Leaf colourgreen, red +1
Native range
- Assam
- Bangladesh
- Cambodia
- Hainan
- India
- Malaya
- Myanmar
- Thailand
- Vietnam
- West Himalaya
stem plant background midground
Feathery bright green leaves on a red-brown stem — the watermilfoil for hard water, where most fine-leaved plants struggle.
- Light
- medium–high
- Difficulty
- medium
- Temperature
- 18 – 34 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratemedium
Tolerates lightmedium – high
Carbonate hardness0 – 8 °dKH
Placementbackground, midground
Propagationcuttings
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Leaves cut into fine threads in whorls along a reddish stem, so the group shows green and red-brown at once. Planted in a bunch it makes a thick feathery bush.
Keeping
Moderate demands and unusually tolerant of hard water, which it actually prefers. Good light keeps it dense; carbon dioxide is not required. It grows quickly enough to shade its neighbours, so trimming is routine.
Placement
The middle or back of the tank, in a group — several stems together read as one soft mass, a single stem looks bare.
Propagation
By cuttings: replant the trimmed tops.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1016 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 BotiaMarbled 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