mermaid or Nixweed im Aquarium keep – guide to the hair mermaids: Aquatic plants find their place in most of our aquariums. An aquatic plant of the genus Cabomba should not be missing. We're talking about the mermaids. There are a lot of subspecies here, but most of them have to be cared for and kept in a similar way. We would like to briefly introduce you to the most important ones. Above all Nixweed or different hair mermaids come very often with us. The reason is usually also their rapid growth and thus good prevention against algae.
Appearance of the Nixweed and Hairy Mermaids
It is difficult to describe the general appearance here, because there are many subspecies, which usually only differ in their leaf shape. be it Guadeloupe Nixweed from the Indian mermaid or the Carolina hair mermaid and the Mexican hair mermaid. Very often these plants are also confused with the hornwort, which does not belong to the Cabomba genus.
The plants are usually quite fast-growing and therefore find their place in the middle to rear area of the aquarium. They all form long stalks, from which the leaves then grow. These leaves can be quite slender, hence the name of the hairy mermaid, but also somewhat larger than that of the mermaid. Their colors should be rich green, provided the plant is not lacking in nutrients.
No matter whether mermaid or hairy mermaid, these aquatic plants usually do not develop roots or if they do, only very little. They are simply stuck into the ground as they are stem plants and not pot plants. In addition, hair mermaids and mermaids can be used as floating plants, because they usually grow quite well and quickly even without aquarium soil. On the one hand it is possible to have a certain freedom of design and on the other hand it can also be a retreat for young fish. An aquarium densely overgrown with Nixkraut also allows young to get through, as long as it is a community aquarium.
Care and keeping of the Nixkraut
Very often you also hear the name Wassernixe Aquarium, which is basically only used colloquially. Now we come to keeping and caring for the mermaids. There are no special water conditions here. The plants are usually very robust and can also be used to different conditions. The plant can even thrive in colder water, but mostly needs the medium temperatures. The PH value seems to be quite problem-free. Here it does not matter whether this is more in the acidic range of 6 - 7 Ph or the P value even goes up to 8 or more. The hardness of the water is similar. There, too, the plant does not present any special requirements.
When it comes to planting, however, you should make sure that the individual stems are not planted too close together. Here you have to leave some distance, because otherwise it could happen that they die off.
Anyone who cares for mermaids or mermaids will not be able to avoid cutting them back, because their growth is usually very fast. Plants have to be cut back from time to time. For this you should use a pair of plant shears. As always, these are available in specialist shops or online shops.
The good thing about it is the propagation, because the cut off parts of the plant can be put back into the aquarium bottom be placed and a new plant will grow. It is also possible to use the plant as a floating plant, which we have already mentioned at the beginning. Many ornamental fish can either lay their foam nests like those of gouramis or their young like those of livebearers guppies or platy raise.
Nixweed and mermaids against algae
In addition to the simple care of the plants, their use against algae is particularly positive. You can find out why here.
Algae need nutrients to grow. If there are too many nutrients in the aquarium, algae will be happy and will certainly thrive. It usually doesn't matter whether it's about Filamentous algae, hair algae, brush algae, green algae, blue-green algae, diatoms, beard algae or some other way.
Due to their rapid growth, our water mermaids, mermaids and hair mermaids remove the remaining nutrients from the water and thus ensure that nothing is left for the algae. That's why you should from the beginning, already at the Setting up an aquarium use fast-growing plants. Thus, not only are the algae no problem, but the aquarium also becomes green and densely overgrown quite quickly.
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