Leaf colourgreen
Native range
- Bangladesh
- China South-Central
- China Southeast
- India
- Myanmar
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
rhizome nano tank foreground carpet Conservation status: LC
A carpet plant that is also a carnivore: on its roots sit tiny bladders that catch water fleas. It makes one of the finest green lawns in the hobby and is famously tricky to establish.
- Light
- medium
- Difficulty
- difficult
- Height
- 3 – 10 cm
- Temperature
- 16 – 28 °C
Parameters
Plant typerhizome
Growth ratemedium
CO₂ demandmedium
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH4 – 7
Carbonate hardness0 – 12 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementnano tank, foreground +1
Propagationrunners, division +1
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Thin grass-like leaves 3–10 cm tall grow from creeping stems and knit into a dense mat. The traps are minute and invisible without a lens — the plant looks simply like fine grass.
Keeping
Difficult, and the trouble is the start: the mat lifts off the substrate before it roots, and any layer of dirt on it finishes the job. It wants soft, slightly acidic water, decent light and carbon dioxide. Once established it grows steadily and asks for little.
Placement
The front of the tank, in small pieces pressed into the substrate a couple of centimetres apart. Fits a nano tank whole.
Propagation
By creeping stems: the mat spreads itself. Cut a piece with tweezers and press it in elsewhere.
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.
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: Utricularia graminifolia 1 2 GROW, Utricularia graminifolia in Vitro XL