Plant typerhizome
rhizome carpet
A small water fern whose leaves look like four-leaf clover. It grows in dim light and without carbon dioxide, and it is the calmest way to get a carpet — slow, but almost impossible to spoil.
- Light
- low
- Height
- 5 – 20 cm
Parameters
Growth ratemedium
CO₂ demandlow
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementcarpet
Propagationrunners, division +1
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Leaves on thin stalks, from single rounded blades to the four-lobed clover shape; height ranges from 5 to 20 cm depending on light. Bought plants usually arrive as clover and change shape once they settle — that is the plant adjusting, not failing.
Keeping
Undemanding: dim light and no carbon dioxide will do, though brighter light keeps it lower and denser. It grows slowly, which is exactly why it needs no trimming and does not overrun its neighbours.
Placement
The front of the tank as a low carpet. Plant small pieces of the creeping stem a few centimetres apart and let them join up.
Propagation
By runners: the creeping stem sends up new leaves along its length. Cut a rooted section and plant it elsewhere.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1017 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus BrokopondoZebra Mbuna
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaSpined LoachMarbled HeadstanderPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraCommon MetynnisMylossoma duriventreRed Whiptail CatfishMolly sphenopsBalloon MollyLyretail MollyMarble MollyHi-Fin PlatyHawaii PlatyBlue PlatyPintail PlatyBlack PlatyChocolate MollyMoonlight 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 AcaraAulonocara maylandiAulonocara multicolorAulonocara OrchidGeophagus altifronsGeophagus winemilleriPearlscale CichlidPearl CichlidRedbelly CichlidRed-spotted CichlidChuco godmanniHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid