Blyxa aubertii

Also known as Aubert's blyxa, Roundfruit blyxa

FreshwaterRosetteSide shoots

Blyxa aubertii (Blyxa aubertii) — (c) Jesse de Vries, some rights reserved (CC BY) · cc-by

Care at a glance

Light: High light
CO2: CO₂ required
Temperature: 75–82°F; 24–28°C
Max height: 15.7 in; 40 cm

Growth rate: Medium
Placement: Midground
Type: Rosette
pH: 5.5–7.0
Hardness: 0–6 dGH
Spread: 7.9 in (20 cm)
Nutrient uptake: Root + water column
Growth region: Submersed
Difficulty: Difficult
Family: Hydrocharitaceae
Origin: Tropical Asia, Africa and northern Australia

Overview

This is a demanding softwater collector plant, not a beginner species. It needs bright light, pressurised CO2 and steady macro and iron dosing to stay dense and coloured, and it sulks or rots in hard water (keep GH low, ideally under about 6). The roots are weak for its size so it feeds heavily from the water column and can float free if hardness is too high. The leaves are brittle and snap easily during maintenance, so handle it gently. Grown well it makes a lush grassy midground or, in taller tanks, a background bush in place of Vallisneria.

In the wild

Widely distributed across tropical and subtropical Asia, parts of Africa and northern Australia, where it grows in marshes, ditches, rice paddies, floodplains and the margins of slow rivers. It forms a large grassy rosette of narrow, arching leaves and is often rooted in soft clayey or muddy substrate in still or gently moving water.

Good to know

A rosette-forming member of the frogbit family Hydrocharitaceae, related to Vallisneria and Elodea. In the wild it behaves as an annual and is amphicarpic, producing self-pollinating flowers both above and below the water surface so it can set seed even while fully submerged. Under intense light the foliage develops bronze to reddish-purple tones.

Did you know

Did you know Blyxa aubertii is a naturally annual plant that flowers and sets seed underwater by self-pollination; some aquarists snip off the emerging flower stalks to coax it into behaving as a longer-lived perennial in the tank.