Leaf colourwhite markings
Native range
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Mexico Northeast
- Mexico Southwest
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Panamá
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- West Virginia
rosette midground
Broad ribbon leaves growing in a rosette, spreading by runners into a colony. An undemanding plant for a large tank, and a rare one in shops.
- Light
- medium–high
- Difficulty
- easy
- Temperature
- 4 – 25 °C
Parameters
Plant typerosette
Growth ratemedium
Tolerates lightmedium – high
Carbonate hardness2 – 21 °dKH
Placementmidground
Propagationrunners
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Underwater the leaves are wide, strap-shaped and blunt-tipped; above water they narrow and the plant can flower with small white three-petalled flowers. The broad blades contrast with fine-leaved neighbours.
Keeping
Easy: medium light, no carbon dioxide needed, cool water is fine. It feeds mainly through the roots, so a nutritious substrate or root tablets matter more than anything added to the water. It spreads by runners and will fill the space given to it.
Placement
The middle of a roomy tank, where the colony has room to spread. The thick leaves give shrimp and shy fish somewhere to hide.
Propagation
By runners: young rosettes appear beside the parent on a horizontal shoot and can be separated once rooted.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 835 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishJulii CorydorasRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioZebra MbunaHomaloptera bilineataRed-tailed RasboraBoraras naevusSpotted Raphael CatfishCorydoras melanotaeniaFestivum cichlid
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaSpined LoachPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraMylossoma duriventreMolly sphenopsBalloon MollyLyretail MollyMarble MollyHi-Fin PlatyHawaii PlatyBlue PlatyPintail PlatyBlack PlatyChocolate Molly
Will uproot it
These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.
Marble LoachPeacock EelForktail LoachGuntea LoachLong-nosed LoachPearlscaleBlack Moor GoldfishShubunkinFeatherfin SynodontisReddish Mystus CatfishBlue AcaraPearl CichlidRedbelly CichlidRed-spotted CichlidHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid