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Hornwort (Ceratophyllum Demersum)

$5.95
(147 reviews) Write a Review

Free shippingFREE shipping on all orders over $79.99

Description

Hornwort (Ceratophyllum Demersum)

Hornwort, also known as Ceratophyllum Demersum, is found worldwide. It is a well-known plant in the hobby. It grows long stems with needle-like and stiff leaves or, in common parlance, the "horns" from where it takes its common name. Hornwort can be used as a floating plant or as an upright stem plant. It does not have roots but when planted, Hornwort produces rhizomes that allow it to attach to the gravel. This plant is a fast grower and many hobbyists use it in fry tanks to provide hiding places for young fish. Because of its fast growth, Hornwort is great for planted aquariums as it will quickly absorb extra nutrients from the water column, preventing algal blooms.

Hornwort can flower and produce seeds. However, the flowers and seeds are small and hardly noticeable. The best and easiest way to propagate hornwort is to snip the stems apart. The separated pieces will just continue growing, creating new plants.    

Caring For Hornwort

Under good conditions, this plant will grow robustly and have light to deep green coloration. It is an easy plant to care for and grow. It does not require any special care or strong lighting but, if provided, the plant will grow fast.

  • Minimum Lighting Required: Moderate
  • Temperature Range: 59-83°F
  • Tank Placement: Floating or Background

The hornwort for sale in our store is one of the easiest plants to start with. Quite literally, you can just put it into your tank, and you are done! The plant should adjust to the new environment very quickly and start growing rapidly.

Plants at Modern Aquarium

When you choose to shop our collection of live aquarium plants and botanicals, every image you see on our site is a true representation of the plant grown in our nurseries and of the highest quality we can provide. Our plants are sourced from the best Florida nurseries and we always have a large selection of plants available for quick shipping to you. Get free shipping when you spend $79.99 on live aquarium plants today. And do not forget to complete your aquarium’s aquascape with our driftwood, aquascaping rocks, botanicals, and live aquarium fish.

 

Reviews (147)

  • 4
    good
    Posted by Manuel on 1 Oct 2021

    It is look good in my pond, hope grow fast to help my with the shade for it.

  • 4
    PERFECT corner addition
    Posted by Glenn on 1 Oct 2021

    Needed this guy to fill in a couple of bare spots in a planted aquarium. Looks great and is already showing signs of growth. Thanks.

  • 5
    Nice plant
    Posted by Tia Ackerman on 15 Sep 2021

    My fish love to hide in these. I'm using them as floaters on one side of my tank.

  • 4
    Hornwort
    Posted by Ben Wouters on 8 Sep 2021

    Got two bunch of them. Not quite spreading out as pictured but still good

  • 5
    Hornwort
    Posted by Jayden Morrison on 1 Sep 2021

    I ordered 2 bunches (4 plants total) and wow. It came with NO DEAD LEAVES at all. Some bristles fell off, but the plant itself is amazing. No pests or funky smells either.

  • 5
    It is in good shape and is beautiful
    Posted by Lynn Sutton on 26 Aug 2021

    I love it and so do my fish

  • 5
    Green and healthy
    Posted by Devin Perkins on 17 Aug 2021

    Plants arrived green and healthy. Very little die off after going in the tank with the hornwort which beat my expectations. 10/10 will buy again

  • 5
    My Betta's Fav!
    Posted by Jillian on 8 Jul 2021

    My first purchase from Modern Aquarium arrived today - I ordered a variety of plants and a 5-pack of mystery snails and EVERYTHING arrived in perfect shape. (Thank you!) I kept the two bunches tied together and put them in the back corners of my 5 Gal Betta tank and out of all the plants he LOVES these! He wedges himself into them and hangs out for the longest time. Very happy with my purchase!

