01
Overview
The blades run a centimeter or two wide and sweep in gentle curves, so a colony sways visibly in filter flow. Growers reach for it when standard Java fern feels too heavy, particularly in stream-style layouts built around motion.
02
Aquascaping use
Plant it along the spine of driftwood so the leaves trail in the direction of flow, reinforcing the sense of current. It bridges beautifully between coarse hardscape and fine plants like mosses or hairgrass.
03
Planting
Fix the rhizome to wood or stone with the leaf curve oriented downstream; the plant will exaggerate that line as it grows. Space portions a hand-width apart, since colonies knit together faster than their slow leaf growth suggests.
Attach to hardscape
04
Light & CO₂
Content in low light like its relatives; moderate light plus CO₂ yields longer, more numerous blades. Neither is required.
05
Substrate & fertilization
Water-column feeding only, at unremarkable rates. Watch old blades for the potassium pinholes typical of the species.
Feeding behavior: Water-column feeder. Nutrient demand: low.
06
Growth, trimming & propagation
Remove whole blades at the rhizome and thin the center of dense stands yearly. Leaf-tip plantlets provide effortless propagation.
Rhizome division and plantlets
07
Common problems
- !Long blades catch debris in high-waste tanks
- !Dense stands shade their own rhizomes
- !Rhizome rot if buried
