Hepper is reader-supported. When you buy via links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you. Learn more.

10 Best Cold Water Aquarium Plants – 2024 Reviews and Top Picks

Lindsey Stanton Profile Picture

By Lindsey Stanton

Trumpet Snails and Otocinclus catfish with Betta fish in the aquarium

When you first get your aquarium it can look bare and uninteresting. It looks that way to your fish too. But adding in aquarium plants to your cold water aquarium can help bring some color and style to the home of your fish.

The benefits of aquarium plants are numerous including oxygenating the tank and purify the water. Keep reading as we look at some of the best cold water aquarium plants on the market this year.

A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites in 2024

Rating Image Product Details
Best Overall
Winner
Amazon Sword Amazon Sword
  • Beginner-friendly
  • Does not require CO2 or fertilizers
  • Suitable for small and large tanks
  • Best Value
    Second place
    Amazon Frogbit Amazon Frogbit
  • Beginner-friendly
  • No substrate is required
  • Purifies water
  • Premium Choice
    Third place
    Marimo Moss Ball Marimo Moss Ball
  • Improves water quality
  • Easy to care for
  • Hardy and adaptable
  • Java Fern Java Fern
  • Beginner-friendly
  • Suitable for low-scape aquariums
  • Most fish don’t eat the leaves
  • Water Wisteria Water Wisteria
  • Rapid growth
  • Does not need fertilizers or CO2
  • Easy to care for
  • The 10 Best Cold Water Aquarium Plants

    1. Amazon Sword – Best Overall

    Check Price on Chewy
    Growth rate: Slow
    Max height: 12″ to 20″
    Light demands: Moderate to high
    CO2: Low demand
    Difficulty: Easy

    The best overall cold-water plant is the Amazon Sword, which is hardy and beginner-friendly. Amazon Swords are quite popular in freshwater aquariums, even though they are slow growers. They thrive in different-sized tanks and tolerate a temperature range between 60 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Their growth usually slows down significantly below 70 degrees Fahrenheit and resumes as the temperature warms up.

    Various aquarium fish and invertebrates are compatible with Amazon Swords, including the popular goldfish. Amazon Swords are not fussy with fertilizers and CO2, but it can benefit their growth. However, they require a moderate to strong overhead light for growth.

    Pros
    • Beginner-friendly
    • Does not require CO2 or fertilizers
    • Suitable for small and large tanks
    • Extensive temperature tolerance
    Cons
    • Demanding light requirements
    • Grows slowly

    2. Amazon Frogbit – Best Value

    6 12+ Leaf Amazon Frogbit

    Growth rate: Fast
    Max height: 1.5″ to 2″
    Light demands: Moderately high
    CO2: Not required
    Difficulty: Easy

    We have chosen Amazon Frogbit as the best value for money because you can purchase them in large bundles at an affordable price. Amazon Frogbit is a very hardy, adaptable, and beginner-friendly plant that is known for its fast growth. They have thick, circular leaves that rarely exceed 2 inches in size. This is a floating plant that should not be planted in substrate or fully immersed in water.

    Amazon Frogbit grows thin roots in the water column where they absorb nitrates and fish waste to help purify the water. A bonus to Amazon Frogbit is that it does not require any CO2 or fertilizers, and it grows well with just a bright overhead light.

    This bright green plant tolerates temperatures between 65 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit, making it suitable for both cold and tropical aquariums.

    Pros
    • Beginner-friendly
    • No substrate is required
    • Purifies water
    • No CO2 or fertilizers are needed
    Cons
    • Rapid, sometimes uncontrollable growth
    • Needs bright overhead lighting

    3. Marimo Moss Ball – Premium Choice

    Aquatic-Arts-Marimo-Moss-Ball

    Growth rate: Very slow
    Max height: 8″ to 12″
    Light demands: Low
    CO2: Medium
    Difficulty: Easy

    Our premium choice is the Marimo Moss Ball, a compact growth of green algae—Aegagropila linnaei. Marimo Moss Balls are perfect additions to cold, freshwater aquariums of all sizes. They are relatively small plants that only grow around 0.2 inches a year. Using CO2 and aquatic plant fertilizers can help speed up their growth, but they are only optional.

    Marimo Moss Balls tolerate temperatures between 67 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit, making them suitable for cold-water aquariums. These moss balls have numerous benefits in aquariums, like improved water quality, reduced nitrates, and additional oxygenation.

