Parrot's Feather

Myriophyllum aquaticum

Feathery whorls of finely divided leaves on a fast stem — the classic soft green backdrop. It grows quickly and eats up the nutrients that algae would otherwise take.

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

Leaf colour: green
Plant type: stem plant
Growth rate: very fast
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 5 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 2 – 21 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: background, midground +2 background, midground, Dutch street, surface
Propagation: cuttings
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Bright green leaves cut into threads sit in whorls along the stem; in good light they spread out like a fan. A group of stems reads as a soft feathery screen.

Keeping

Moderate demands: it needs decent light and plenty of nutrients, and it grows fast enough to need cutting every couple of weeks. Left untrimmed it reaches the surface and shades everything beneath. In parts of the world it is treated as an invasive weed and its sale is restricted.

Placement

The back and middle of the tank, in a group. It can also be left floating, where its stems make a dense shelter for fry.

Propagation

Cut off the top 10–15 cm, strip the lowest whorls and plant that end; roots follow within days.

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.

Myriophyllum aquaticum 'Green'

Myriophyllum aquaticum ('Normalform')

Myriophyllum aquaticum var. santacatarinense

Other varieties: Myriophyllum aquaticum 'Santa Catarina', Myriophyllum mattogrossense, Myriophyllum Aquaticum 'Roraima', Myriophyllum mattogrossense ''grun''

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Myriophyllum aquaticum, mannliche Pflanze, weibliche Pflanze, Myriophyllum brasiliense Cambess., Myriophyllum proserpinacoides Gillies ex Hook. & Arn., Enydria aquatica, Myriophyllum brasiliense, Myriophyllum mattogrossense, Myriophyllum proserpinacoides
Family: Haloragaceae

Parrot's Feather

Tank conditions

Care and keeping