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Riccia fluitans is an aquatic liverwort.
Its body is formed by the thallus which is fork-shaped. Its colour is emerald
to deep green - the lighter forms usually grow in bright light. Riccia
fluitans often forms thick mats on the surface of the water, but in the
mud it takes a terrestrial form with short rhizoids and anchors itself to the
bottom. Riccia was formerly used in breeding tanks for fish fry or
to spawn labyrinth fishes, which build the bubbles of their foamy nests under
the tufts.
Recently, Riccia fluitans has become more popular than ever due
the widespread use in the Nature 444t1921e
Aquarium together with Glossostigma
elatinoides. Here Riccia fluitans is fixed with a nylon mesh to
rock or roots where it after less than two weeks forms the most beautiful
homogeneously green cover. When the plant is kept totally submerged it is
probably necessary to add CO to the
water and high light is needed to sustain a good growth. After a while it is
necessary to neat the tufts because the thallus soon grows upwards toward the
water surface. This is easily done by trimming with a pair of scissors or by
wrapping the nylon mesh around the stone or root once more.
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