Glush Weed

Hygrophila costata

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 (7.9 – 12 in)
Temperature: 18 – 30 °C (64 – 86 °F)

Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: fast
CO₂ demand: low
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 5 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 0 – 7 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: background, midground +1 background, midground, Dutch street
Propagation: seeds, cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

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.

Water conditions match

The water suits 841 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Butterflyfish Julii Corydoras Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Homaloptera bilineata Red-tailed Rasbora Boraras naevus Lampeye Killifish Spotted Raphael Catfish Corydoras melanotaenia Festivum cichlid Pseudomugil paskai

Will eat this plant

These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.

Bengal Loach Zebra Loach Burmese Border Loach Emperor Botia Marbled Headstander Pellegrin's Leporinus Leporinus striatus False Black Tetra Common Metynnis Mylossoma duriventre Red Whiptail Catfish Moonlight Gourami Melanotaenia parva

Will uproot it

These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.

Marble Loach Peacock Eel Forktail Loach Guntea Loach Long-nosed Loach Horseface Loach Pearlscale Black Moor Goldfish Shubunkin Painted Pleco Featherfin Synodontis Reddish Mystus Catfish Blue Acara Geophagus altifrons Geophagus winemilleri Pearl Cichlid Red-spotted Cichlid Haplochromis philander Red Chromide Jack Dempsey cichlid

Matching water does not mean the fish will leave the plant alone.

The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.

Other varieties: Hygrophila lacustris

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Hygrophila guianensis Nees ex Benth., Hygrophila lacustris (Cham. & Schltdl.) Nees, Hygrophila lacustris Morong & Britton, Blepharis verticillata, Calophanes cubensis, Dipteracanthus brasiliensis, Eberlea glomerata, Ecbolium lithospermifolium, Hygrophila angusta, Hygrophila atricheta, Hygrophila brasilensis, Hygrophila brasiliensis, Hygrophila conferta, Hygrophila conferta rubricaulis, Hygrophila costata angustifolia, Hygrophila costata aucta, Hygrophila costata strobilantha, Hygrophila guianensis, Hygrophila guianensis angustior, Hygrophila helodes, Hygrophila helodes multiflora, Hygrophila hispida, Hygrophila lacustris, Hygrophila latifolia, Hygrophila longifolia, Hygrophila longifolia hirsutior, Hygrophila portoricensis, Hygrophila pubescens, Hygrophila pubescens atricheta, Hygrophila rivularis, Hygrophila verticillata, Justicia costata, Justicia lithospermifolia, Justicia marrubiastrum, Pedicularis sessilis, Ruellia brasiliensis, Ruellia filicifolia, Ruellia hispida, Ruellia justiciiflora, Ruellia lacustris, Ruellia rivularis, Ruellia salicifolia, Ruellia verticillata, Ruellia verticilliflora, Synnema verticillatum, Zahlbrucknera conferta, Zahlbrucknera longifolia, Zahlbrucknera micrantha, Zahlbrucknera oblongifolia
Hygrophila costata: Nees
Family: Acanthaceae

Glush Weed

Tank conditions

Care and keeping