{"product_id":"red-root-floater-phyllanthus-fluitans-aquarium-plant","title":"Red Root Floaters | Phyllanthus fluitans","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-heading=\"Red Root Floaters on the Surface:\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRed Root Floaters on the Surface:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRed Root Floaters (\u003cem\u003ePhyllanthus fluitans\u003c\/em\u003e) are a free-floating aquatic plant native to the Amazon Basin, where they drift in mats or entangle with river margin snag habitat in the still blackwater backwaters of the Rio Negro and its tributaries. Slender stems carry small, paddle-shaped leaves with a fine hairy texture that keeps them water-repellent, while a tangle of reddish roots hangs below the surface, drawing nutrients from the water column. In the Botanical Method Aquarium, they build habitat at the water's surface, diffusing light and aiding in shading the waters below. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 data-heading=\"Essential Details\"\u003eEssential Details\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCare Level:\u003c\/strong\u003e Easy\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eGrowth Habit:\u003c\/strong\u003e Continuous, spreads via side shoots\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003eLight:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e Low to High\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCO2:\u003c\/strong\u003e Not Necessary\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePropagation:\u003c\/strong\u003e Side shoots\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eTint Tolerance:\u003c\/strong\u003e Low to High\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHabitat Location:\u003c\/strong\u003e Amazon Basin, South America\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eOptimal For:\u003c\/strong\u003e Betta fish, tetras, dwarf cichlids, corydoras, and other species suited to floating-plant cover in blackwater and biotope aquariums\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eUse with Caution:\u003c\/strong\u003e Rinse before introducing; may carry beneficial hitchhiking snails, snail eggs, or duckweed from the grow-out ponds\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSize Range: \u003c\/strong\u003eindividual leaves are 1\/4-1\/2' in side, plant strings can grow up to 6\"+\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eQuantities:\u003c\/strong\u003e 4oz cup portion\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-heading=\"Red Root Floaters for Aquariums \u0026amp; Vivariums\"\u003eRed Root Floaters for Aquariums \u0026amp; Vivariums\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eRed Root Floaters for Planted Aquariums \u0026amp; Blackwater Biotopes\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShading the water column and absorbing excess nutrients are the two most beneficial impacts of building your ecosystem with Red Root Floaters. This mat of aquarium plants helps to limit the light available to algae and is useful for shy or dimly patterned species that prefer diffused conditions. The dense network of roots hanging into the water becomes a microhabitat, where biofilm forms on the root hairs and microfauna such as copepods, ostracods, and daphnia can forage on this supplemental nutrition, giving betta fish, tetras, and fry a foraging surface at the top of the aquarium rather than beneath the leaves on the substrate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause Red Root Floaters draw nutrients directly from the water column rather than the substrate, tint level has little bearing on their growth. We can grow them in an aquarium tinted dark by leaf litter and seed pods or in clear, untinted water, and they grow the same either way. What does shift their growth is light and available nutrients: low to moderate light keeps the plant green and slow-growing, while stronger light intensifies the red pigment in the leaves and roots and speeds growth, though it also calls for more available nutrients to sustain this growth. If your want deeper red coloration, mess around and adjust light and fertilizer together rather than light alone.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRed Root Floaters propagate through side shoots that split from the main rosette and drift free, making them simple to divide and distribute between your Botanical Method Aquariums. They do not like getting wet — floating their leaves above the waterline and rely on that surface exposure to stay dry; still water and an open top keep the leaves from rotting, so aquariums with tight-fitting lids or heavy surface agitation from filter return or airstones are not a good environment for this plant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003c!-- obsidian --\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4 data-heading=\"Beneath the Leaves: *Phyllanthus fluitans* in the Wild\"\u003eBeneath the Leaves: \u003cem\u003ePhyllanthus fluitans\u003c\/em\u003e in the Wild\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePhyllanthus fluitans\u003c\/em\u003e is native to the Amazon Basin, first described from the blackwater Rio Negro, and ranges from Colombia and Venezuela south through Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Argentina. It grows as a free-floating annual or perennial depending on how long its habitat stays flooded, drifting across the water surface of oxbow lakes, flooded forest, and backwater channels during the high-water season. In the Peruvian Amazon, it regularly forms mixed floating mats alongside \u003cem\u003eSalvinia\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePistia\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLemna\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eAzolla\u003c\/em\u003e, a community of surface plants that together shade the water and export nutrients.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhere a botanical contributes as it breaks down, an aquatic plant is living and contributes as it grows. So let them grow. Mother Nature leads the way.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"\u003e\u003cem\u003ePlease select a heat\/cold pack if necessary. Check your local weather before ordering to avoid any shipment holds or cancellations. All Plants may contain snails or snail eggs. We keep them in all of our aquariums for the benefits they provide. Our blackwater aquarium plants are provided in cooperation with PNW Bettas in adherence to their Shipping and DOA Policies. Your curated selection will arrive in their packaging separate from your botanical, wood \u0026amp; merch orders.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"PNW Bettas","offers":[{"title":"4oz Cup","offer_id":45440815857840,"sku":"sku-44643826729139","price":7.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0598\/7948\/9712\/files\/Red-Root-Floater-Phyllanthus-fluitans-Blackwater-Aquarium-Floating-Plant.jpg?v=1755793777","url":"https:\/\/bettabotanicals.com\/products\/red-root-floater-phyllanthus-fluitans-aquarium-plant","provider":"Betta Botanicals | Natural Aquarium Products","version":"1.0","type":"link"}