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10 Live Plants Your Guppies Will Love 2024 – Reviews & Top Picks

Lindsey Stanton Profile Picture

By Lindsey Stanton

goldfish and guppy in tank

All fish love having plants in their aquarium. Plants help to make fish feel comfortable by mimicking their natural habitats. Fish like guppies are big plant lovers, and in all reality, they need plants to be happy and healthy.

You may not know which plants to choose for your guppy tank, but that is why we are here right not. Let’s get right to it and figure out what the best live plants for guppies are (this one is our top pick).

aquarium plant divider

A Quick Look at Our Favorites of 2024

Rating Image Product Details
Best Overall
Winner
Java Moss Java Moss
  • Provides hiding places for guppies
  • Grows quickly
  • Easy to anchor
  • Second place
    Amazon Sword Amazon Sword
  • Grows quickly
  • Beautiful and easy to care for
  • Great hiding places for guppies
  • Third place
    Java Fern Java Fern
  • Very hardy and easy to care for
  • Low
  • flowing leaves provide hiding places
  • Can handle low lighting and CO2 levels
  • Hornwort Hornwort
  • Great for filtering water
  • Grows quickly
  • Easy to take care of
  • Moneywort Moneywort
  • Efficient producer of biofilm
  • Grows fairly quickly
  • Nice-looking and good for guppies
  • The 10 Live Plants For Guppies

    Let’s take a couple of minutes to take a look at what we think is the best aquarium plant for guppies.

    1. Java Moss

    soshrimp java moss

    Check Price on Chewy

    This is a simple freshwater type of Java moss. It is a living plant, which is great of course. The original java moss you get will be about 3 x 3 inches, but it can grow a lot larger. The long stringy leaves make for perfect hiding places for guppies, plus they love to swim under and through java moss too.

    It’s a great plant that you can easily anchor to the bottom of the aquarium. Once it starts to grow, it will grow really fast. It works well as a natural filter and can be grown without CO2 or fertilizer. Java moss is fairly hardy and can grow in most water conditions (We have covered how to grow Java Moss carpets, walls and trees on this article).

    Pros
    • Provides hiding places for guppies
    • Grows quickly
    • Easy to anchor
    • Hardy natural filter
    Cons
    • Starts small
    • Not very exciting or beautiful

    2. Amazon Sword

    amazon sword

     

    This is a beautiful plant from the Amazon. It’s a great choice for beginners because it is hardy and can survive in most conditions, plus it is easy to plant and to maintain. It comes with a developed root system so all you need to do is stuck it in the substrate. The Amazon Sword plant has long, wide, and flowing leaves that provide your guppies with great hiding places and with lots of fun too.

    This is an all-natural living plant that works to filter the water at the same time as providing your guppies with some greenery. These plants also grow pretty fast, but with some simple trimming that is not a problem. What is cool is that you actually get 3 different species of Amazon Swords with this offer.

    Pros
    • Grows quickly
    • Beautiful and easy to care for
    • Great hiding places for guppies
    • Includes 3 different species
    Cons
    • Needs regular trimming

    3. Java Fern

    Java Fern

    This plant comes straight from the Philippines, a place where it grows in abundance. It’s a neat plant that almost looks like a cross between Java moss and the Amazon Sword. It has fairly thing, long, and flowing leaves that move with the ebb and flow of the water. This is a very hardy fern that does not require any special treatment or water conditions.

    It is very resilient to change and varying conditions. These guys do well in low lighting and low CO2 levels, so that is not a problem, yet they still do a decent job at filtering the water. The shape of this plant is ideal for guppies because it gives them somewhere to hide and swim under. You do need to anchor the Java Fern down, but that is easily done.

    Pros
    • Very hardy and easy to care for
    • Can handle low lighting and CO2 levels
    • Low, flowing leaves provide hiding places
    Cons
    • Needs to be anchored
    • Not as effective at filtering water

    4. Hornwort

    8Hornwort Bunch

     

    Hornwort is another cool moss-like plant that you can have in your tank with your guppies. Simply anchor it down and let the root system take hold. This stuff grows pretty fast, so you don’t need to buy a lot of it. It comes at around 8 inches tall and will grow at around 1 inch per week.

    Hornwort does look like a mix between a leafy plant and some kind of moss, thus providing your guppies with a good hiding place and a nice green view. Hornwort is fairly resilient, and besides a regular trimming, there is really no special treatment needed for it. Hornwort is well known for being an effective filterer of water, which is another added bonus.

    Pros
    • Great for filtering water
    • Grows quickly
    • Easy to take care of
    Cons
    • Needs regular trimming
    • Must be anchored

    5. Moneywort

    Aquatic Arts Moneywort plant

    This is a very neat and unique option to go with. Moneywort features long thin flower-like stems with rounded, flat, and very short leaves. This plant does grow at a decent pace and the leaves do get to a decent size. The underside of the leaves make for good hiding places for your guppies that need a break from the hustle and bustle of the aquarium.

    You get 2 bunches of 4 or more stems, each of which are 6 to 12 inches long. As you can see, this plant is better suited for larger aquariums. Moneywort is also an efficient producer of biofilm, it helps filter out the water, and it looks nice too.

