Leaf colourgreen
Native range
- Argentina Northeast
- Brazil Southeast
- Brazil South
- Paraguay
- Uruguay
rhizome nano tank foreground carpet
Short blade-like leaves that spread by runners into a neat lawn. The look is closest to real grass of anything in the hobby, and it needs no carbon dioxide.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- medium
- Height
- 3 – 6 cm
- Temperature
- 4 – 28 °C
Parameters
Plant typerhizome
Growth ratemedium
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH6 – 7
Carbonate hardness2 – 14 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementnano tank, foreground +1
Propagationrunners, division +1
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Narrow pale-green blades 3–6 cm tall grow in small tufts. In bright light the lawn is dense and short; in shade the blades lengthen and thin out.
Keeping
Moderate demands, and light is the deciding one: it must reach the bottom, otherwise the lawn never closes. Growth is slow at first — the runners appear weeks after planting. Carbon dioxide is optional and simply speeds things up.
Placement
The front of the tank, in small tufts a few centimetres apart, with nothing tall shading them. Suits nano tanks.
Propagation
By runners: young tufts appear beside the old and root themselves. Lift a tuft with roots to move it.
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 brasiliensis, Lilaeopsis Brasilensis