Hygrophila polysperma
Hygrophila polysperma in my aquarium
Emerse form of Hygrophila polysperma
Common name
Dwarf hygrophila
Synonymies
Justicia polysperma, Ruellia polysperma, Heliadelphis polysperma.
Description
Fast growing stem plant. If well lighted the leaves are colored a bit red-brown. Is often mentioned thé best plant for the aquarium. The first hotograph on this page shows how the plant looks in my aquarium at this time, while the second photograph shows the emers form of this plant.
My experiences
In the years I have my aquarium, I've had this plant in my aquarium for a couple of times. Often this plant grew very good (and fast) for a while and formed a lot of side shoots. But for some reason when this plant stands on the same spot for a long time it suddenly dies after I while. Personally I think the plants pollute the bottom in a way that they can't grow there anymore for a while, although I never managed to find anything about this in books or on the Internet. When I place plants of another specie on these spots they always grow normal.
Place and lighting in my aquarium
This plant has stood on the right-back and mid-back of my aquarium. The lighting I used at the time was a 0.42 Watt/liter lumilux TL lighting (2*18 Watt).