Photo: Jörg Hempel, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons
Water soldier
Stratiotes aloides L.
—
Height in the aquarium
medium to high
Light
low
CO₂ needs
4–30 °C
Ideal temperature
Water parameters
Understand these values- Position
- background, midground, floating
- Propagation
- runners
- Uses
- open-top tank
- Grows emersed
- yes
In the wild
Overview
Its long, stiff leaves with spiny edges form a large rosette, giving it the look of a “water pineapple”. In the European and Asian habitats where it lives, it overwinters on the bottom and rises again when the water warms up. In summer some leaves stand above the surface and the long roots can reach the mud.
- Scientific name
- Stratiotes aloides L.
- Classification
- Alismatales › Hydrocharitaceae
- IUCN Red List
- Least concern (LC)
Natural habitat
Europe, North Asia
Observations (GBIF) and localities Native countries Introduced in Rivers and lakes
- Native countries
- Introduced by people
Outside its native range, in 5 countries:
An aquarium plant must never reach the wild: throwing away cuttings or emptying a tank into a stream can be enough to establish it.
Countries: Kew World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP). Dots: GBIF observations in the native countries.
In the aquarium
Growing in the aquarium
Allow plenty of space for the rosette and its roots. Well known as a pond plant, it can also be grown in a tropical aquarium according to the source. Division and separating young plants are used to propagate it. Take its cycle and size into account rather than choosing it as a small, stable foreground rosette.
Sources:Flowgrow GBIF POWO (Kew) · Base map: Natural Earth