TankBud

Mayaca sellowiana

FreshwaterStemCuttingsSide shoots

Mayaca sellowiana (Mayaca sellowiana)
Víctor Dávalos · CC BY 4.0

Care at a glance

Light
Medium light
CO2
CO₂ required
Temperature
64–86°F
18–30°C
Max height
9.8 in
25 cm
Growth rate
Fast
Placement
Midground
Type
Stem
pH
4.5–7.0
Hardness
1–6 dGH
Spread
2 in (5 cm)
Nutrient uptake
Root + water column
Growth region
Submersed or emersed
Difficulty
Medium
Family
Mayacaceae
Origin
Tropical South America

Overview

Mayaca sellowiana is a fine-textured midground stem for soft-water tanks. It is a plant of medium difficulty, and the finest and most compact of the bogmosses in the hobby.

Did you know

Mayaca sellowiana has a lookalike, a whorled-leaved stem plant that was long sold under its name. The real one sets its narrow leaves alternately and close against the stem, which is the reliable way to tell them apart.

Caring for Mayaca sellowiana

Strip the leaves from the lower part of each stem and plant the stems one at a time in the midground. It wants soft water, with a GH of 1 to 6 and a pH of 4.5 to 7. In hard water it stalls and turns pale. Keep the temperature at 64 to 86°F (18 to 30°C).

Mayaca sellowiana wants medium light and injected CO2 in the 25 to 40 mg/l range. It feeds through its roots and from the water, so give it root tabs or a rich substrate along with a liquid fertilizer. Pale, brittle tips are its usual sign that iron is running short.

Under good light it grows fast into dense, moss-like bushes up to about 10 in (25 cm). Trim the tops and replant them to keep the stand tight, and the stumps push new side shoots. Cut a side shoot off once it has a few leaves and plant it on its own.

The fine foliage traps debris easily. Give it clean flow and keep mulm from settling into the clump.

Good to know

Mayaca sellowiana belongs to Mayacaceae, the bogmoss family, which holds just the single genus Mayaca. Its members are flowering plants that look convincingly like mosses. The species is named for Friedrich Sellow, the German naturalist who collected widely in Brazil in the early 1800s. Compared with Mayaca fluviatilis it is finer and denser.

In the wild

Mayaca sellowiana comes from tropical South America, where it grows in nutrient-poor swamps, stream margins and flooded ground with acid water. Like its better-known relative Mayaca fluviatilis it is amphibious. It grows submersed in the wet season and carries on as a low emersed plant on damp banks when the water falls.

Common questions

Does Mayaca sellowiana need to be planted in the substrate?

Yes. Strip the leaves from the lower part of each stem, then push the stems into the substrate one at a time, a little apart.

Does Mayaca sellowiana need CO2?

Yes. Mayaca sellowiana needs injected CO2 to grow well, and it usually struggles without it.

How much light does Mayaca sellowiana need?

Mayaca sellowiana wants medium light. A light sold for planted tanks covers it.

Does Mayaca sellowiana need root tabs?

They help. Mayaca sellowiana takes nutrients through both its roots and its leaves. Root tabs near its roots and a liquid fertilizer cover both.

How do you propagate Mayaca sellowiana?

Mayaca sellowiana propagates by cuttings and side shoots. Cut off the top of a stem and replant it, and the stump left behind grows new shoots. Cut a side shoot off once it has a few leaves and plant it on its own.

How tall does Mayaca sellowiana grow?

Mayaca sellowiana grows to about 9.8 in (25 cm) tall. It grows fast, so expect to trim it often.

Related plants