Plant typerhizome
Native range
- Madagascar
- Mauritius
rhizome nano tank foreground carpet
A grass lawn for the front of the tank, with blades finer than the usual micro sword. It spreads by runners and closes into a carpet on its own — slowly.
- Light
- medium–high
- Difficulty
- medium
- Temperature
- 20 – 30 °C
Parameters
Growth rateslow
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH6 – 7
Carbonate hardness2 – 14 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementnano tank, foreground +1
Propagationrunners, division +1
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Narrow needle-thin blades a few centimetres tall grow in small tufts from a creeping stem. Finer and lighter-looking than the common micro sword.
Keeping
Moderate demands and slow growth: it wants good light reaching the bottom and a nutritious substrate, and carbon dioxide makes it noticeably quicker to close up. Plant small tufts a couple of centimetres apart and leave them alone — the gaps fill by themselves over a few months. Shaded by taller plants it thins out and disappears.
Placement
The front of the tank, as a lawn. Its size suits a nano tank whole.
Propagation
By runners: new tufts appear beside the old ones and can be cut off and replanted to speed the carpet along.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 814 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 mauritiana Topf, Lilaeopsis mauritiana in Vitro XL