A tiny floating fern that covers the surface in a green carpet, often edged with pink and red. Very fast, and just as fast to cover a tank completely.
Native rangeRange on the map
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Brazil Northeast
- Brazil North
- Brazil Southeast
- Colombia
- Connecticut
- Cuba
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Florida
- French Guiana
- Georgia
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Jamaica
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Ontario
- Pennsylvania
- Peru
- Puerto Rico
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Suriname
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Trinidad-Tobago
- Venezuela
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Tank conditions
- Leaf colour
- green, red, pink or purple
Care and keeping
Appearance
Minute two-lobed leaves on branching stems, each plant less than two centimetres across, growing in dense clusters. Mostly green, tinged pink, orange or red at the edges.
Keeping
Easy given warmth and light: it needs at least medium light to grow properly and does not tolerate cold. It grows extremely quickly across the surface, breaking into smaller pieces as it spreads, so removing the excess by hand is the routine job — and the same speed makes it a strong competitor against algae.
Placement
Floating. Bear in mind that a closed surface cover shades everything planted beneath it. It is more often used in ponds than in tanks.
Propagation
It splits by itself: the clusters break apart as they grow.
Scientific and other names, conservation status
- Other scientific names
- Carpanthus axillaris
- Azolla caroliniana
- Willd.
- Family
- Azollaceae