Help with surface plant ID

**friend688** · 16th Jun 2014, 16:52

Hi Pal,

Anyone knows the scientific names for these two surface plant I found? Please help. Thanks a lot.

Regards
Tam

**Shadow** · 16th Jun 2014, 18:03

Look like Salvinia natans and utricularia gibba

**friend688** · 17th Jun 2014, 01:24

Dear Robert,

Definitely not Salvinia natans. The shape is like frozen froze flake under microscope view.

Tam

**friend688** · 17th Jun 2014, 01:31

utricularia gibba is correct for the second plant. Why we cannot be find it anyway in SG.

Tam

**Shadow** · 17th Jun 2014, 10:44

picture too small for ID, my next guess would be azolla caroliniana.

utricularia gibba is a weed, sometime hitchhike on stem plant that you buy.

**Urban Aquaria** · 17th Jun 2014, 12:45

Originally Posted by Shadow

utricularia gibba is a weed, sometime hitchhike on stem plant that you buy.

No wonder... i found a few strands of that plant growing randomly in one of my tanks too and was really puzzled what it was, it also had those tiny bubble pods. I initially thought it was thread algae but the structure wasn't the same.

Thanks for identifying it!

**friend688** · 17th Jun 2014, 15:44

azolla caroliniana is correct. Good job! Thanks pal.

**friend688** · 17th Jun 2014, 15:46

I disagree on the utricularia gibba being a weed. I bet you to try growing it into stem. No way! The plant I found have stem and can bubble very beautiful. Sent me to dream land.