Leaf colourgreen, red
Native range
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Congo
- DR Congo
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guinea
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Namibia
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Sudan-South Sudan
- Togo
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
stem plant midground Conservation status: LC
Leaves marked with a network of red veins on a green background — a pattern no other aquarium plant has. Rare in the trade and demanding in the tank.
- Light
- high
- Difficulty
- difficult
- Temperature
- 12 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratemedium
pH4 – 7
Carbonate hardness0 – 7 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementmidground
Propagationcuttings
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Broad leaves in pairs, veined in red over green; the redder the veins, the stronger the light and the better the trace feeding. The plant grows upright and stays fairly compact.
Keeping
Difficult: it wants strong light, soft water, iron and trace elements, and above all steadiness — a sharp change in water makes it melt. The stems are brittle and bruise easily, so handle them by the base when planting. Growth is moderate rather than fast, which leaves less room to correct mistakes.
Placement
The middle of the tank, in a small group, close enough to the front for the leaf pattern to be seen. Not a plant for a new aquarium.
Propagation
By cuttings: cut the top and plant it, handling the stem gently.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 841 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: Ludwigia pulvinaris, Ludwigia senegalensis Guinea, Ludwigia senegalensis Guinea Topf, Ludwigia senegalensis Guinea in Vitro