Leaf colourgreen
Native range
- Argentina Northeast
- Bolivia
- Brazil Northeast
- Brazil North
- Brazil Southeast
- Brazil South
- Brazil West-Central
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Mexico Southeast
- Netherlands Antilles
- Nicaragua
- Panamá
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Puerto Rico
- Venezuela
rosette midground nano tank foreground carpet background
A small light-green rosette that spreads by runners into a low lawn. It is a sword plant scaled down: the easy temper of the big ones with none of the size.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- easy
- Height
- 10 – 15 cm
- Temperature
- 10 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typerosette
Growth ratefast
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH5 – 7
Carbonate hardness0 – 14 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementmidground, nano tank +3
Propagationrunners
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Narrow light-green leaves 10–15 cm long form rosettes about a hand's width across. The pale colour stands out against darker plants, and very pale leaves mean it wants fertiliser.
Keeping
Undemanding: dim light and no carbon dioxide are enough. It feeds mostly through the roots, so a nutritious substrate matters. Growth is fast, and in good conditions it covers the floor within a couple of months.
Placement
The front and middle of the tank in groups, or the whole bottom of a nano tank. In a big aquarium a strip of it makes a soft transition from carpet to taller plants.
Propagation
By runners: young rosettes appear along a creeping shoot. Cut the shoot when a youngster has its own roots, or let the group thicken.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 841 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 AcaraGeophagus altifronsGeophagus winemilleriPearl CichlidRed-spotted CichlidHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Echinodorus angustifolius, Echinodorus latifolius, Echinodorus quadricostatus, Helanthium bolivianum 'quadricostatus', Helanthium bolivianum 'quadricostatus var. xinguensis', Echinodorus Magdalenensis, Echinodorus Xinguensis, Echinodorus 'Vesuvius', Echinodorus bolivianus 'Vesuvius'