    Pros
    • Efficient producer of biofilm
    • Grows fairly quickly
    • Nice-looking and good for guppies
    Cons
    • Too big for smaller aquariums

    6. Chain Sword

    Chain Sword Narrow-Leaf

    The Chain Sword is a really easy plant to take care of. It can survive in fairly low lighting and with minimal CO2. It also does not really require any special fertilizer or nutrients, plus it can survive in varying water conditions. It’s a good plant for beginners who don’t want to put too much work into plant care.

    This is a good plant for foreground and background areas. What is cool about this particular Chain Sword is that it comes with the substrate, so you can literally stick the whole thing right into your aquarium. This plant does grow fairly large, so you might need to trim the leaves on occasion. The tall and wide leaves on this plant provide your guppies with ideal hiding places all day long.

    Pros
    • Comes with substrate
    • Very beginner-friendly
    • Hardy in low light and CO2 conditions
    Cons
    • Grows very large
    • Needs regular trimming

    7. Anubias Barteri

    anubias barteri

     

    This plant comes straight out of a dedicated tank, so you know that it will arrive to you healthy. This is a really nice plant to go with for fairly shallow and small aquariums. It will only grow a few inches high and is actually wider than it is tall. It features really wide and broad leaves.

    These leaves will provide your guppies with ample hiding space. The Anubias Barteri also creates a lot of beneficial biofilm, plus it does a fairly good job at filtering water too. The Anubias Barteri does not really need any special care, it doesn’t need much lighting, and can survive in varying conditions.

    Pros
    • Creates lots of beneficial biofilm
    • Hardy and doesn’t need special conditions
    • Best for shallow, small tanks
    • Likely to arrive healthy
    Cons
    • Too small for larger aquariums
    • Not fast growing

    8. Amazon Frogbit

    20+ plants Amazon Frogbit plant

    This is a floating plant. Unlike all of the other plants covered so far, this one floats on top of the water and does not require any substrate. You actually get up to 20 plants with this bundle, plus a few extras in case some of them are dead on arrival. The fact that the Amazon Frogbit floats on top of the water and has wide rounded leaves makes it a great plant for guppies.

    It provides lots of shade and places to hide, which is exactly what your guppies want. These plants grow really fast, so trimming is probably something you will have to do on occasion. The Amazon Frogbit requires a decent amount of light, but other than that it does not need any special care.

    Pros
    • Vibrant and colorful
    • Pack has eight plants from 4-12 inches tall
    • Environmentally safe, nontoxic plastic
    • Will not alter aquarium pH
    • Built-in ceramic pedestals help keep them in place
    Cons
    • Best for tanks that are 20 gallons and larger
    • Environmentally safe but not eco-friendly

    9. African Fern

    African Water Plant Mother Plant

    This is a very beautiful plant to go with, one that features broad, wide, and pointed leaves. The plant itself does not grow too tall or too wide. That being said, it can grow up to 50 cm in one year, so some trimming may be in order. This is a good looking plant that will provide your guppies with lots of great hiding places.

    That being said, the African Fern will require some special nutrients, good CO2 levels, and good lighting conditions. This is not the hardiest of plants and does require some specific living conditions to remain healthy and maintain a good growth cycle.

    Pros
    • Attractive plant
    • Grows quickly
    • Plenty of hiding places for guppies
    Cons
    • Harder to take care of
    • Needs special nutrients, CO2, and lighting

    10. Anacharis

    Mainam Anacharis Elodea Densa plant

    This final option on our list is another prime one to go with. This is a really easy plant to have in an aquarium. It does not really require any special conditions. It’s a hardy plant that does well in most conditions. It does require a decent level of light, but that is about it. The Anacharis is a really fast-growing plant, so it is better suited for larger aquarium.

    It’s a really neat looking plant with long stems that can reach up to a foot in length. It has plenty of smaller leaves and will thus provide your guppies with some good hiding places. This is a really easy to maintain plant that helps filter out the water and keep your guppies happy at the same time.

    Pros
    • Hardy and fast-growing
    • Good-looking
    • Easy to maintain
    Cons
    • Only suited to large aquariums
    • Needs good lighting

    clownfish divider2 ah

    What Kinds Of Plants Do Guppies Like?

    The general rule here is that guppies like plants which they can swim through, swim under, and get some shelter from (Java Moss works well). Guppies are pretty skittish and easily frightened, so they like plants which they can easily hide under. Guppies usually like plants that are close to the bottom, but some floating plants will work as well.

    Guppies also like plants to nibble on, plus plants that can hold their eggs too. Plastic plants can be ok, but they don’t filter the water, plus they cannot be eaten, so the obvious choice is the live plant as opposed to a fake one (we have covered them separately here).

    divider seashells

    Conclusion

    When it comes to the best live plants for guppies, all of the above options are fantastic choices to consider (Java Moss is our top pick). Just keep in mind that guppies like green plants and they like hiding places. As long as you keep those things in mind you will have no problems when choosing the right aquarium plants for your little guppies.


    Featured Image credit: Tony Stock, Shutterstock

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