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ARTICLE INFORMATION:
Author: Bill Gehan
Title:  Water Wisteria
Summary:  Hygrophila difformis is an easy plant to keep and propagate, and is a good one for beginners to use to take advantage of the many good things plants do for aquariums.
Contact for editing purposes:
email: Editor Schuyler Sloane: phillyfishclub@gmail.com
Date first published:  November 2004
Publication: The Tank, Northeast Philadelphia Aquarium Society: www.phillyfishclub.com
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Water Wisteria

by Bill Gehan
First published in The Tank, Northeast Philadelphia Aquarium Society, November 2004
Aquarticles

Scientific name: Hygrophila difformis
Native to: India, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia
Difficulty of propagation: Easy ( Grows very fast)
Size: Can grow over 12 inches
Light required: Medium (2 watts per gallon or moderate sunlight)

Hygrophila difformis is a hardy, fast growing stem plant that doesn't require a lot of light. This medium green leafy plant is perfect for anyone who wants to try adding live plants to their larger aquariums. I say "larger Aquarium" because this plant grows up and spreads out very quickly. I would suggest an aquarium no smaller than a 15 gallon high. I have seen this plant thrive in temperatures that range from 65 degrees to 82 degrees F and pH levels of 5.0 to 8.0. Water Wisteria can also live partly out of water. H. difformis grows well under medium light and likes bright light even better. Water wisteria needs iron to survive, so add a good liquid fertilizer to the water or fertilizer tables to the substrate near the plant roots.

I have been growing H. difformis in my discus and white cloud aquariums for over 3 years now with great results and I don't use CO2. In fact, I was growing so much of this plant that I started to sell the excess to a local aquarium store for store credit. Water wisteria is easy to trim, you just snap off the main stem half way down the plant and use the excess piece somewhere else in your aquarium or put the piece in a different aquarium. Just place the snapped off stem in your substrate and it will root, it's that simple.

Live aquatic plants are great for absorbing extra nutrients and waste in aquariums. Healthy plants can help control algae in the aquarium because they out compete the algae for nutrients in the substrate and water column. Live plants in the aquarium also give frightened or shy fish a safe place to hide. Live aquatic plants are also a good addition to the diet of many types of fish who like to nibble on fresh plants from time to time. Live aquatic plants also provide a good hiding place for newly hatched fry. Buy a book on aquatic plants, do some research on the internet, get a subscription to a fish magazine or join an aquatic society and find out more information about aquatic plants. So if you have not tried to propagate live plants in your aquarium yet then give this hardy survivor a try.