Azolla is a wonder plant we will all soon be hearing about. It has tremendous properties for agricultural green manure, human food, and climate control.
Sometimes referred to as 'Fairy Moss', 'Mosquito Fern' or simply 'Water Fern', Azolla is extremely quick-growing and undemanding. Frankly, It's also adorable.
Azolla (Azolla spp.) is native to the western United States, but has spread worldwide.
They prefer medium light intensity, and when the plant is doing well, you'll start to notice little red, orange, and pink fringes along its growing edge. The biggest compound plantlet is no more than a centimeter in the home aquarium.
These are grown with minimal fertilizer and average light/ room temperatures. They grow in my unheated, unfiltered Walstad tanks as well, so you know they are hardy! Do note, however, that you can expect stronger growth and brighter colors when they live under better light.
Like many floating plants, Azolla prefers calm, undisturbed water. You may wish to corral them away from a filter output or airstone.
THIS PLANT IS ILLEGAL IN THE FOLLOWING STATES: IDAHO, ILLINOIS, INDIANA & WISCONSIN.
PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IF YOU LIVE IN THESE STATES.
For reference, I have Nicrew SkyLEDs on ten gallon tanks. Temps fluctuate between 65F in the winter to 80F in the summer. I grow these in my personal happy community tanks with colorful guppies, snails, shrimp, and of course, lots of plants! If you'd absolutely rather not have snail hitchhikers, It would be best to look up how to do a preventative bleach dip on the interwebs :)
2oz portion is roughly a small condiment cup size.
As I like to keep real ecosystems in my aquariums, there’s always a chance of harmless hitchhikers like snails or dwarf shrimp tagging along with your plants!
I personally keep several beneficial snail species in my tanks, including Colorful Ramshorns, Bronze Bladder and Pond Snails, Mini Rams, and Malaysian Trumpet Snails. These snails stay relatively small, help clean the aquarium, and do not eat healthy plants or cause harm. However, if you’d rather avoid any hitchhikers, I highly recommend checking out our blog on how to safely disinfect aquarium plants before adding them to your tank:
How to Bleach Dip Aquarium Plants Safely
All plants are freshly snipped or harvested and packed right before shipment. I take great care in preparing every order and use methods that have consistently produced the best results over many years in the hobby. A lot of love goes into every package, so please don’t leave your plants sitting in a hot mailbox for too long 🙏
Thank you for looking, aqua friends! 💚