Attitude:
easy, undemanding plant
Size:
1 to 3 cm
Temperature:
22 – 28°C
pH:
5 – 8
CH:
5 – 18°dKH
propagation:
asexual about side shootssexually about spores
Look:
കാക്കര, Algal Bloom – പായൽ 04, CC BY-SA 3.0
Salvinia auriculata is one fast-growing, robust floating plant. The pairs of floating leaves are oval, hairy and blue-green in color. The plant has no roots, and there are delicate brown water leaves under the water surface. The species is particularly decorative for open tanks.
A magnifying glass is required to identify the plant with certainty. This shows small elevations (papillae) on the upper side of the leaves. Four hairs grow on each of these papillae, which grow together at the tips only in the auriculata forms. These tufts of hair look like little whisks.
Distribution of Salvinia auriculata:
The plants live in the tropical part of America, from Mexico to Argentina and Chile. Some of them were settled on other continents.
husbandry conditions:
At plenty of light and nutrient-rich water the small floating plants thrive. They quickly cover large parts of the aquarium. So that the plants growing underneath still get enough light, regularly thinned become. Mosses grow well under a protective cover of light floating plants, while the growth of unwanted algae is suppressed. If there is a lack of nutrients, the leaves turn light.
In the aquarium should be one light current because Salvinia auriculata occurs naturally in slow-flowing or standing water.
Condensation water dripping from covers cannot be tolerated by the plants. The cover disc should be fitted at a slight angle. Then the condensed water can run off.
Particularities:
The plants filter excess nutrients or pollutants out of the water. They are therefore particularly suitable for breeding tank or newly installed pools. The young fish find ideal hiding places between their underwater leaves. Parameciums, trumpet animals or other microorganisms that serve as food also colonize this habitat.
Labyrinth fish like to build their foam nests among the ferns.
Plants are common commercially available as Salvinia natans. That is not correct.
Salvinia natans, or floating fern, is a species native to Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It is annual and more suitable for aquariums not suitable.
Small air cushions form due to the tufts of hair that have grown together at the tips of the leaves. If a leaf is completely submerged, the surface does not get wet. Recently, scientists have become interested in this property. They try to apply the principle in shipbuilding. Ships fitted with such a surface would glide through the water more easily and quickly. This means less fuel consumption and shorter travel times.