Littorella Uniflora - Potted

Littorella Uniflora, better known as shoreweed, is a small stiff rosette of narrow upright leaves that spreads by runners into a low tufted carpet. It looks like a miniature dwarf hairgrass with more substance, and it is one of the few carpeting plants that genuinely prefers cooler water, which makes it a rare good fit for unheated or temperate setups where tropical carpets sulk. See the rest of our live freshwater plants for the rest of the foreground.

Care Guide

• Cooler water is the real requirement. This is a temperate plant from northern Europe and North America, and it does its best work between about 59 and 75°F. In a tank held at 80°F and above it stops spreading and slowly declines. If your tank runs warm, choose Monte Carlo or Dwarf Sagittaria instead.
• Light: moderate to high. Like any carpeting plant it needs light reaching the substrate to spread sideways rather than upward.
• CO2: not mandatory but strongly recommended. Without it expect a thin, very slow carpet. With it the runners come noticeably faster.
• Substrate: this one feeds through its roots more than most, so a nutrient-rich planted substrate such as CaribSea Eco-Complete or Flourish Tabs under inert gravel makes a real difference.
• Planting: separate the pot into small clumps of a few rosettes each and plant them an inch or two apart. They fill the gaps by runner. Bury the roots but keep the crowns at the surface.
• Growth rate: slow. This is a patient plant, not a two-week carpet. It also arrives emersed, so expect a settling-in period before runners appear.

Specifications

Placement and Companions

Where it goes: foreground, front third of the tank, planted in small clumps that knit together. Its stiff upright texture holds a defined edge better than softer carpets, so it looks tidy along a hardscape line or a sand border.

Best in a cooler tank. This is the plant to reach for in an unheated room-temperature tank, a white cloud mountain minnow or hillstream loach setup, or anything else run below tropical temperatures. Most carpeting plants are the opposite.

Texture partners: plant it beside Dwarf Hairgrass for a fine-versus-stiff contrast, or in front of Staurogyne 'Porto Velho' for a step up in height. It also reads well against smooth stone.

Fish and invertebrates: safe with all community fish and shrimp. The dense low tufts are good foraging ground for shrimp and cover for fry, and it stands up to gentle grazing.

Recommended Supplies

• CaribSea Eco-Complete: a nutrient-rich planted substrate, which matters more for this plant than most.
• Seachem Flourish Tabs: root tabs if you are running plain gravel or sand.
• Seachem Flourish: comprehensive water column fertilizer to round out the trace elements.
• Dwarf Hairgrass: the finer-textured carpet to plant next to it.
• Seachem Flourish Excel: liquid carbon if you are not running pressurized CO2.

FAQ

Will it work in my tropical tank at 78 degrees?
At 78°F it will hold, but it will spread slowly and never look lush. Above 80°F it usually declines. If your tank is warm and you want a carpet, Monte Carlo or Dwarf Sagittaria are the better buys.

How long until it carpets?
Months, not weeks. It is one of the slower carpeting plants even under CO2. Plant it in small clumps spaced an inch or two apart so you are not waiting on a single rosette to do all the work.

Do I need CO2?
Not strictly. Without CO2 you get a thin, very slow carpet that still looks good, just sparse. With CO2 and decent light it fills in properly. Liquid carbon sits in between.

Why do my leaves look different from the photo?
Because it was grown emersed at the nursery. Emersed leaves are shorter and stiffer; the submersed leaves that follow are longer and more slender. The transition takes a few weeks.