 a package.

   Joanne’s fabrics sells some 100% plastic plants that aren’t bad in aquarium use. They sell them in 4×4 or 5×5 inch squares. Sometimes they can be tall, which can be unsightly in an aquarium… but they work well.

   Also, the best option, that you may not know about is plastic artist mesh sold in wallmart / joanne / michael’s craft stores. #7 is good for most species of livebearing fish. You dig holes in your gravel & put this stuff over the holes. Most people can get away with just laying it on the gravel & pinning it down with some rocks. Its great for keeping the mother from eating the babies while birthing. The baby pops out, retreats below this stuff & the mesh is too small for the mother to eat the babies. There’s not much color choice in the medium-large sizes like #7 though… Clear & Black are about all you can get.

   I used this stuff in my guppy tank with some success.

   though its not as good as some of the other options at protecting the babies, it is very attractive.