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Brazilian Pennywort – Hydrocotyle leucocephala

Brazilian Pennywort – Hydrocotyle leucocephala

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$9.99
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✨ Brazilian Pennywort – Hydrocotyle leucocephala is a bright green stem plant valued for its rounded, gently scalloped leaves and graceful trailing growth. Its coin-like foliage creates a softer texture among narrow-leaved stems, ferns, and dark hardscape, bringing a fresh, natural appearance to planted aquariums.

🌱 Beginner Level: Brazilian Pennywort is adaptable, fast-growing, and suitable for aquariums without injected CO₂. It can be planted in the substrate, guided around driftwood, or allowed to float at the surface. Low to medium light supports growth, while regular trimming keeps the stems manageable and prevents them from shading neighbouring plants.

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Ideal for Nature Aquarium, jungle, island, and low-tech aquascapes
Brazilian Pennywort adds flowing greenery around branches, behind rocks, and along the sides of planted displays. Guide a few stems around a driftwood feature for a relaxed jungle appearance, or maintain a trimmed group behind shorter foreground plants to create a gentle transition in height.

Distinctive round leaves for strong texture contrast
Its rounded foliage stands out beside Java Fern Narrow Leaf on Lava Rock, Cryptocoryne lucens, Limnophila sessiliflora, and Pogostemon stellatus. Combine broad pennywort leaves with narrow fern blades and finely divided stem foliage to create variety within an entirely green planting arrangement.

Flexible planting as a stem group or floating canopy
Plant individual stems in the background for height, trim them into a midground group, or leave a few healthy stems floating. For example, grow a planted group behind driftwood while keeping a small floating section above a sheltered corner. Thin the surface growth before it shades the plants below.

Excellent green contrast with colourful fish and shrimp
The fresh green leaves complement red bettas, ember tetras, honey gouramis, harlequin rasboras, neon tetras, red cherry shrimp, orange neocaridina shrimp, and blue dream shrimp. Red and orange livestock create warm accents against the foliage, while blue shrimp provide a cooler contrast beside dark stones or wood.

Useful cover for fry and exploring shrimp
Roots developing along the stems add fine structure beneath the leaves. Floating stems can create sheltered spaces for small fish and fry, while shrimp explore the roots and graze on surfaces where biofilm develops. Keep an open feeding area nearby for easy viewing and maintenance.

Origin: Central and South America

Type: Stem plant; can grow rooted or floating

Growth Rate: Fast under suitable conditions

Size:
Height: commonly 20–60 cm / 8–24 in when allowed to grow upward
Spread: branching stems can extend across the surface unless trimmed
Leaves: rounded, scalloped foliage that varies in size with growing conditions

Natural Habitat:
Brazilian Pennywort grows in wet, marshy environments and along freshwater margins. Its ability to grow both submerged and above water helps it adapt to different planting arrangements in aquariums and humid paludariums.

Special Considerations:
This plant can reach the surface quickly and spread over slower-growing plants. Trim regularly to maintain the intended shape and preserve light for the lower planting.

Roots appearing along the stems are normal. If lower leaves deteriorate beneath a dense canopy, thin the upper growth and replant healthy tops rather than allowing the group to become increasingly crowded.

Did You Know?
Brazilian Pennywort can develop roots at several points along a single stem. Healthy sections containing nodes can become new plants, making it easy to expand a planting group or share cuttings with another aquarist.

Tank Size: Suitable for aquariums 20 L / 5 gallons or larger with regular trimming. In small tanks, use a few stems as a controlled accent. In larger aquariums, allow a broader group to trail through the background or frame a hardscape feature.

Plant Placement: Best used as a midground, background, or floating plant. For a planted group, position it behind shorter species and guide its growth away from the main viewing area.

For a layered green composition, combine it with Anubias Coffeefolia on Lava Rock, Java Fern Narrow Leaf on Lava Rock, Cryptocoryne lucens, and Christmas Moss on selected branches.

For colour contrast, place a defined green group beside Ludwigia Super Red, Rotala H’ra, or Alternanthera reineckii. Keep pennywort from spreading over these plants, especially where they depend on stronger lighting.

Compatibility: Suitable for peaceful freshwater communities with tetras, rasboras, small danios, gouramis, guppies, endlers, Corydoras, kuhli loaches, Otocinclus, shrimp, and snails, provided their individual requirements are met.

For colour contrast, Brazilian Pennywort looks especially attractive with:

  • Red/orange fish: red bettas, ember tetras, and sunset guppies
  • Blue fish: neon tetras and blue guppies
  • Yellow fish: honey gouramis and yellow guppies
  • Patterned fish: harlequin rasboras and celestial pearl danios
  • Shrimp tanks: red cherry, orange, and blue dream shrimp stand out among the green leaves and pale roots

Goldfish and other plant-eating fish may damage the foliage. When grown floating, leave clear surface access for bettas and gouramis.

Substrate: Can grow in aquasoil, sand, or gravel. It also absorbs nutrients from the water, so a rich substrate is not essential. Floating stems require no substrate.

Light: Low to medium. Moderate light is useful for maintaining a fuller planting group. Under weaker light, expect more open growth and adjust trimming accordingly.

Temperature: 20–28°C / 68–82°F

pH: Approximately 6.0–7.5; adaptable beyond this range when conditions remain suitable and stable.

GH: Approximately 2–12 dGH is a practical growing range. Maintain adequate minerals rather than adjusting hardness to one exact value.

CO₂: Not required. Supplementation can support faster growth, but Brazilian Pennywort is suitable for low-tech aquariums.

Care & Propagation: Trim above a healthy node and replant the tops, or leave suitable cuttings floating. Remaining healthy stems can develop side shoots.

Thin crowded growth, remove damaged leaves, and keep light reaching the lower stems. Use balanced liquid fertilizer when the aquarium does not supply enough nutrients for continued growth.

Portion Size: One carefully selected bundle, typically 1 stem with 5–7 leaves, ready for planting or floating.

Plant Size: Stems approximately 10–15 cm / 4–6 in long at packaging. Leaf size and root development vary naturally.

Plant Type: Live aquarium stem plant. Cuttings may have established roots or develop new roots after introduction.

Snail-Free & Aquarium Safe: Plants are grown without chemicals that could harm fish, shrimp, or other aquarium inhabitants and are carefully inspected to ensure they are snail-free.

Transition After Shipping: Some leaves may soften, yellow, or drop after shipping as the plant adjusts. Remove deteriorating material and retain firm, healthy stems. New leaves and roots will develop according to your aquarium’s conditions.

Planting Guide

  1. Remove the protective packaging.
  2. Gently remove any filter floss or band holding the stems together.
  3. Rinse in clean, dechlorinated water.
  4. Separate the bundle into individual stems.
  5. For rooted planting, remove leaves from the lowest section and gently anchor the bare stem and roots in the substrate.
  6. Leave space between stems so light reaches the lower leaves.
  7. For floating growth, place the stems on the surface with leaves exposed to the light and roots hanging into the water.
  8. Trim and replant healthy sections as the plant grows, keeping feeding areas and neighbouring plants clear.

Tip
For a natural appearance, let a few stems follow the curve of a driftwood branch while keeping the main planting group behind it. Brazilian Pennywort beside Java Fern Narrow Leaf on Lava Rock, above Cryptocoryne wendtii Brown, or near a small patch of Christmas Moss creates several leaf textures without needing many different colours.