Leaf colourgreen, white markings
Native range
- Belize
- Bolivia
- Brazil Northeast
- Brazil North
- Brazil Southeast
- Brazil West-Central
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Ecuador
- French Guiana
- Guyana
- Honduras
- Mexico Gulf
- Mexico Southeast
- Nicaragua
- Panamá
- Peru
- Suriname
- Trinidad-Tobago
- Venezuela
stem plant midground
Whorls of narrow leaves on an upright stem, in a pale, almost white-green found nowhere else in a tank. One of the hardest plants in the hobby, and a badge of a well-run aquarium.
- Light
- high
- Difficulty
- very difficult
- Temperature
- 18 – 29 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratemedium
pH4 – 7
Carbonate hardness0 – 8 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementmidground
Propagationcuttings
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Stiff narrow leaves in tight whorls up the stem, light green with white shoot tips. It grows mostly straight up and puts out side shoots only when the light is strong.
Keeping
Very difficult, and everything about it must be right at once: soft, slightly acidic water, an acidic substrate, strong light, carbon dioxide, iron and trace elements. Nitrate and phosphate must never run to zero. Faster plants around it will steal its light, so it needs room. This is a plant for someone who already keeps a stable tank.
Placement
The middle of the tank, in a group, clear of taller neighbours.
Propagation
By cuttings: cut side shoots and replant them.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 839 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: Tonina fluviatilis, Tonina fluviatilis Ecoscape, Tonina Fluviatilis