Leaf colourgreen, pink or purple +1
rosette midground foreground background Conservation status: NT
A rosette plant from the streams of Sri Lanka and one of the few aquarium plants that asks for almost nothing. It settles in dim corners, in hard water and under the shade of taller neighbours, and repays the neglect with a dense clump of wavy leaves.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- easy
- Height
- 5 – 35 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
Leaves rise from a central rosette on short stalks and vary from fresh green to deep bronze and purple, depending on light and substrate. A clump reaches 5 to 35 cm, so the same plant can serve as a foreground group in a tall tank or as a background thicket in a shallow one.
Keeping
It tolerates soft and hard water alike and grows without added carbon dioxide, though feeding the roots speeds it up noticeably. The one thing it dislikes is being disturbed: after transplanting or a sharp change in water chemistry the old leaves often melt away. Leave the roots alone and new leaves grow back within weeks.
Placement
Plant single rosettes a hand apart in the middle ground; they close the gaps themselves. Because the leaves lie almost flat when nothing shades them, an open spot produces a low carpet, while a crowded one pushes the plant upright.
Propagation
Runners appear from the base and produce daughter rosettes a few centimetres away. Once a daughter has three or four leaves of its own, it can be separated with a piece of rhizome.
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 wendtii 'Tropica', Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Green', Cryptocoryne wendtii Indonesia, Cryptocoryne wendtii Kompakt, Cryptocoryne wendtii Rubella, Cryptocoryne wendtii Rubella Ecoscape, Cryptocoryne wendtii Affinis Rot, Cryptocoryne wendtii Flamingo Pink Panther, Cryptocoryne Wendtii Brown, Cryptocoryne Wendtii Brown Indo, Cryptocoryne Wendtii Gecko, Cryptocoryne sp. 'Flamingo', Cryptocoryne spec. 'Flamingo', Cryptocoryne sp. ''Sunset'', Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Bronze'