    Unfortunately, Marimo Moss Balls are illegal in certain states. This is because some Marimo Moss Balls contained invasive zebra mussels back in 2020 which were improperly disposed of and disrupted natural biodiversity. Be sure to check whether Marimo Moss Balls are legal in your location, and only purchase them from reputable sellers.

    Pros
    • Improves water quality
    • Easy to care for
    • Hardy and adaptable
    • Suitable for all tank sizes
    Cons
    • Illegal in certain locations
    • Grows very slowly

    4. Java Fern

    SubstrateSource Java Fern

    Growth rate: Slow
    Max height: 8″ to 13″
    Light demands: Low to moderate
    CO2: Not required
    Difficulty: Easy

    If you are looking for a hardy plant that most fish won’t eat, then Java Fern is a good choice. Java Fern grows in freshwater aquariums with a temperature range between 60 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit, although they grow much slower in cold water. Java Fern is a relatively easy plant to care for, and they do not need fertilizers or CO2 to thrive. This makes them ideal for low-scape aquariums of various sizes.

    Bright aquarium lighting is not recommended for Java Ferns since they naturally grow in shady places. Too much bright lighting may cause brown spotting on their leaves. It is best to only grow Java Fern with other live plants that require low to moderate lighting.

    Pros
    • Beginner-friendly
    • Suitable for low-scape aquariums
    • Most fish don’t eat the leaves
    • Fertilizers and CO2 are not required
    Cons
    • Grows slowly
    • Sensitive to bright lighting

    5. Water Wisteria

    Water Wisteria

    Growth rate: Fast
    Max height: 20″
    Light demands: Moderate to high
    CO2: Not required
    Difficulty: Easy

    Water Wisteria is a fast-growing freshwater plant that can grow incredibly large. This plant can be kept in both cold and tropical conditions as they have a temperature range between 65 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Water Wisteria can grow well without any fertilizers or CO2, although it can be used to keep the plant vibrant and healthy. Due to Water Wisterias’ maximum size of 20 inches tall, they are better suited for very large aquariums. Aside from helping to improve water quality, the Water Wisteria’s bushy leaves offer fish and shrimp a place to hide.

    Pros
    • Rapid growth
    • Does not need fertilizers or CO2
    • Easy to care for
    • Shelters aquarium inhabitants
    Cons
    • Better suited for large aquariums
    • Needs bright overhead lighting

    6. Java Moss

    Java Moss

    Growth rate: Medium
    Max height: 5″
    Light demands: Low
    CO2: Low
    Difficulty: Easy

    Java moss can make a great overhanging aquarium plant that typically requires little maintenance. Java moss resembles a stem with thin little leaves and grows in no particular pattern, making it an ideal aquascaping plant that provides a hiding place for most aquarium inhabitants and even provides young fry a place to hide away from being eaten by the adult fish. It only grows to a maximum height of 5 inches and grows horizontally through an aquarium, making it ideal to be grown with taller plants that do not cover the surface, which in turn, will block out light for your Java moss.

    Pros
    • Provides a hiding space for the aquarium inhabitants
    • Grows horizontally
    Cons
    • Only grows up to 5”
    • Can make the aquarium look overrun
    • Does not grow vertically

    7. Water Lettuce

    Water Lettuce

    Growth rate: Fast
    Max height: 2” to 10”
    Light demands: Medium
    CO2: Not required
    Difficulty: Moderately easy

    Water lettuce is a floating aquarium plant and does not require a substrate as the roots will hang into the water. This is an incredibly attractive addition to the top of your aquarium. Water lettuce looks like an arrangement of green leaves in a flat-lying pattern on top of the water. This plant does not sink and propagates fast in the water under full light, although these plants prefer partial shade and should be introduced to full light slowly. They do not grow noticeably big, especially when kept in low light. A bonus to this plant is that it is excellent at maintaining water quality and is known to use large amounts of ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, making it ideal for maintaining good water conditions and water parameters, keeping your fish or invertebrates potentially healthier.

