Lake Ludwigia

Ludwigia lacustris

A natural hybrid from the eastern United States with narrow underwater leaves — like the needle-leaf ludwigia, but stronger growing and less fussy. Rare in the wild and still rare in the hobby.

Light: medium–high
Difficulty: medium
Temperature: 4 – 30 °C (39 – 86 °F)

Leaf colour: green, red
Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: fast
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 5 – 8
Carbonate hardness: 2 – 15 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: background, midground
Propagation: cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Narrow leaves in pairs along an upright stem, green to reddish depending on light. It resembles its needle-leaved parent closely; the stems are sturdier and the growth fuller.

Keeping

Moderate demands, and easier than the plant it looks like: good light for colour, ordinary feeding, carbon dioxide optional. Growth is fast, so trimming is regular and each cut thickens the group.

Placement

The middle or back of the tank, in a group.

Propagation

By cuttings: cut the top and plant it.

Water conditions match

The water suits 1008 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Swordtail Guppies Cobra Guppy Blood Red Molly Butterflyfish Red Zebra Cichlid Julii Corydoras Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Kenyi Cichlid Cuckoo Catfish Golden Swordtail Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Zebra Mbuna

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 Spined Loach Marbled Headstander Pellegrin's Leporinus Leporinus striatus False Black Tetra Common Metynnis Mylossoma duriventre Red Whiptail Catfish Molly sphenops Balloon Molly Lyretail Molly Marble Molly Hi-Fin Platy Hawaii Platy Blue Platy Pintail Platy Black Platy Chocolate Molly Moonlight Gourami Melanotaenia parva

Will uproot it

These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.

Marble Loach Peacock Eel Forktail Loach Guntea Loach Long-nosed Loach Horseface Loach Pearlscale Black Moor Goldfish Shubunkin Painted Pleco Featherfin Synodontis Reddish Mystus Catfish Blue Acara Aulonocara maylandi Aulonocara multicolor Aulonocara Orchid Geophagus altifrons Geophagus winemilleri Pearlscale Cichlid Pearl Cichlid Redbelly Cichlid Red-spotted Cichlid Chuco godmanni Haplochromis philander Red Chromide Jack Dempsey cichlid

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: Ludwigia × lacustris, Ludwigia lacustris in Vitro

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Ludwiga brevipes × palustris, Ludwigia lacustris aquatilis
Family: Onagraceae

Lake Ludwigia

Tank conditions

Care and keeping