!! plant identification

[Lila]

Hi! Just purchased two of these tall plants for my betta tank, the woman gave me the scientific name but I forgot (lol). She said they were related to peace lilies? idk.

They are pretty beat up but when they grow properly they develop variegated leaves - super pretty!

They have round leaves which come to a subtle point- any clue of what they could be, and how to care for them? She said they do fine in low-light as well.
Click image for larger version

also this is probably the cutest photo I have of my betta

 

[Colin_T]

No idea on the plant, it doesn't look like any aquatic plants I have dealt with. Call the shop and ask them what they call it.

There also appears to be a palm in the tank (large broad leaf on left of picture). If that is a palm, it needs to come out because it will die if left underwater.

A lot of shops sell marsh/ terrestrial plants as aquarium plants. These plants normally die when kept underwater.


TRUE AQUATIC VS MARSH/ TERRESTRIAL PLANTS
Lots of plants are sold as aquarium plants and most are marsh plants that do really well when their roots are in water and the rest of the plant is above water. Some marsh plants will do well underwater too.

Hair grass is not a true aquatic plant, neither is Anubias.

Some common marsh plants include Amazon sword plants, Cryptocorynes, Hygrophila sp, Rotala sp, Ludwigia sp, Bacopa sp. These plant do reasonably well underwater.

True aquatic plants include Ambulia, Cabomba, Hornwort, Elodia, Hydrilla and Vallis.

The main difference between marsh plants and true aquatic plants is the stem. True aquatics have a soft flexible stem with air bubbles in it. These bubbles help the plant float and remain buoyant in the water column.

Marsh plants have a rigid stem and these plants can remain standing upright when removed from water. Whereas true aquatic plants will fall over/ collapse when removed from water.

 

[Lila]

Wow! I had no idea.

The plant on the left is an amazon sword, I had it in the tank for about a year and like you said its doing well (reasonably), so I don't see any point of removing it because I have no place to put it. However It's so interesting to see the true aquatic plants and I will definitely stick to buying those in the future!

As for the mystery plant, It seems fine but again might not be fully aquatic. We'll see.

 

[Lila]

That actually makes so much sense too about the amazon sword being a marsh plant because I heard it flowers! super cool.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Amazon swords are one of the most popular aquarium plants on the hobby and one of the easiest to keep. While it might naturally occur in an emersed rather than submerged environment they will transition to the submerged form within a couple of months of being in an aquarium. If its been in yours for a year it will already have leaf structures suitable for a submerged environment and there is no need for it to be removed.

 

[Colin_T]

If it's an Echinodorus (sword plant) it is fine underwater.