Guinea Ludwigia

Ludwigia senegalensis

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 (54 – 86 °F)

Leaf colour: green, red
Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: medium
pH: 4 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 0 – 7 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: midground
Propagation: cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

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.

Water conditions match

The water suits 841 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Butterflyfish Julii Corydoras 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 Pseudomugil paskai

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

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 Geophagus altifrons Geophagus winemilleri Pearl Cichlid Red-spotted Cichlid 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 pulvinaris, Ludwigia senegalensis Guinea, Ludwigia senegalensis Guinea Topf, Ludwigia senegalensis Guinea in Vitro

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Ludwigia sp. ''Guinea'', Prieurea senegalensis DC., Jussiaea senegalensis (DC.) Brenan, Ludwigia pulvinaris Gilg, Jussiaea prieurea, Jussiaea pulvinaris, Jussiaea senegalensis, Ludwigia prieurea, Ludwigia pulvinaris, Ludwigia pulvinaris lobayensis, Prieurea senegalensis
Ludwigia senegalensis: (DC.) Troch.
Family: Onagraceae
Conservation status: LC

Guinea Ludwigia

Tank conditions

Care and keeping