Leaf colourgreen, red
Native range
- Cambodia
- Laos
- Myanmar
- Philippines
- Thailand
stem plant semi-emersed background midground Dutch street foreground
The 'Thai', or 'Siamese', hygrophila (Hygrophila corymbosa 'Siamensis') is a tough form long known in the hobby: modest requirements for light and nutrients, and a wide range of tolerable water hardness and temperature.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- very easy
- Height
- 20 – 30 cm
- Temperature
- 18 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratefast
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH5 – 7
Carbonate hardness2 – 18 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementsemi-emersed, background +3
Propagationcuttings
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
With good nutrition and bright light it turns slightly bronze. It grows very fast and needs regular trimming; it looks attractive in terraces of shoots of different lengths.
Keeping
Very easy, growth fast, light medium to strong, CO₂ 10–40 mg/l, temperature 24–28 °C. In bright light with an iron shortage, chlorosis is possible — green veins on a yellowish leaf; a shortage of macronutrients can bring growth to a sudden stop, so it needs fertilising like any other plant.
Placement
Midground and background; grown above water it adapts readily, and with luck it flowers with lilac flowers. It suits Asian biotopes alongside cryptocorynes and schooling rasboras.
Trade names
Long known in the hobby as the 'Thai' or 'Siamese' hygrophila.
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