Crystalwort Riccia (Riccia fluitans)

Crystalwort (Riccia fluitans) is not a moss at all but a liverwort: a mass of forking, bright green branchlets with no roots and no true leaves. Left to itself it is a floating plant, forming a loose raft at the surface, and that is how it grows in the wild.

Aquarium care

• It is only a carpet for as long as it is tied down. Aquascapers mesh it onto stone or wood to make a green pad, but as it grows the sections trap gas bubbles, break free and float back up.
• Re-tie and re-trim a bound carpet regularly, or accept that it will release over time.
• It has no roots, so it takes everything from the water column and substrate fertiliser does nothing for it.
• Wants bright light. In dim tanks it thins out and goes pale.
• Pearls visibly under strong light and CO2, which is much of the appeal.
• Propagate simply by splitting the mass.

Floating, it makes excellent cover for fry, shrimplets and surface-shy fish such as killifish and small rasboras. As a tied carpet it is a high-maintenance plant, best suited to people who enjoy the upkeep.

Stock rotates, and plants are for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. Browse the plants collection.