Plant typerhizome
Native range
- Alabama
- Argentina Northeast
- Argentina Northwest
- Arkansas
- Brazil South
- Florida
- Georgia
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- Paraguay
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Uruguay
- Virginia
rhizome nano tank foreground carpet
Short grass-like blades in small tufts, spreading by runners into a lawn. Native to both American continents, and undemanding except about one thing: light must reach the bottom.
- Difficulty
- medium
- Height
- 4 – 20 cm
- Temperature
- 4 – 28 °C
Parameters
Growth rateslow
pH6 – 7
Carbonate hardness2 – 14 °dKH
Placementnano tank, foreground +1
Propagationrunners, division +1
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Narrow flat blades 4–20 cm tall growing in tufts from a creeping stem. Height depends on light — the brighter the tank, the shorter and denser the lawn.
Keeping
Moderate demands and slow growth. The one requirement that matters is light at substrate level; shaded by taller plants it stretches and thins out. A nutritious substrate helps the runners spread. It also grows above water on wet ground.
Placement
The front of the tank as a lawn, in a nano tank whole. Plant small tufts a couple of centimetres apart and let the runners close the gaps.
Propagation
By runners: new tufts appear beside the old ones and can be separated.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 812 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: Lilaeopsis carolinensis in Vitro XL