Leaf colourgreen, red, pink or purple
Native range
- Angola
- Argentina Northeast
- Assam
- Bangladesh
- Benin
- Bolivia
- Brazil North
- Brazil Southeast
- Brazil West-Central
- Burkina
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- China North-Central
- China Southeast
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominican Republic
- East Himalaya
- Ecuador
- Ethiopia
- French Guiana
- Guatemala
- Guinea-Bissau
- Guyana
- Honduras
- India
- Ivory Coast
- Japan
- Jawa
- Kenya
- Korea
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mexico Gulf
- Mexico Northeast
- Mexico Southeast
- Mexico Southwest
- Mozambique
- Myanmar
- Namibia
- Nepal
- New Guinea
- Nicaragua
- Nigeria
- Northern Provinces
- Northern Territory
- Panamá
- Paraguay
- Philippines
- Queensland
- Senegal
- Sudan-South Sudan
- Suriname
- Taiwan
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- Uganda
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- West Himalaya
- Western Australia
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
stem plant background midground nano tank foreground carpet Conservation status: LC
A tiny rotala with needle-fine leaves that shade from green into salmon and pink at the tips. Small enough for a nano tank, quick enough to need scissors.
- Light
- high
- Difficulty
- medium
- Height
- 2 – 10 cm
- Temperature
- 18 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typestem plant
Growth ratefast
pH4 – 7
Carbonate hardness0 – 7 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementbackground, midground +3
Propagationcuttings, runners
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Underwater the leaves are narrow, almost needle-like, in whorls along a reddish stem 2–10 cm tall. The plant sold in shops often looks different — grown above water it has round green leaves and changes shape entirely once submerged.
Keeping
Moderate demands with one firm requirement: light. In a dim tank it stretches, goes plain green and thins out. Soft, slightly acidic water and iron feeding bring out the pink; carbon dioxide is not required but makes the growth much denser. It grows fast and is trimmed often.
Placement
The front or middle of a small tank, or a dense low hedge in a larger one. Plant many stems close together — single stems look like weeds.
Propagation
By cuttings: cut the top and replant it; the stem also creeps and sends up new shoots.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 841 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: Rotala mexicana "Araguaia", Rotala mexicana "Goiás", Rotala pusilla, Rotala mexicana Goias, Rotala mexicana Goias Bund, Rotala mexicana Goias in Vitro