Leaf colourgreen, white markings
Native range
- Alabama
- Colombia
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Mississippi
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode I.
- South Carolina
- Venezuela
- Virginia
rosette background midground nano tank foreground carpet
A short grass-like plant that spreads by runners into a low green lawn. It suits a nano tank as well as a large one, and it is one of the simplest carpets to start with.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- very easy
- Height
- 5 – 30 cm
- Temperature
- 4 – 30 °C
Parameters
Plant typerosette
Growth ratemedium
CO₂ demandmedium
Tolerates lightlow – high
pH5 – 8
Carbonate hardness2 – 30 °dKH
Placementbackground, midground +3
Propagationrunners
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Ribbon leaves a few millimetres wide grow in small rosettes 5–30 cm tall. In a bright tank it stays low and lawn-like; in shade the same plant can suddenly shoot up to knee height, and the usual fix is to move it to the background where the height is welcome.
Keeping
Undemanding to light and substrate: moderate light and an ordinary bottom are enough. Added carbon dioxide makes the carpet lower and denser. It occasionally sends a stem to the surface and opens small white flowers just above the water.
Placement
The front and the middle of the tank; plant single rosettes 2–4 cm apart and let them close the gaps themselves. It also works as a low green wall in a nano tank.
Propagation
By runners, plentifully: young rosettes appear next to the parent and root themselves. Cut the runner once the youngster has its own leaves, or simply let the group thicken.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1009 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 BotiaSpined LoachMarbled 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
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Sagittaria subulata 'Needle Leaf', Sagittaria sp. ''Nadel-Pfeilkraut'', Sagittaria sp. ''Needle Leaf'', Sagittaria ''filifolia''