Leaf colourgreen
Native range
- Argentina Northeast
- Assam
- Bangladesh
- Bolivia
- Brazil Northeast
- Brazil Southeast
- Brazil West-Central
- China North-Central
- China South-Central
- China Southeast
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Florida
- French Guiana
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Honduras
- India
- Jamaica
- Louisiana
- Mexico Gulf
- Mexico Northwest
- Mexico Southeast
- Mexico Southwest
- Nicaragua
- Panamá
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Suriname
- Trinidad-Tobago
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
rosette spawning plant surface
The water sprite that only floats: unlike its relatives it cannot grow rooted under water. Broad pale fronds on swollen stalks make a thick raft at the surface.
- Light
- medium–high
- Difficulty
- medium
- Temperature
- 18 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typerosette
Growth ratevery fast
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH5 – 8
Carbonate hardness0 – 21 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementspawning plant, surface
Propagationplantlets on leaves, spores
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Floating leaves are undivided in young plants and broadly lobed in older ones, pale green, held up by spongy stalks. Long roots hang down into the water. Size and shape vary a great deal with conditions.
Keeping
Moderate demands and very fast growth. It lives at the surface or on wet mud — planted in the substrate it simply rots, which is the one thing to know before buying it. Bright light and rich water suit it; it takes up nutrients quickly and shades whatever grows beneath.
Placement
Floating. The raft of fronds and roots is standard cover in breeding tanks, where fry hide in it.
Propagation
By young plants that form on the leaves and float away on their own.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1033 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasFeatherfin SynodontisRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus Brokopondo
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaMarbled HeadstanderPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraCommon MetynnisMylossoma duriventreRed Whiptail CatfishMolly sphenopsBalloon MollyLyretail MollyMarble MollyHi-Fin PlatyHawaii PlatyBlue PlatyPintail PlatyBlack PlatyChocolate MollyMoonlight GouramiMelanotaenia parva
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Ceratopteris pteridoides in Vitro