Limnophila Vietnam

Care at a glance

Overview

A plant for soft, acidic, high-energy tanks. Give it strong light, CO2 and a full macro and micro dosing routine and it grows fast into low bushy cushions, ideal for the midground of a nano or the front of a larger scape. In hard water or without CO2 it stunts and loses its looks, which is why it rates medium difficulty despite the fast growth. Trim often and replant the tops; it also spreads sideways on its own with creeping shoots.

In the wild

An unresolved Limnophila distributed in the hobby under a Vietnamese collection name; a documented wild range has never been published. The genus grows across tropical Asian wetlands, in paddies, ditches and stream margins, emersed on wet mud for part of the year and submersed when flooded, and this form grows both ways in cultivation.

Good to know

Flowgrow places Limnophila in Plantaginaceae and lists this plant as an undetermined species. It is a fine-textured stem with needle-like leaves 1.5 to 2.5 cm long in whorls of five to seven, light green with reddish-brown midribs and stems under strong light. The creeping to bushy habit is the giveaway: where most aquarium Limnophila climb straight for the surface, this one bends and runs.

Did you know

It behaves backwards for its genus. Ambulia and the other familiar Limnophila are tall background columns, but this one creeps, bending its stems sideways into cushions, so aquascapers get to use a Limnophila in the midground.

Related plants

• 

  Limnophila rugosa

  Freshwater

  Medium lightMidground23.6 in (60 cm)
• Limnophila Belem

  Limnophila sp. 'Belem'

  Freshwater

  High lightBackground11.8 in (30 cm)

• 

  Ambulia

  Limnophila sessiliflora

  Freshwater

  Low lightBackground15.7 in (40 cm)

• 

  Limnophila aromatica

  Freshwater

  High lightBackground15.7 in (40 cm)

• 

  Giant ambulia

  Limnophila aquatica

  Freshwater

  High lightBackground19.7 in (50 cm)

• 

  Limnophila heterophylla

  Freshwater

  Medium lightBackground19.7 in (50 cm)