Plant typerosette
Native range
- Argentina Northeast
- Argentina Northwest
- Bolivia
- Brazil North
- Chile Central
- Chile South
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Leeward Is.
- Mexico Central
- Mexico Southeast
- Mexico Southwest
- Nicaragua
- Panamá
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Puerto Rico
- Trinidad-Tobago
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Windward Is.
rosette surface
A floating plant with round leaves the size of a coin and long trailing roots. It shades the tank from above, takes nutrients straight out of the water and gives surface fish something to hide under.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- easy
- Height
- 3 – 5 cm
- Temperature
- 4 – 35 °C
Parameters
Growth ratevery fast
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH5 – 8
Carbonate hardness0 – 14 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementsurface
Propagationfragmentation, runners
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Rosettes of round, slightly puffy leaves lie on the surface, and a curtain of fine roots hangs beneath them, sometimes to the bottom of the tank.
Keeping
Undemanding and very fast: no planting, no carbon dioxide, any light. Two cautions. It multiplies until it covers the whole surface and leaves the plants below in the dark, so a third of it goes in the bin every week. And it dislikes drops of water on the leaves — under a closed lid they rot, so it is happiest in an open tank.
Placement
On the surface, ideally penned into one corner. The dangling roots are a favourite shelter for gouramis and other fish that live near the top, and fry hide in them.
Propagation
By itself: daughter rosettes grow on short runners and break away on their own. To slow it down, simply scoop out the excess.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1034 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasFeatherfin SynodontisRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus Brokopondo
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
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Limnobium laevigatum