    Pros
    • Does not require CO2
    • Does not need substrate
    • Maintains good water quality
    Cons
    • Blocks the bottom plants light availability
    • Can grow fast and quickly overrun an aquarium
    • Sensitive to light changes

    8. Hornwort

    Hornwort

    Growth rate: Rapid
    Max height: 10” to 10’
    Light demands: Moderate
    CO2: Low
    Difficulty: Easy

    Hornwort is known in the aquarium industry for its interesting fluffy green stems and the way it grows so fast under good conditions. It also makes an excellent water maintainer and uses ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates to grow and supply itself with nutrients. If you keep them under moderate light conditions you can expect them to grow rapidly and well and grow both horizontally and vertically. It also resembles a fluffy horn-like structure that looks great in aquariums, especially when mixed with a variety of smooth leaved aquatic plants. They also keep unwanted algae under control because it uses the nutrients algae would need to use to grow and thrive.

    Pros
    • Easy to grow
    • Low CO2 demands
    • Interesting plant structure and feature
    Cons
    • Grows amazingly fast and rapid
    • Competes with other plants for nutrients and resources

    9. Anacharis

    Anacharis

    Growth rate: Moderately fast
    Max height: 3’
    Light demands: Moderate
    CO2: Low in cold water
    Difficulty: Easy

    Anacharis, also known as waterweed, is a fast-growing aquarium plant. It has long stems where thin leaves grow from horizontally. It can make a good background plant along with other thin stemmed plants surrounding or intertwining with the Anacharis. It provides shelter and food for most aquarium inhabitants. This plant can survive most water conditions, whether poor or well maintained. It has the potential to grow quite high and at a moderately fast rate when kept in ideal conditions. So, this is not ideal in a small aquarium as Anacharis can deprive the water of oxygen and lead to inhabitants dying from oxygen deprivation.

    Pros
    • Hardy enough for beginners
    • Makes a good background plant
    • Provides food and shelter for aquarium inhabitants
    Cons
    • Can grow out of control
    • Can deprive the aquarium of oxygen

    10. Ludwigia Repens

    Growth rate: Fast
    Max height: 12″ to 20″
    Light demands: Medium to moderately high
    CO2: Low demand
    Difficulty: Medium

    Ludwiga Repens is a versatile plant and can provide a colorful addition to your aquarium, as long as you meet its requirements, it has a moderately high demand for appropriate lightening to produce colorful leaves within your aquarium and to be provided with the necessary nutrients to support growth and coloration. It makes a good background plant as the dark red coloration goes well with other green aquarium plants, especially other overhanging green plants in the aquarium. Intertangling Ludwiga Repens with other long strand growing plants that are compatible with Ludwiga Repens and they will not overly compete for resources. This will make a great color variation in your aquarium.

    Pros
    • Colorful
    • Low CO2 demands
    • Looks attractive with other aquatic plants
    Cons
    • Grows quite fast and out of order
    • Requires high light demands
    • Medium difficulty, not the best for beginners

    wave dividerBuyer’s Guide: Choosing the Best Cold-Water Aquarium Plants

    What are the most suitable plants for your aquarium?

    When deciding on a good species of aquatic plant for your aquarium, you must take a few things into account. First, monitor your tanks temperature fluctuations for a week, as some plants do not tolerate constant drastic differences, especially cold-water plants. Keep in mind how much tank space you can provide. It is not a good idea to cramp a tank full of aquatic plants because it can deprive the tank of oxygen at night, leading to oxygen deprivation. Some types of fish will consume the plants, so choose plants that are uninteresting to your aquatic life but still entices and adds value to your aquarium.

    What are the different options?

    As seen above, there are quite a few options when choosing a suitable aquarium plant. With each plant you can decide on the size and quantity you want to have within your aquarium. If you have a larger aquarium you will most likely want a larger grown plant than if you had a smaller aquarium with less space. Choose colors that you ideally feel comfortable decorating to your liking and aquascaping. A mix of compatible plant species can be a great idea!aquarium plant divider

    Conclusion

    Our top pick is the hardy and adaptable Amazon Sword which is easy to care for, making it a great choice for beginner aquarists. Our best value choice is the Amazon Frogbit, as you can purchase them in large bundles at an affordable price, and they are ideal for beginners.

    We hope we’ve helped you find the best plants for your cold-water aquarium!


    Featured Image Credit: You Touch Pix of EuToch, Shutterstock

    Related Articles

    Further Reading

    Vet Articles

    Latest Vet Answers

    The latest veterinarians' answers to questions from our database