Azolla for natural aquarium: an extraordinary depolluting floating plant
What is floating frogbit?
Azolla is a small floating aquatic fern with colors ranging from tender green to deep red depending on light intensity. Highly prized in natural aquariums, it is actually an association inherited from prehistory between a fern and a cyanobacterium. Perfectly suited for a low tech aquarium or a trash aquarium, it is one of the most original and enchanting floating plants.
Advantages of floating frogbit in a natural aquarium
- Effectively absorbs phosphates and not nitrogen, thus limiting algae proliferation without penalizing plants
- In ponds, it exploits the most intense lights and the most extreme temperatures
- Unique aesthetic thanks to its nuanced colors from green to intense red and its velvety texture
- Rapid and powerful growth, making it an excellent natural filter
- Ideal for ponds and trash aquariums
- Equipped with a unique gene, it has the rare ability to fix heavy metals and thus purify the water
How to maintain floating frogbit?
- 🌱 Rapid growth requiring monitoring of surface coverage. Remove excess by hand or with a net to prevent it from covering the entire surface
- 🌱 No substrate required. It lives strictly on the surface
- 🌱 Thrives under intense light and strong heat, even scorching
- 🌱 Compatible with extreme temperatures. In ponds, it often disappears in winter, producing dormant forms that wait for spring to reappear
- 🌱 Compatible with tanks without filters
- 🌱 Its reproduction is childlike, each small floating frogbit fragmenting so that each fragment then becomes a new plant
Tips for using floating frogbit
After traveling, each fern fragmented in the bag, forming "crumbs" which are as many cuttings. Pour them on the surface, where they will float immediately. Ideal in an outdoor pond, it can be harmoniously combined with duckweed or floating frogbit for a varied decor. Just be sure to regularly remove excess vegetation.
During travel, it normally loses its black filaments, which are "false roots." This is normal, and it will do so regularly, especially with each change of environment. It is its way of adapting.
“Azolla is perfect for low-tech and pond enthusiasts seeking a spectacular visual effect and effective depollution.” — Mattier
FAQ - Azolla aquarium
Is Azolla suitable for an aquarium without a filter?
Yes, it is voracious and purifies the water. It also works wonders in poubellariums and ponds.
What is the difference between Azolla and duckweed?
Azolla is very decorative and has a specific gene that allows it to fix heavy metals and other pollutants. Azolla is not eaten by fish (carp, goldfish...) unlike duckweed.
Is Azolla invasive?
It grows quickly but remains easy to control by regularly removing the excess.
Does Azolla need a substrate?
No, Azolla is a strictly floating plant.
Can Azolla be put in a poubellarium?
Yes, it is valuable for poubellariums thanks to its robustness and natural purification ability.
Does Azolla survive winter in a pond?
Yes. If it disappears (which is not always the case), dormant forms wait on the bottom for the return of spring and restart on their own.
Additional information
- Scientific name: Azolla filiculoides
- Plant type: floating plant
- Packaging: batch of 10 plants (indicative weight: 8 g)
- Guarantee: plants grown without any artificial inputs. No fertilizer, no algaecide, no antibiotic.
- Recommendation: as a precautionary principle, please never release this floating frogbit into the wild. It is not native to our regions and we must preserve local balances.
