This small delicate water pennywort is especially popular with aquascapers from Asia, where it is known under different names, e.g. "Hydrocotyle maritima" and Hydrocotyle sp. "Japan". During the last few years it has spread fast in the American aquarium hobby, too. It probably belongs to the Australian species Hydrocotyle tripartita. With its clover-shaped small light green leaves and its creeping stems, this water pennywort is really decorative. Moreover, it is a fast grower, can be used in manifold ways, and it is rather undemanding. Hydrocotyle cf. tripartita will show the best development under strong lighting and the injection of CO2. It grows more slowly in low-tech tanks, where it has slanting ascending stems.
| Botanical name | Hydrocotyle tripartita Dwarf Pennywort 'Japan' |
| Light demand | medium |
| Difficulty | medium |
| Usage | Midground, Background |
| Growth rate | fast |
| pH value | 5 - 8 |
| Temperature | 65 - 80°F |
| Hardness | 0 - 21°dKH |
| Max. Size | 8" |