# Anybody Have Umbrella Papyrus In Their Aquarium



## slimnexus (Jan 19, 2012)

I was wondering if anyone else here has Umbrella Papyrus (Cyperus alternifolius) in their aquarium. I have it in my pond and after seeing the huge root system I thought it might work really well in my aquarium to keep the substrate from going anaerobic. I don't yet have a good picture of my aquarium to show the plant in it.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

yes it will work. I beliebe hydrophyte sells them with his riparium plants since it would be better for riparium setups//open air setups. you need to make sure that it's properly fertlized and given enough light. 
here's a picture on google of some guys tank
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...wF2UJjoD4KG9QSQyoCoAQ&ved=0CC4Q9QEwAw&dur=357
and i'm sure you can look up hydrophyte on TPT and ask questions or read posts


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

Once somebody asked in a German forum for the maximum water depth where the Umbrella plant is able to thrive. The question couldn't really answered.
Someone out there who experimented with C. alternifolius in deep water, even fully submersed?

Btw., it seems that the plants that are cultivated and naturalized as C. alternifolius are actually _Cyperus involucratus_, at least in part. The true C. alterniflorus is another species.
http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?mode=Scientific+Name&keywordquery=Cyperus+flabelliformis
http://tsps.org.tw/document/paper/new/065 The Umbrella Sedge in Taiwan.pdf


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Miremonster is correct about the scientific name.

I've never grown this plant in an aquarium, but as a house plant in bright light it does well except for a tendency to get spider mites. From growing it in ponds, I'd say the depth of water it will tolerate depends on the age and size of the specimen. Big plants will grow well with 12" of water over the rhizome. My guess is that they must have the leaflets emersed.

There is a dwarf cultivar called 'Baby Tut' in the nursery trade that is supposed to stay 24" tall. This would be a much more manageable size in an aquarium than the 5' reached by the parent species in good growing conditions!


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## slimnexus (Jan 19, 2012)

I put a start in my aquarium a few weeks ago and it is starting to grow but I don't know if it will make it all the way out of water. I'll take a few pics to show how it's doing.


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## slimnexus (Jan 19, 2012)

The Umbrella Papyrus is still doing really well in my standard 55 gallon tank. When I first transplanted them it was one tall plant with a tiny offshoot (1/2" to 1"), but now the offshoot is taller than the original plant, and there is another offshoot about halfway to the surface, and another one about 3 inches tall.

So I guess it will do all right in a tank as tall as a standard 55G.


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## miremonster (Mar 26, 2006)

OK, so it does work; the young cyperus is still submersed? So it's apparently capable of underwater photosynthesis. How high is the water level?
I know the umbrella plant building a large hard clump of rhizomes and roots, difficult to divide. I expect that also in the tank the roots may occupy the whole substrate when the plant gets big.


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## slimnexus (Jan 19, 2012)

The water depth is 24" I think. And yes the young ones are still submersed, but are continuing to grow upwards.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

What sort of light do you have over the tank? 
Is there room for this plant to grow emersed? Will there be light higher above the tank?


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## slimnexus (Jan 19, 2012)

Sometime soon I will take a picture of my setup to upload. It will show how it is all setup better than I could explain it. 

Everything is still growing really well, another papyrus plant is about to emerge from the water, and a few others are starting to grow.


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