Description

Amazon frogbit is a floating plant with round, fleshy leaves, a spongy underside to stay afloat and long, feathery roots hanging several centimetres down. It is the middle-ground floater: bigger and showier than duckweed, but far easier to control, because it comes out by the handful. Its roots shelter fry and shrimp, and its shade calms shy fish. The only care point is keeping water from splashing on top and the lid from pressing on it: leaves wetted from above rot.
Scientific name
Hydrocharis laevigata
Position
All
Difficulty
Easy
Natural grow
Medium
Max height
5 cm

🌊 Water parameters

pH
6 - 7.5
GH
2 - 15
Temperature
18 - 28 °C
Current
Low or moderate

Requirements

Light requirements
Low
Light spectrum requirements
6000 - 8000 (Kelvin)
Require CO2
no
Soil requirements
Floating

Habitats

Sources

  • GBIF
    GBIF Secretariat (2026). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset. https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei. Consultado vía GBIF.org, 2026-08. Hydrocharis laevigata.
  • Tropica
    Tropica Aquarium Plants. Plant database. Ficha de cultivo; consultada 2026-10. Hydrocharis laevigata.

It is sold as Limnobium laevigatum; GBIF accepts Hydrocharis laevigata.

Tropica supports the light, CO2, growth and difficulty; the pH, temperature and hardness ranges have no citable source.