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After a year of successfuly keeping a dense, thriving aquatic ecosystem in a styrofoam box I got from the trash:
This is the workhorse cleaner. Specifically C. demersum (not the submersum) has enzymes to prevent algae blooms or plankton from taking over, while also reproducing mightly and capturing excess nitrogen. Hornwort is rootless (though often he'll attach himself to things), and does not need a pot. In autumn he forms turions (survival buds) that can hibernate and sprout again in spring; this was enough to survive freeze temperatures outside in my balcony.
They have similar properties as C. demersum, but have proven more delicate. I add them because my approach is to maximise the diversity of plants in small spaces—the more species tightly together the better. It overwinters as an evergreen; mine have survived micropond frost, but quite beaten up. Which is a good thing because they’re highly invasive in other areas—I would never use this plant anywhere other than here in Europe. Aesthetically they look like a hornwort with thinner, more numerous leaves, making for beautiful fluffy strands.
She has proven to be the least resilient in the constrained, artificial environment of the micropond. She's also fragile during transportation; the company I ordered them from sells bladderworts with no guarantees. Like hornwort, utricularia makes winter turions, but so far I'm not seeing mine bounce back. Maybe she'll surprise me when it gets warmer.
Despite all this sensitivity, bladderwort is worth buying every year if needed for one key reson: her intense levels of violence. Specifically she eats mosquitoes, and not a tiny bit like terrestrial carnivores; this babe is a voracious predator, devouring 90%+ of larvæ in one test as a disease control agent in freeland. (and so fast too!! fastest trigger in the world, in fact https://www.yewtu.be/watch?v=wZcKoTxp5mc ). After I added a few to my crew, my mosquito problem was over before it could even breed, literally. As a bonus, they put out pretty, bee-friendly yellow flowers in summer. Get the U. vulgaris for Europe, U. macrorhiza for America or East Asia.