Plant typerhizome
Native range
- Afghanistan
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Alberta
rhizome midground nano tank foreground carpet Conservation status: LC
A grass-like sedge that spreads by underground runners into a fine lawn. It grows wild across most of the northern hemisphere, which is why it tolerates cool water that would stop a tropical carpet plant.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- easy
- Height
- 10 – 15 cm
- Temperature
- 4 – 27 °C
Parameters
Growth ratemedium
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH5 – 7
Carbonate hardness0 – 14 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementmidground, nano tank +2
Propagationrunners, division +1
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Hair-thin stems 10 to 15 cm long stand in dense tufts and bend with the current. From a distance the effect is a meadow rather than individual plants.
Keeping
Easy and adaptable, but it wants an open spot: shaded by taller plants it thins out and the carpet goes patchy. If the lawn grows taller than you want, it can be trimmed with scissors like grass.
Placement
Foreground and midground carpets, and the sloped foreground of a nature layout. Plant small tufts a few centimetres apart rather than one big clump — they fill in faster.
Propagation
Runners appear within weeks of planting and root as they go. Lift a section with tweezers, divide it into tufts and replant.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 816 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
ButterflyfishJulii CorydorasRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus BrokopondoHomaloptera bilineataRed-tailed RasboraBoraras naevusLampeye KillifishSpotted Raphael CatfishCorydoras melanotaeniaFestivum cichlidPseudomugil paskai
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 CatfishMoonlight 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 AcaraPearl CichlidRed-spotted CichlidHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid