Bucephalandra (Kedagang, Wavy Green, and Friends): Slow, Textured Plants for Calm Aquariums

Bucephalandra – often just called “buce” – has become one of those plants you keep not because you need it, but because it quietly changes how a tank feels.

Small, textured leaves. Subtle colors from green to blue, brown, or even slightly reddish. And that soft shimmer under light when the leaves get a bit of algae or biofilm – shrimp love that part.

In this post, I’ll group common types like Kedagang, Wavy Green, Mini, Brownie, and others into one simple guide, because their care is very similar.

If you’re still choosing plants for your tank and want to see where buce fits alongside my other favourites, you can look at my simple plant map here: Aquarium Plants: Simple Guide to What I Actually Use.

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Quick Profile

• Genus: Bucephalandra

• Common types: Kedagang, Wavy Green, Mini, Brownie, Theia, etc.

• Placement: Midground, attached to wood or rock, edges of hardscape

• Growth rate: Slow

• Difficulty: Easy–medium

• Style: Epiphyte (rhizome plant, like Anubias or Java fern)

Most buce varieties are collected or bred from streams and rivers in Borneo, often growing on rocks where water keeps flowing over them. That explains a lot about how they behave in our tanks.

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What I Like About Buce in a Tank

A few reasons people get hooked:

• Small size: Even bigger varieties stay compact. Good for nano tanks.

• Textured leaves: Wavy edges, speckles, or subtle color gradients.

• Grows on hardscape: You can attach it to wood, stones, or even filter pipes.

• Good with shrimp: Shrimp love grazing on their surfaces.

Buce is not a “fast impact” plant. It shines in tanks you plan to keep running for a long time.

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Tank Size and Water Conditions

Bucephalandra doesn’t need a huge tank. It works in:

• Nano aquariums

• Medium or large tanks as accent plants on hardscape

Approximate water parameters (quite flexible):

• Temperature: 22–28°C

• pH: 6.0–7.5 (some people even keep them a bit higher)

• GH: Soft to medium-hard

• KH: Low–medium

In many parts of Indonesia/Malaysia, normal treated tap water is okay as long as:

• You dechlorinate it

• You avoid sudden parameter swings

• You don’t push extremes (very high KH or very hot water)

Stability matters more than chasing perfect numbers.

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Light: Not Too Strong

Bucephalandra is naturally a shade-loving plant.

• Low–medium light

  • Usually the sweet spot

  • Less algae on leaves

  • Very slow but steady growth

• High light

  • Can bring out more intense colors on some varieties

  • But also increases algae risk, especially on slow-growing leaves

For a realistic home setup:

• Start with 6–7 hours of light per day

• Use low–medium intensity

• Increase slowly if you feel the tank is too dim, but watch algae carefully

If your tank has strong lights for carpets or stems, you can place buce in shadier spots: under branches, behind rocks, or partly shaded by taller plants.

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Do We Need CO₂ for Bucephalandra?

Like many epiphyte plants:

• With CO₂

  • Growth becomes a bit faster and bushier

  • Colors can look richer and clearer

  • It recovers from melt more quickly

• Without CO₂

  • Still absolutely possible

  • Growth is very slow

  • You just need patience and stable conditions

If you’re not using CO₂:

• Keep light modest

• Avoid overcrowding them with very fast plants that steal nutrients

• Don’t move them around too often

Buce fits nicely in low-energy, low-maintenance scapes where nothing is rushed.

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How to Attach Bucephalandra Properly

The most important rule:

Never bury the rhizome in substrate.

Buce has a horizontal stem (rhizome) from which leaves and roots grow. If that rhizome is buried, it can rot.

Attaching to Hardscape

You can use:

• Cotton thread

• Fishing line

• Super glue gel (aquarium-safe type – just a tiny dot)

Steps:

1. Prepare the plant

   • Rinse gently to remove old wool or debris

   • Trim any mushy rhizome parts if present

2. Place the rhizome

   • Lay it on a rock or wood where you want it to grow

   • Make sure the leaves are facing upwards and not pressed down

3. Secure it

   • Tie gently with thread/line or

   • Add a small dab of glue gel on the hardscape, wait a few seconds, then press the rhizome onto it

4. Let roots do the rest

   • Over weeks, roots will grip the surface

   • If you used thread, you can leave it; it may dissolve over time or be hidden by growth

You can also wedge small pieces into crevices between rocks or wood, as long as the rhizome is not fully buried.

