Plant typestem plant
Native range
- Alabama
- Argentina Northeast
- Belize
- Bolivia
- Brazil Northeast
- Brazil North
- Brazil Southeast
- Brazil South
- Brazil West-Central
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Florida
- French Guiana
- Georgia
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Louisiana
- Mexico Gulf
- Mexico Southeast
- Mexico Southwest
- Mississippi
- Nicaragua
- Panamá
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Puerto Rico
- Suriname
- Texas
- Trinidad-Tobago
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
stem plant background midground Dutch street
A tall stem plant with long narrow leaves, close kin to the temple plant and just as fast. It fills a back wall in a month and asks for little beyond regular trimming.
- Light
- medium
- Difficulty
- medium
- Height
- 20 – 30 cm
- Temperature
- 18 – 30 °C
Parameters
Growth ratefast
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH5 – 7
Carbonate hardness0 – 7 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementbackground, midground +1
Propagationseeds, cuttings
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Sturdy stems 20–30 cm tall with narrow leaves set close together. Plants sold in shops are usually grown above water and have rounder leaves with wider gaps — once submerged the plant changes to its narrow-leaved form.
Keeping
Moderate demands: decent light, no need for carbon dioxide. Growth is fast, and without cutting the tops reach the surface and shade everything below.
Placement
The back of the tank in a group, or a row along the side wall.
Propagation
Cut a stem into pieces about ten centimetres long, strip the lowest leaves and plant them; roots form within days.
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: Hygrophila lacustris