1-2-GROW! Pond liverwort / Riccia fluitans

Actually, the pond liverwort Riccia fluitans is a floating plant floating on the water surface. It is therefore often used in breeding tanks for young fish. Threadfish and fighting fish love the floating pads and like to build their foam nests in them.

Takashi Amano found another use for Riccia in aquascaping. Tied to shallow stones, pond liverwort forms beautiful light green, finely textured carpets at the bottom of the aquarium.

In these underwater growing cushions, baby shrimps not only find great grazing grounds (biofilms increasingly settle here and fine suspended matter is deposited), they can also optimally hide here.

Thanks to the cultivation method, pond liverwort grown in the laboratory is not only free of pesticides and fertilizers, but also does not bring any unwanted co-inhabitants (such as snails, hydras, worms or micro-crayfish). Simply wash the transparent nutrient liquid carefully under running water and insert, no quarantine is required.

Since riccia has no adhesive organs, it does not grow attached to the substrate. Therefore, the pads must be cut back and re-tied every now and then, otherwise the pond liverwort may detach from the substrate over time and float up. On this occasion, you can then use the excess material to green a few more stones.