Plant typerosette
Native range
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Assam
- Bangladesh
rosette background Conservation status: LC
Ribbon leaves rising in a curtain from the substrate — the plant behind the classic jungle aquarium. It grows in warm and cool water across the tropics and subtropics, and is about as close to unkillable as an aquarium plant gets.
- Light
- low
- Difficulty
- very easy
- Height
- 20 – 50 cm
- Temperature
- 5 – 30 °C
Parameters
Growth ratefast
CO₂ demandlow
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH6 – 8
Carbonate hardness2 – 21 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementbackground
Propagationrunners
Grows emersedno
Appearance
Narrow, strap-shaped leaves grow from a rosette and reach 20 to 50 cm, often running along the surface once they hit the top. The leaves are thin enough not to shade the plants below them.
Keeping
Grows in almost any light and any water, warm or cool, with or without added carbon dioxide. It feeds mainly through the roots, so a deep substrate matters more than fertiliser in the water. One weakness is worth knowing: it reacts badly to salt and to some algaecides.
Placement
Background and corners, where the curtain of leaves hides equipment. Leave room — runners travel, and a single plant becomes a stand within a couple of months.
Propagation
Runners creep under the substrate and send up new rosettes. Let a daughter root properly before cutting the connecting runner.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 983 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: Vallisneria spiralis 'Tiger', Vallisneria spiralis 'Tortifolia', Vallisneria Spiralis Leopard, Vallisneria spiralis "Contortionist", Vallisneria spiralis "Torta"