Pearl Moss

Solenostoma tetragonum

A liverwort from Borneo with small round translucent leaves that build a dense dark green cushion. Under good light it holds strings of oxygen bubbles between the leaves — hence the name.

Light: high
Difficulty: medium
Height: 0.2 – 5 cm (0.1 – 2 in)
Temperature: 18 – 28 °C (64 – 82 °F)

Leaf colour: green
Plant type: epiphyte
Growth rate: very slow
CO₂ demand: medium
Tolerates light: medium – high
pH: 4 – 7
Carbonate hardness: 0 – 7 °dKH
General hardness: 0 – 30 °dGH
Placement: on stone and wood, nano tank
Propagation: division, daughter plants
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Rounded overlapping leaves on short shoots, a few millimetres to a few centimetres tall, deep green and slightly transparent. The cushion is compact and neat rather than shaggy.

Keeping

Moderate demands and very slow growth: it wants strong light, carbon dioxide and stable conditions, and it attaches itself to stone and wood on its own over time. Because it grows so slowly, algae in an unsettled tank will overtake it — this is a plant for an established aquarium.

Placement

Tied to stones and wood, best seen up close, so nano tanks and the front of larger layouts. It sits well beside bucephalandra and other shade plants.

Propagation

By division: separate a piece of the cushion and tie it down elsewhere.

Water conditions match

The water suits 855 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Butterflyfish Julii Corydoras Featherfin Synodontis Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Homaloptera bilineata Red-tailed Rasbora Boraras naevus Lampeye Killifish Spotted Raphael Catfish Corydoras melanotaenia Festivum cichlid

Will eat this plant

These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.

Bengal Loach Zebra Loach Burmese Border Loach Emperor Botia Marbled Headstander Pellegrin's Leporinus Leporinus striatus False Black Tetra Common Metynnis Mylossoma duriventre Red Whiptail Catfish Moonlight Gourami Melanotaenia parva

Matching water does not mean the fish will leave the plant alone.

The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.

Other varieties: Solenostoma tetragonum ’Pearl Moss’, Solenostoma tetragonum Gunung Sumpit, Solenostoma tetragonum Gunung Sumpit in Vitro, Solenostoma tetragonum 1 2 GROW

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Jungermannia tetragona Lindenb., Plectocolea tetragona (Lindenb.) Meijer, Aplozia comptonii, Eucalyx tetragona, Harpalejeunea comptonii, Jungermannia colorata decipiens, Jungermannia comptonii, Jungermannia flexicaulis decipiens, Jungermannia tetragona, Nardia tetragona, Plectocolea ariadne brunnea, Plectocolea parabolica, Plectocolea tetragona, Plectocolea virgata brunnea, Solenostoma tetragonum
Solenostoma tetragonum: (Lindenb.) R.M. Schust. ex Va?a & D.G. Long
Family: Solenostomataceae

Pearl Moss

Tank conditions

Care and keeping