Product description
About the species
Hydrocotyle tripartita is the South East Asian plant that the hobby almost always calls Hydrocotyle 'Japan'. Its small, three-lobed leaves sit on short upright stems and build a bushy, bright green carpet five to ten centimetres deep. Growth is fast and the shoots creep readily both along the substrate and up over stone and wood.
Facts
• Latin name: Hydrocotyle tripartita
• Plant type: Stem plant
• Origin: Asia
• Height: around 5 cm
• Growth rate: Fast
• Position: Foreground
Light requirement
Medium light requirement. Reckon on around 0.5 W per litre or a modern mid-range LED unit. Too little light gives sparse, stretched shoots and pale leaves, while the right amount keeps the plant compact and richly coloured.
CO₂ & nutrition
Manages entirely without added CO₂, which makes it as suitable for a simple aquarium as for an aquascape. Liquid carbon or injected CO₂ speeds up growth but is never a requirement. Dose an all-round fertiliser with iron and micronutrients every week.
Planting
Split the bunch and set the stems one by one, about two centimetres into the substrate and two to three centimetres apart. Removing the lowest leaves first stops them rotting in the substrate. A group of five to ten stems looks far better straight away than single plants.
Rinse all the gel off in lukewarm water before planting, otherwise it can cause bacterial cloudiness. The cup holds many small plants — divide them up and plant them in several portions.
Care & propagation
Top the plant when it reaches the height you want and replant the cuttings — that propagates it and gives a denser group at the same time. Trim regularly so light reaches the lower leaves, and discard the old lower sections once they start thinning out.
Position in the aquarium
Its low mature size makes it a foreground plant. Place it right at the front where nothing shades it, and let it form a continuous surface in front of the taller plants.
Difficulty level
🟡 Moderate — wants stable lighting and regular fertilisation to look its best.
Delivery format
Delivered as 1-2-Grow! — a laboratory-grown cup holding many small plants in nutrient gel. Because the plant is cultivated in vitro it is completely free of snails, algae, planaria and pesticides, which makes it the safest choice for a shrimp aquarium.
Recommendation
One of the quickest routes to a green carpet, and rewarding even without CO₂. Press the carpet down with your palm when you do maintenance — the classic trick for keeping it low and dense.
