Riccia Fluitans is the choice for you if you want to recreate the legendary, high-definition layouts made famous by master aquascaper Takashi Amano. This unique liverwort grows in thick, bright green, interlocking mats that look absolutely striking under bright lights. Because it is rootless, it can either be left free-floating at the surface or tied and glued down to rocks, driftwood, or stainless steel mesh to form a bubbling green carpet. Under strong lighting and a steady supply of carbon dioxide, it will routinely trap oxygen bubbles right at its leaf tips, producing a breathtaking, shimmering phenomenon known as "pearling."
Tissue Culture cups ensure your aquascape gets a super clean starting point. Lab‑grown and fully sterile, it arrives without pests, snails, duckweed, or any unwanted algae. It’s the go‑to option for anyone who wants peace of mind when adding fresh greenery to a carefully maintained setup.
Key Features & Benefits
Vibrant neon-green coloration and fine branching structure deliver a high-end, professionally scaped look.
Functions as a floating surface cover for fry or a dense foreground carpet when tied to hardscape.
Care & Planting Instructions
Rinse away the nutrient gel thoroughly under lukewarm water, separate into small portions, and attach to mesh or hardscape.
Maintain a stable aquarium environment and trim regularly to prevent the lower layers from dying off and floating away.
Give the plant an occasional light haircut with sharp aquascaping shears to keep its shape neat, compact, and perfectly balanced.
Propagate your patch in seconds by cutting or pulling a small clump apart and anchoring it to a new surface in your tank.
Add CO2 injection if you want to accelerate growth and unlock the most intense, eye-popping green coloration possible.
Listed information should be treated as general guidelines only. Team Buce Plant encourages you to do thorough research to ensure healthy growth!
Attribute
Specification
Scientific Name
Riccia fluitans
Common Name(s)
Riccia Fluitans, Floating Crystalwort, Riccia
Family
Ricciaceae
Plant Type
Liverwort
Care Difficulty
Easy to Medium (High maintenance due to frequent trimming)
Light Requirement
Medium to High
CO2 Requirement
Optional (Recommended to achieve pearling)
Placement / Usage
Floating Surface Cover, Foreground Carpet (Tied to Hardscape), Crevice Accent
Growth Rate
Fast
Water Parameters
pH 6.0–7.5 | Temperature 60°F–80°F (15.5°C–26.5°C)
Propagation Method
Division (Pull or cut apart interlocking mats)
Origin
Widespread
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How do I prepare Riccia Fluitans tissue culture cups before planting?
Remove the plant from the tissue culture cup, gently rinse all nutrient gel off the fronds under running lukewarm water, and divide the mat into smaller portions before tying or anchoring them to your hardscape or mesh pads.
2. Why is my submerged Riccia carpet detaching and floating to the surface?
Because Riccia Fluitans lacks true roots, it cannot anchor itself to substrate. As the top layer grows thick under light, it shades out the bottom layer, causing it to die off and lose its grip. Frequent, close trimmings with sharp shears are necessary to keep the carpet low and attached.
3. How do I get Riccia Fluitans to pearl (produce tiny oxygen bubbles)?
Pearling occurs when the plant undergoes rapid photosynthesis. Providing moderate-to-high lighting alongside steady CO2 injection and adequate liquid micro/macro nutrients will force Riccia to trap oxygen bubbles at its branch tips, creating a shimmering effect.
Overall rating: 4.792453 / 5 from 53 reviews.
AI Generated Review Summary
Riccia Fluitans UNS Tissue Culture is a floating aquatic plant known for its vibrant green color and ease of growth. It thrives in low to medium light conditions and benefits from CO2 injection and quality aquarium soil. Tissue culture ensures the plant is free from unwanted pests.
Summary topics
Plant Health (36%): Many customers stated that the plants were healthy, grew well, and were of great quality. (7 out of 20 reviews)
Color Vibrancy (8%): Customers loved the vibrant and bright green color of the product, which was easy to manage.
"Good amount and has a nice bright green color." — Macey Q.
"Perfect little green poof balls love this little plant" — John J.
"Really neat floating plant!" — Spencer F.
Reviews
Easy Plant
"Seems to grow fairly fast and shrimp seem to like them"
— Troy (5/5)
Very fast growing but hard to remove when floating
"It's a beautiful and fast growing little plant that makes cute "bushes" but because it's a floating plant it needs to be secured. Trimming can be a pain because it's not uncommon for the Riccia to continue to grow in unexpected places. Not a terrible issue, just make sure you sink your riccia."
— Littleish F. (4/5)
Gorgeous healthy little plants. They
"Gorgeous healthy little plants. They are thriving."
— Theresa S. (5/5)
First time…
"All is well and green. First time trying this plant, hope everything goes well. 😳"
— Gerald T. (5/5)
Easy Plant that should come with a Warning
"Fluffy green mounds of Riccia Fluitans will quickly build and shed small bits of itself throughout your aquarium. Great for a shrimp tank, but worse than duckweed to ever get rid of. You will find small bits taking hold in and amongst your stems, epiphytes, and ground cover robbing you of any attempt at a "clean" look after your Riccia experiment ended in removing a saucer sized floating plant mass that had been shading out your other plants. Just wanted to let folks know what you're getting into."
— Peter (4/5)
Its been about 10 days
"Its been about 10 days since i tranferred them into a fresh uncycled tank, and they've over doubled in size!"
— Julianna H. (5/5)
So far so good
"I love these little balls of happiness. I had 5 balls or whatever they are in my tissue cup. All 5 are doing well. 2 are in my 2. 5 gallon shrimp tank and there is quite a bit of growth already. It's been a few weeks. My shrimp LOVE IT. The babies are on there all the time. I put the other 3 balls in my 29 gallon community tank. They are also doing very well. There is less obvious growth as the light is not as good. With that said they are still nice and green. The shrimp LOVE it in this tank too but it has also given my Chili Rasboras comfort. They swim under and beneath the balls where the chili's used to "hide" mostly next to the filter before. So with that said I would buy again. I don't know if it becomes a "nuisance" plant but for now it makes me happy."
— Lori L. (5/5)
Riccia
"Tissue culture arrived in perfect condition. Shipped quickly. I’ve purchased plants, hardscape, substrate and a uns tank from Buce Plant and everything came quickly and in great shape. The Riccia is growing beautifully!"
— Teresa H. (5/5)
Beautiful plants/ Incredible Packaging
"I was worried because these were delivered on a day when the temperature was in the teens. Plants were beautiful and showed no sign of stress!"
— James W. (5/5)
"It arrived healthy but I've seen no sign of growth and it's been a week. It's still green but from what I've read i think i should have seen some growth by now. . . even minimal, but I've seen nothing"
— David (3/5)
Q&A
Is this a small or large cup? I noticed this is out of stock but only has one review. Trying to decide which of the three offered is the best to order.
Hi Sharron, Thank you for reaching out. This specific product is the large cup and will contain up to 5 plants. This product will provide a good amount of Riccia that can be spread around the tank. Feel free to contact us at support@buceplant.com for any questions or concern. We are always happy to help! Best Regards, Buceplant Team
