fast growing hardy plant?

[Jayoneseven]

What is a fast growing, hardy plant for a fresh water aquarium?
I currently have a little over 10 plants, I have a rigged CO2 diffusion system, and I feed them with the API food. They're all doing pretty well but I'd like a plant that will grow quickly and maybe even reproduce. My dream is to have a heavily planted tank that looks very natural and provides ample hiding spots between all of the plants and rocks.
My temp is 78-80
PH is generally close to 7, may fluctuate by .5 or less throughout the week.
Substrate is 1.5 inch gravel

I love the look of the Anacharis plant, is that a good bet? I just recently added one.

[luvmypets]

What is a fast growing, hardy plant for a fresh water aquarium?
I currently have a little over 10 plants, I have a rigged CO2 diffusion system, and I feed them with the API food. They're all doing pretty well but I'd like a plant that will grow quickly and maybe even reproduce. My dream is to have a heavily planted tank that looks very natural and provides ample hiding spots between all of the plants and rocks.
My temp is 78-80
PH is generally close to 7, may fluctuate by .5 or less throughout the week.
Substrate is 1.5 inch gravel

I love the look of the Anacharis plant, is that a good bet? I just recently added one.

Personally, I have had bad luck with anarchis. I have several friends and a pet store that hasn't had good luck with anarchis either. It is a beautiful plant but (from my experiences anyway) rots quickly and leaves a mess in the tank. Plus it's soft so fish eat it up pretty quickly. I am interested in having a planted tank just like you are describing. I do have two suggestions which are very easy to take care of and don't need co2 injections but of course would benefit from it. The first are java ferns. you can tie them to rocks, driftwood, ornaments, etc. They are hardy and grow fast. If you want to plant them you can take a bunch and weigh them down with a plant weight and when they root you can plant them into your substrate. The other plant is baby tears, it comes in mats and pots and cuttings. I recommend either a mat or pots as they are easier to deal with. Fish tend not to eat this plant which was a big plus for me. Swords are always good too! Good luck! I'm not sure which plants you have so if I mentioned any you already have, sorry about that.

[Cliff]

For a simple planted tank, I have found hornwart and pennywort to be the fastest growing plants and seam almost impossible to kill off. They should even better with some CO2 and fertrs like you are adding

The others already meantioned will do well, but the hornwort and penny wort will grow faster

[talldutchie]

Hygrophila polysperma gets my vote. Grows like the blazes and easily reproduced by cutting a bit of and sticking it in the gravel.

[mizzoutank]

I like what others have recommended, but remember light drives their growth, so if you don't have adequate light, but proper nutrients/co2, you won't see the max growth as you desire.

[genocidex]

My votes are for frogbit, and java moss and all the above.

Duckweed grows suoer fast but i dont recommend it

[bethyMT]

I love rotala and watersprite. I grow these in all of my tanks, with a whole range of lighting. They grow very nicely, tall and full, and do so rather quickly. Java moss also works, but it doesn't really ever look "lush," it just becomes a bigger tangle IMO.

[Jayoneseven]

Thanks all for the responses, lots of good information for me! Unfortunately Petsmart seems to have a dismal array of plants to chose from, but luckily I have two LFS's in town that I can check on. Maybe I'll give them a call. The only problem is I'm a British immigrant in America, and so the word "Horn wort" is incredibly hard to ask about! I'll give it a shot though!

[Aeonflame]

For me, valisneria and watersprite seem to be the fastest growers without being too light demanding.

[KevinVA]

Anacharis grows fairly fast, but I agree... fish love eating it and uprooting it, which then leaves a mess in the tank. They'll lose some bits on the substrate and then the plant will float at the top. Difficult to kill, though.

Green Cabomba and Ludwigia repens will both grow quite quickly, in addition to what others have mentioned. Frogbit will grow very fast in the right light... but take the beneficial light away and all of a sudden it grows about as slow as an Amazon Sword.