Red cabomba

Cabomba furcata

Also known as Purple cabomba, Red fanwort, Cabomba piauhyensis

FreshwaterStemCuttingsSide shoots

Invasive. Cabomba species are invasive and regulated in some regions (banned for sale in parts of the US and elsewhere). Never release into the wild; dispose of in the trash.

Red cabomba (Cabomba furcata) — Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0

Care at a glance

Light: High light
CO2: CO₂ required
Growth rate: Fast
Placement: Background
Type: Stem
Temperature: 75–82°F (24–28°C)
pH: 5.0–6.8
Hardness: 1–8 dGH
Max height: 19.7 in (50 cm)
Spread: 3.1 in (8 cm)
Nutrient uptake: Root + water column
Growth region: Submersed
Difficulty: Difficult
Origin: Central and tropical South America
Family: Cabombaceae

Overview

This is one of the more challenging aquarium stems, demanding very high light, pressurized CO2, warm soft acidic water and a rich substrate to keep its red-purple fan leaves from melting and shedding. Give it strong, stable conditions and steady flow, and plant stems with space so light reaches the lower whorls. Without CO2 and high light it typically strips its leaves and rots from the base up.

In the wild

Widely distributed across Central America and tropical South America, including Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Guyana, plus parts of the West Indies. It grows in warm, shallow, slow-moving to stagnant acidic waters of lakes, streams and floodplains, producing feathery fan-shaped leaves and small pink-purple waterlily-like flowers.

Good to know

It is a member of the small aquatic family Cabombaceae and has long circulated under the synonym Cabomba piauhyensis. Unlike many stem plants it cannot be grown emersed, so it exists only in its submersed feathery form in cultivation.

Did you know

Although some Cabomba species are treated as invasive noxious weeds in various regions, the red C. furcata is the opposite problem in the aquarium, being notoriously fussy and prone to melting rather than taking over.