Broad-leaf Water Sprite

Ceratopteris cornuta

The broad-leaved water sprite: a fast fern that grows planted or floating and takes nutrients out of the water as quickly as it grows. A standby in breeding and shrimp tanks.

Light: medium–high
Difficulty: medium
Temperature: 18 – 30 °C (64 – 86 °F)

Leaf colour: green
Plant type: rosette
Growth rate: very fast
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 5 – 8
Carbonate hardness: 0 – 21 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: background, spawning plant +3 background, spawning plant, midground, specimen, surface
Propagation: plantlets on leaves, spores
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Light green fronds, broader and less finely cut than those of the common water sprite, in a loose rosette. Floating plants trail long roots into the water.

Keeping

Moderate demands and very fast growth. Soft water suits it best but it tolerates hard water, carbon dioxide is optional, and light from medium upward is enough. Its speed is what makes it useful: in a new tank it takes up nutrients before algae can.

Placement

Planted in the middle or back, or floating at the surface. Floating, the fronds and roots become cover for fry and shrimp — the usual reason it is kept.

Propagation

It does it itself: young plants form on the edges of older leaves and drop off ready to grow.

Water conditions match

The water suits 1007 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Swordtail Guppies Cobra Guppy Blood Red Molly Butterflyfish Red Zebra Cichlid Julii Corydoras Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Kenyi Cichlid Cuckoo Catfish Golden Swordtail Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Zebra Mbuna

Will eat this plant

These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.

Bengal Loach Zebra Loach Burmese Border Loach Emperor Botia Marbled Headstander Pellegrin's Leporinus Leporinus striatus False Black Tetra Common Metynnis Mylossoma duriventre Red Whiptail Catfish Molly sphenops Balloon Molly Lyretail Molly Marble Molly Hi-Fin Platy Hawaii Platy Blue Platy Pintail Platy Black Platy Chocolate Molly Moonlight Gourami Melanotaenia parva

Will uproot it

These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.

Marble Loach Peacock Eel Forktail Loach Guntea Loach Long-nosed Loach Horseface Loach Pearlscale Black Moor Goldfish Shubunkin Painted Pleco Featherfin Synodontis Reddish Mystus Catfish Blue Acara Aulonocara maylandi Aulonocara multicolor Aulonocara Orchid Geophagus altifrons Geophagus winemilleri Pearlscale Cichlid Pearl Cichlid Redbelly Cichlid Red-spotted Cichlid Chuco godmanni Haplochromis philander Red Chromide Jack Dempsey cichlid

Matching water does not mean the fish will leave the plant alone.

The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.

Other varieties: Ceratopteris cornuta Topf

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Pteris cornuta P. Beauv., Ceratopteris thalictroides (L.) Brongn. f. cornuta (P. Beauv.) Gluck, Ceratopteris cornuta, Ceratopteris thalictroides cornuta, Ellobocarpus cornutus, Furcaria cornuta, Onychium cornutum, Pteris cornuta
Ceratopteris cornuta: (P. Beauv.) Le Prieur
Family: Pteridaceae
Conservation status: LC

Broad-leaf Water Sprite

Tank conditions

Care and keeping