Leaf colourgreen
Native range
- New South Wales
- New Zealand North
- New Zealand South
- Northern Territory
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia
rhizome nano tank foreground carpet
Thin green blades that spread by runners into something very like a mown lawn. The most reliable of the carpets: it stays short by itself and needs no trimming.
- Light
- medium
- Difficulty
- easy
- Height
- 3 – 5 cm
- Temperature
- 12 – 27 °C
Parameters
Plant typerhizome
Growth ratemedium
CO₂ demandmedium
Tolerates lightmedium – high
Carbonate hardness0 – 14 °dKH
Placementnano tank, foreground +1
Propagationrunners, division +1
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Bright green needle-thin leaves 3–5 cm long grow in small tufts. A dense stand looks like grass, and because the leaves stay short it never needs cutting.
Keeping
Not difficult, with one condition: light must reach the bottom, otherwise the lawn thins out. Carbon dioxide speeds the spread noticeably. Patience is the main requirement — the first runners appear only weeks after planting.
Placement
The front of the tank, in small tufts a couple of centimetres apart. Suits a nano tank, where a few tufts floor the whole bottom.
Propagation
By runners: new tufts appear beside the old ones and root themselves. To move it, lift a tuft with its roots and replant.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 983 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 OrchidPearlscale 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: Eleocharis pusilla 'Mini', Eleocharis Pusillis