Leaf colourgreen, red, pink or purple +1
Native range
- Sri Lanka
rosette midground foreground nano tank Conservation status: NT
A rosette plant from the streams of Sri Lanka, with olive leaves that are wine-red underneath. It grows in dim light and hard water, and once settled it needs almost nothing.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- easy
- Height
- 10 – 20 cm
- Temperature
- 15 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typerosette
Growth ratemedium
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightlow – high
pH5 – 8
Carbonate hardness1 – 18 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementmidground, foreground +1
Propagationrunners, rhizome division +2
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Oval leaves on long stalks, 10–20 cm tall, with slightly wavy edges; the upper side is olive to brown, the underside violet. Colour and shape shift with the tank — the same plant looks different in bright and in dim light.
Keeping
Easy and patient, but it hates moving. After planting, or after a sharp change in the water, the leaves may rot away within days — the notorious "melt". This is not the end of the plant: leave the roots alone and new leaves grow back in a few weeks. It feeds through the roots, so it likes a nutritious substrate.
Placement
The middle of the tank or the front of a large one; in a nano tank a single rosette works as a centrepiece. Plant it once and do not rearrange it.
Propagation
By runners: a young rosette appears next to the parent and roots itself. Separate it only when it has several leaves of its own, and expect it to sulk for a couple of weeks after the move.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1007 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus BrokopondoZebra Mbuna
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaSpined LoachMarbled HeadstanderPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraCommon MetynnisMylossoma duriventreRed Whiptail CatfishMolly sphenopsBalloon MollyLyretail MollyMarble MollyHi-Fin PlatyHawaii PlatyBlue PlatyPintail PlatyBlack PlatyChocolate MollyMoonlight GouramiMelanotaenia parva
Will uproot it
These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.
Marble LoachPeacock EelForktail LoachGuntea LoachLong-nosed LoachHorseface LoachPearlscaleBlack Moor GoldfishShubunkinPainted PlecoFeatherfin SynodontisReddish Mystus CatfishBlue AcaraAulonocara maylandiAulonocara multicolorAulonocara OrchidGeophagus altifronsGeophagus winemilleriPearlscale CichlidPearl CichlidRedbelly CichlidRed-spotted CichlidChuco godmanniHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Cryptocoryne petchii, Cryptocoryne petchii 'Pink'