Hydrocleis Nympaeoides

Add natural beauty to your aquarium with the Hydrocleis Nympaeoides.

Key Features

• Live aquatic plant suitable for freshwater aquariums
• Helps maintain water quality by absorbing nitrates
• Provides shelter and habitat for fish and shrimp

Hydrocleis Nymphoides (Water Poppy) in Singapore Setups

Hydrocleis nymphoides, the water poppy, is a marginal and floating-leaf plant rather than a fully submerged stem, which shapes how we use it locally. It sends rounded leaves to the surface and, given an open top, can push up cheerful emergent foliage. That makes it a strong pick for ripariums, open-top bowls and pond-style setups that suit our warm, bright climate, where it can soak up plenty of light without bleaching colour.

As a fast nutrient sponge, it draws down nitrates and competes hard against algae, which is useful in lightly filtered or shrimp tanks. We give it good light and a nutrient-rich root zone, since rooted growth is far stronger than leaving it loose. The trade-off is shading, as surface leaves cut light to anything growing below, so we position it where that floating cover is wanted rather than over a carpet you are trying to keep lush.

It thrives in our ambient 27-29C without any heating. Browse our wider live plants selection, and see our floating plants aquascape ideas and riparium build guide for emergent plants to show it off.