  • 5
    Don't Give Up On This Plant! User Error!
    Posted by Michael Cin on 6 Jul 2021

    Overall takeaway: I adore this plant, but there were some user errors and unfortunate coincidences along the way. My bunches were huge! And I was provided so many. Literally so much more than I ever anticipated. Granted, at the time I was just looking for something to look pretty in a betta 5 gallon and soak up some extra nutrients since I am bad about overfeeding (I just can't say no to the little dude). Full disclosure, I messed up the bleach soak...After the fact, I saw that most people with hornwort experience said the plant is sensitive to bleach in general and preferred a potassium permanganate soak, but I was so proud and thought I was following the bleach soak instructions so perfectly. I had timers and did the rinse and soaked with dechlorinator just as instructed, but within hours my hornwort started to self destruct. Turns out my bleach was professional hospital grade bleach...So with a plant that hates bleach to begin with, I almost gave a double dose... Needless to say, the plant was NOT thriving and I was convinced it was not salvageable. The worst part was that this accidental turbo bleach dip did not kill any of the wriggling little worms on my plant. Not sure what those things were, but they would get sucked up from my little hospital plant tank as I vacuumed the hundreds of needles falling off each day. I zapped the needles and worms with some steramine tabs to ensure chemical death before disposing. Within about 2 weeks I basically just had stems with a few needle segments barely adhering to the plant. I was ready to give up and trash the whole thing since 2 weeks with a GE plant light, liquid fertilizer, and dead needle disposals seemed to do nothing to turn the tide--BUT I was combing the reviews to see if anyone else had gone through something similar. I saw one comment in particular where they said do not give up as long as you have at least a single segment of fully green stem. They said it might take weeks, but if you clip and toss any yellow or brown stem segments and just keep green stem clippings in optimal water and lighting, they will bounce back. So I did that and was left with about 10 stem clippings ranging from 1-2 inches... This was still demoralizing, but I kept them going and in week 3 I noticed little baby needles growing in! At this point, I knew the plants were viable and recovering, so I reintroduced my little stubs into the 20 gallon long tank I had set up and established since almost destroying my hornwort. I'm now in week 5 since almost gassing my hornwort and my little stubs are THRIVING. They are seriously taking off. Healthy, sturdy needles coming in by the dozens and just this week alone my stems must have gained 3-4 inches each. It's truly remarkable to witness this growth explosion, and also amazing that any part of this hardy plant was able to survive a literal bleach poisoning. But at this rate, I think my plant will regenerate enough mass to match the initial shipment. And I'm sure it won't be long after until I'm regularly clipping it back to give away excess growth. So the takeaways are do not use high concentration versions of chemicals for plant dips. And even if you do shock this plant into a mass shed, isolate it and nurture it to reduce waste in your fish tank and right away try to clip it down to only the viable fully green stem segments. Even if it sheds down to bare stems, as long as those stems are green, you can bring this bad boy back to life and it'll shock you how fast it grows once it gets its groove back. Not docking any stars because the stress was caused by user error. It's actually been really satisfying getting to watch these stubs grow, so that alone earns a 5/5 from me. And I'm so happy to have them as little ammonia and nitrate removal factories since I had a little bit of a cycle shock when upgrading filters. Moved over all my bio media into the bigger filter, but losing the old sponge and carbon unit must have caused too much bacteria loss...doing regular checks and maintenance to keep the situation stable as the new, larger foam gets colonized, but so glad to have this rapidly growing plant to be a little backup insurance. PS, nothing on these plants can infect you via handling so long as you thoroughly wash your hands after with warm water and a detergent soap. I unfortunately had a shingles eruption on my palm that started within days of handling my hornwort and I got a little paranoid and thought a parasite might have burrowed into my hand flesh. Rest assured, that is almost impossible as long as you practice basic hygiene.

  • 5
    Live Plants
    Posted by Marcia Cook on 30 Jun 2021

    Hornwort was received in perfect condition. Would definitely buy again.

  • 5
    Hornwort
    Posted by Jeremy on 22 Jun 2021

    Arrived in very good condition and very healthy - I would buy from them again

  • 5
    Great bunch
    Posted by Elena on 16 Jun 2021

    I knew from some reviews that the bunches are large but I didn’t expect it to be Huge! It was enough for my 3 tanks! The only thing I am not sure about if the color is more brownish then green… but still looks good.