Süsswassertang

Lomariopsis lineata

Neither a moss nor quite a plant in the usual sense: loose green lobes that clump together like a soft sponge. It grows in almost any conditions and is often mistaken for a liverwort.

Light: low–high
Difficulty: very easy
Temperature: 15 – 30 °C (59 – 86 °F)

Leaf colour: green
Plant type: epiphyte
Growth rate: slow
Tolerates light: low – high
pH: 5 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 0 – 14 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: on stone and wood +3 on stone and wood, midground, nano tank, foreground
Propagation: division, daughter plants
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Small rounded translucent lobes joined into a loose ball or mat, bright green. It is the juvenile stage of a fern, which is why it looks like nothing else in the tank.

Keeping

Very easy: dim or bright light, warm or cool water, no carbon dioxide. Growth is slow, and it does not attach itself firmly — tie it down, wedge it between stones, or let it drift as a floating clump. Fine debris settles in it, so a clump in still water benefits from a rinse now and then.

Placement

Anywhere: tied to wood and stone, tucked into crevices, or floating. Shrimp graze on it constantly, which makes it a favourite for shrimp tanks and nano aquariums.

Propagation

By division: pull the clump apart and put the pieces where you want them.

Water conditions match

The water suits 861 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Butterflyfish Julii Corydoras Featherfin Synodontis 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

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

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: Lomariopsis cf. lineata, Lomariopsis cf lineata, Lomariopsis cf lineata in Vitro XL, Lomariopsis cf lineata Cup

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Acrostichum laurifolium, Acrostichum speciosum, Diplora cadieri, Lomaria spondiaefolia, Lomaria spondiifolia, Lomariopsis cochinchinensis, Lomariopsis longifolia, Lomariopsis papyracea, Lomariopsis smithii, Microsorum papyraceum, Olfersia lineata, Stenochlaena abrupta, Stenochlaena cochinchinensis, Stenochlaena longifolia, Stenochlaena smithii, Stenochlaena spondiaefolia, Stenochlaena spondicifolia, Stenochlaena spondiifolia
Family: Lomariopsidaceae

Süsswassertang

Tank conditions

Care and keeping