Tropica Hemianthus Callitrichoides ‘Cuba’

Description

Hemianthus callitrichoides ‘Cuba’Hemianthus callitrichoides is one of the smallest aquarium plants in the world, and creeps over the bottom with millimetre-sized, round leaves. Hemianthus callitrichoides is an attractive and popular foreground plant for small aquariums.

It is not a difficult plant, but it requires good conditions such as enough light, added CO2, water circulation and fertilizer to thrive. If these conditions are hard to create, you may use Micranthemum ‘Monte-Carlo’ as an alternative, as it is less demanding.

Small pearls or bubbles of oxygen are often produced on top of the plants, adding a very lively aspect to the carpet.

If planted in small clumps a few centimetres apart, it will spread rapidly and cover the bottom like a carpet. Trim the carpet regularly, otherwise the lower parts will not get enough light causing root death.

Found on Cuba, west of Havana.Plant info

Type:
Carpeting

Origin:
North America

Country or continent where a plant is the most common. Cultivars arise or are bred in cultivation.

Growth rate:
Medium

Growth rate of the plant compared to other aquatic plants.

Height:
3 – 5+

Average height (cm) of the plant after two months in the tank.

Light demand:

The average or medium light demand of an aquarium plant is 0,5 W/L.

CO2 :

A medium need in CO2 is 6-14 mg/L. A high demand in CO2 is approx. 15-25 mg/L.

Tropica Hemianthus callitrichoides ‘Cuba’ for Nano Scapes

This is the same celebrated dwarf carpet, supplied in Tropica’s potted form rather than a cup. The rockwool-rooted portion gives you a slightly more developed plug to work with, which some hobbyists find easier to split and plant across the front of a small layout. Either way, you are getting one of the world’s smallest aquarium plants, prized for the dense, low lawn it forms.

Rinse the rockwool away gently, then divide the pot into many tiny clumps and tweezer them in a centimetre apart. It carpets well only with bright light, reliable CO2 and steady flow; in our warm 27-29C water, neglecting any of those tends to make it stretch upward. A nutritious soil substrate underneath keeps the new roots fed and anchored against gentle current in a nano.

Explore matching ground-cover plants in our foreground plants range. Use our planting tweezers comparison for the fiddly work, and our CO2 guide to keep the carpet tight and green.