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Buce Melt and Adaptation

Just like crypts (Cryptocoryne wendtii), buce can melt when conditions change, especially:

• After shipping

• After moving from emersed (above water) to submerged (underwater)

• After big changes in light or water parameters

Melt looks like:

• Holes in leaves

• Leaves turning transparent or dark and then dissolving

What to do:

• Don’t panic if leaves drop, as long as the rhizome stays firm

• Remove fully rotted leaves so they don’t foul the water

• Give it time – new leaves often appear from the rhizome once it adjusts

Many people lose patience right before the recovery phase. Buce rewards those who wait quietly.

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Substrate and Fertilizing

Because buce grows on hardscape, it doesn’t need rich soil under its roots. But it still needs some nutrients.

• Substrate type: Not critical for buce itself, more for the rest of the tank

• Nutrients:

  • It can take nutrients from the water column

  • Gentle, regular liquid fertilizer can help, especially iron and micronutrients

• Root tabs: Not necessary specifically for buce because it’s not a classic root-feeding plant, but they may benefit nearby rooted plants and overall tank balance

Go easy with dosing if you keep shrimp. It’s better to start light and adjust slowly.

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Flow and Placement

Remember where buce comes from: river and stream environments.

• It enjoys gentle to moderate flow, not blasting directly in its face

• Good flow helps:

  • Deliver nutrients

  • Prevent debris from settling on leaves

  • Keep biofilm/algae more balanced

Nice placement ideas:

• On wood branches facing diagonal to the flow

• On stones near the middle area of the tank

• In shaded or half-shaded corners where it can be a “hidden treasure”

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Common Problems and Simple Fixes

1. Algae on Leaves

Because buce leaves are slow-growing, algae can easily settle.

Possible causes:

• Light too strong for current CO₂/nutrient level

• Dirty water or lots of debris on leaves

• Long photoperiod

What can help:

• Reduce light intensity or shorten duration

• Improve gentle flow around the plant

• Add algae-eaters compatible with your setup (snails, certain shrimp-safe fish)

• Manually remove the worst leaves if they’re badly covered

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2. Rhizome Rot

This is more serious.

Signs:

• Rhizome turns black or mushy

• Leaves detach easily

• Plant smells bad when you take it out

Common causes:

• Rhizome buried in substrate

• Plant glued in a way that traps the entire rhizome under thick glue

• Very poor water quality

What to do:

• Remove the plant and cut off the rotten part with clean scissors

• Keep only the firm, healthy portion

• Reattach gently to hardscape, making sure air and water can touch the rhizome

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3. No New Growth for a Long Time

Possible reasons:

• Still adapting after shipping

• Very low nutrients

• Light too low or always shaded completely

• Temperature too high for comfort

What to check:

• Is the rhizome still firm and not shrinking?

• Is there at least an occasional new leaf?

If everything else in the tank is growing and buce is just very slow, that can still be normal. Buce is not a race.

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Bucephalandra with Shrimp and Fish

Buce is shrimp-friendly and great in shrimp tanks:

• Leaves and stems grow biofilm that shrimp enjoy grazing on

• Dense clumps give tiny shrimplets hiding spots

• The plant itself doesn’t harm fish or invertebrates

Just be careful with:

• Copper-heavy medications or overdosed fertilizers

• Strong chemical algae treatments directly on buce

Peaceful fish that do not dig or constantly nibble plants are best companions.

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How I Like to Use Buce in Layouts

Some simple layout ideas:

• On driftwood: Buce clumps on branches can look like small bushes growing out of fallen wood.

• On stones: At the base or top of rocks, softening hard edges and making them feel “older”.

• As accent near the front: A few clumps of Kedagang or Wavy Green near open sand areas can draw the eye gently.

Along the very front glass, a low strip of Cryptocoryne parva makes a living border that doesn’t outgrow or overshadow the buce on the wood.

You don’t need a ton of varieties. Even two or three different buce types, repeated in several spots, can make the scape look intentional and calm.

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Final Thoughts: A Plant for Long-Term Tanks

Bucephalandra is perfect if you like tanks that stay with you for years, not weeks.

It:

• Grows slowly

• Changes subtly

• Rewards stable care, not constant “fixing”

If you’re okay with waiting, watching, and adjusting gently, buce fits into that rhythm of slow aquascaping. It’s like having little river plants sitting calmly on your wood and rocks, reminding you that not everything in life needs to move fast to be meaningful.

If you’d like to plan the rest of your plant list around buce, you might also like this overview page: Aquarium Plants: Simple Guide to What I Actually Use.