Leaf colourgreen
rosette
The big vallisneria of the hobby — long broad ribbons that reach the surface and lie along it. Sold for decades under several other names, and as undemanding as its smaller relatives.
- Difficulty
- easy
- Temperature
- 4 – 32 °C
Parameters
Plant typerosette
Growth ratefast
pH6 – 8
Carbonate hardness2 – 21 °dKH
Propagationrunners
Grows emersedno
Appearance
Green strap leaves growing from a rosette, long enough in a settled plant to run across the surface of a tall tank. The giant vallisnerias in the trade, long labelled with a string of different names, belong to this species.
Keeping
Easy: a wide range of water suits it, carbon dioxide is not needed, and it grows quickly once rooted. It spreads by runners and will colonise the back of a tank, so thinning it out is the regular job.
Placement
The back of a large tank. The long leaves at the surface shade the plants beneath them, so keep the space in front clear.
Propagation
By runners: daughter rosettes appear beside the parent and are separated once rooted.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 1010 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
Swordtail GuppiesCobra GuppyBlood Red MollyButterflyfishRed Zebra CichlidJulii CorydorasFeatherfin SynodontisRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraKenyi CichlidCuckoo CatfishGolden SwordtailHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus Brokopondo
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
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Vallisneria australis 'Curly', Vallisneria australis 'Marmor', Vallisneria australis Topf, Vallisneria australis Marmor, Vallisneria australis Marmor Topf