Leaf colourgreen
Native range
- Argentina Northeast
- Bolivia
- Brazil Northeast
- Brazil Southeast
- Brazil South
- Brazil West-Central
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Mexico Gulf
- Mexico Southeast
- Mexico Southwest
- Nicaragua
- Panamá
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Trinidad-Tobago
- Tristan da Cunha
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
stem plant midground foreground surface
Round leaves the size of a coin on long stalks — one of the fastest and least demanding plants in the hobby. Plant it, float it, or let it climb out of the tank.
- Light
- medium–high
- Difficulty
- very easy
- Temperature
- 5 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratefast
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH6 – 7
Carbonate hardness2 – 15 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementmidground, foreground +1
Propagationcuttings
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Rounded leaves with a scalloped edge, each on its own upright stalk from a creeping stem. In a group they build a loose bush of green discs, and the roots hang freely in the water.
Keeping
Very easy and very fast — that is both its strength and the catch: left untrimmed it fills the tank and shades everything under it. It needs no carbon dioxide and puts up with a wide range of water. Under strong light and with regular trimming it stays low and creeps along the bottom instead of climbing.
Placement
The middle or front of the tank, or simply floating at the surface, where the hanging roots shelter fry and shrimp.
Propagation
By cuttings: cut anywhere along the stem and replant. Cutting often is what makes the plant thicker rather than longer.
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 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: Hydrocotyle leucocephala in Vitro XL, Hydrocotyle leucocephala Topf, Hydrocotyle leucocephala in Vitro, Hydrocotyle Leucocephala Variegated