Green Mondo Grass

[JaredL]

So I bought 3 of these plants from a LFS without doing my research. At the store, it was underwater in a tank with all the other aquarium plants. After getting it home and planted in my aquarium I looked it up. From what I read this is not actually an aquatic plant and will just slowly die in my aquarium. Is this true?

[Jungle Fan]

Mondo grass sadly gets sold by some fish stores but you are correct it won't last in the aquarium as it is unable to convert to submersed growth.

If you want a plant that looks somewhat similar in appearance but will last in the aquarium I'd recommend Helanthium quadricostatus, which used to be known previously as Echinodorus quadricostatus and was referred to as Broadleaf Microsword. It hails from South America, is a plant that's easy to take care of, needs low to medium light, Its leaves reach 3" to 5", and the plant will do really well if you add some root tabs because just like the sword plants into which family it was once grouped it is a heavy root feeder. CO2 isn't necessary but as always the plants will do better with it. It propagates through runners which you can split off and plant.

I hope this helps, and I'm sorry you were sold something that won't last.

[Wes L.]

Another one also that looks similar is Isoetes Japonica. It looks like a green onion until you plant it, then it just looks like tall grass. I planted this in my tank about 2 months ago and it went through a slight adjustment period, but now it has a ton of new growth, so it seems to be doing really well.