Leaf colourgreen
Native range
- Assam
- Bangladesh
- East Himalaya
- India
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Northern Territory
- Queensland
- Sri Lanka
stem plant background Conservation status: LC
A fast green stem plant with leaves cut into lobes like a fern's. It asks for nothing in particular, grows from the first week and quickly makes a new tank look planted rather than empty.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- very easy
- Height
- 20 – 30 cm
- Temperature
- 18 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratefast
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH6 – 7
Carbonate hardness2 – 21 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementbackground
Propagationcuttings
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Upright stems 20–30 cm tall. Under water the light-green leaves are deeply cut, almost lacy; grown above water the same plant makes plain oval leaves, which is why a freshly bought bunch often looks nothing like the photo until it settles in.
Keeping
One of the easiest stem plants: moderate light is enough and carbon dioxide is not needed. Pale, washed-out leaves are its way of asking for fertiliser — usually the only complaint it ever makes. It grows fast and needs cutting back every few weeks.
Placement
The back of the tank, in a group of several stems. In a large aquarium a dense stand of the lobed leaves looks striking on its own, and while the tank is young the plant takes up the nutrients that algae would otherwise get.
Propagation
Cut off the top ten centimetres of a stem, strip the lowest leaves and plant that end. Roots follow within days, and the cut stem branches into two new shoots.
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: Hygrophila difformis 'Weiß-Grün', Synnema triflorum, Hygrophila triflora, Hygrophila Difformis Pink