What plants did I get?

[gumball]

Hey guys. Just got these plants. Could you please help me identify what they are?
Also with the tall plants, is it possible to trim them so they are shorter? My tank is rather shallow and they've hit the top of the water level already.

[Urban Aquaria]

The ones with large leaves look like Hygrophila corymbosa angustifolia... the ones with short leaves look like Alternanthera reineckii (or something similar, need close up photo for better ID).

For tall plants, you'll just have to constantly trim them to maintain the desired height. If you have a shallow tank, then just have to trim more often. Plant selections for aquascapes depend on tank dimensions and how much maintenance you want to do on a regular basis.

[gumball]

Hi UA. Thanks for your reply. For the tall plants, should I snip the leaves in half or do i have to snip it at the stem to make them grow shorter?

[Urban Aquaria]

Hi UA. Thanks for your reply. For the tall plants, should I snip the leaves in half or do i have to snip it at the stem to make them grow shorter?

When trimming plants shorter, you have to cut the main stems (not the leaves, if they are cut in half the remaining part will just die and rot away).

For stem plants, at each cut node, 2 or more stems will grow from there. So as you trim the plant, it grows bushier and denser.

Here is a diagram for reference (from aquascape-aquarium blog):

[gumball]

Oh cool. Thanks for that UA. Diagram really helped. So eventually it'll get top bushy? That's gonna look pretty funky. Will try to get a closer picture if the shorter plants tomorrow.

[Urban Aquaria]

Yeah, if you trim the plants as they grow, then the number of branching stems will multiply accordingly.

For example, if you start with just 10 stems and trim them them to branch out... 10 > 20 > 40 > 80 > 160 > 320. So in theory with just 10 stems at the bottom, after 5 intermittent cuts at different height levels, you get approx. 320 stems at the top, achieving the dense bushy look.