The aquatic Amazon sword is a great freshwater establish to change the dynamics in the aquarium and brand the fish experience right at home. Its green broad leaves and depression maintenance requirements make it ideal for most fish tanks and marine life.

Amazon Sword

But growing an aquatic constitute is not the aforementioned as growing a potted establish. The deviation in the medium and care might exist challenging if you have no prior experience with aquatic plants. This commodity walks you through the complex process of growing the Amazon sword plant and how to care for information technology. But start, let's have a closer look at this stunning found and find out what makes information technology so popular.

Amazon Sword at a Glance

Amazon sword (Echinodorus amazonicus) comes originally from Due south America, where information technology grows in abundance in the Amazon bowl. In fact, the term Amazon sword refers to a variety of plants that accept more or less the same characteristics. However, whatever plant you buy at the local aquarium or online, they all are like shooting fish in a barrel to care for and follow almost the same process in planting and propagating them.

The leaves are the most prominent feature of the plant. That's non surprising since the leaves shoot straight out of the rhizome. Each leaf grows to about fifteen inches alpine. And since it needs to be submerged underwater at all times, y'all'll need to have a tank that caters to such a bushy plant.

The shape of the leaf is the reason the found got that name. It starts narrow well-nigh the base, then broadens around the middle point before it tapers off toward the end. Merely dissimilar a sword, the leaves are night greenish and abound at a moderate rate in good for you conditions.

With its brusque stem that doesn't carry the weight of the leaves, the rhizomes play a major role in keeping the plant counterbalanced in the water. The found's robust root organization penetrates the substrate and spreads out far to keep the institute well anchored in the aquarium.

Amazon Sword Varieties

The term Amazon sword is an umbrella term that covers many freshwater aquatic plants that fiddling in mutual. But they all share the same affinity for freshwater and the ability to grow and thrive in aquariums equally long as you lot provide the correct conditions. Here are some of these plants.

  • Gigantea Sword: A native of Argentina and Brazil, this aquatic plant grows well under bright low-cal and little to no electric current. It doesn't have up much space and acts every bit a cover institute for pocket-size and shy fish in your aquarium. Information technology doesn't do well in poor lite conditions or strong water motions.
  • Pygmy Concatenation Sword: Another small institute that likes to spread wide but non up. Many of the fish that prefer to stay nearly the bottom of the tank will hide among the leaves of this establish. They have a loftier tolerance to unlike h2o temperatures and pollution. So they're not prone to algae buildup every bit other aquatic plants on this list.
  • Spade-Leaf Sword Establish: Dissimilar the Amazon sword, the leaves of this constitute take nothing to do with swords. They're round and flat and look more than like a spade. They are sensitive to dirty water, and the leaves plow brown if you don't make clean the tank regularly.
  • Ruddy Melon Sword: This establish stands out in the aquarium with its blood-red leaves. It creates a colorful background for the fish and other plants in the tank. However, it's sensitive to the temperature of the water and requires lukewarm h2o at all times. If the temperature in the h2o drops sixty degrees Fahrenheit, the constitute will become stressed and wither away.

How to Grow Amazon Sword

It takes a lot more to grow an aquatic plant than to sow the seeds and promise for the best. And while it's a fully aquatic establish, the Amazon sword nevertheless needs soil in the tank to keep information technology rooted to the lesser of the aquarium. Hither'due south how to grow the Amazon sword in piece of cake steps.

  1. Get-go past checking the pH of the water in the fish tank. These kits work much like a soil testing kit and provide an accurate reading of the pH levels in the tank. The h2o pH should be betwixt v.5 to half-dozen.5. That's the average pH of tap water.
  2. The Amazon sword is used to tropical conditions with temperatures ranging betwixt 72 degrees to 82 degrees Fahrenheit. So test the h2o using a thermometer and adjust the temperature to fall between those ii ranges.
  3. If the water is too cold in the tank, you tin install a water heater. And in the summertime, when the water temperature rises, you tin can replace the top side of the tank with a mesh screen. This will better the airflow and help regulate the temperature of the h2o.
  4. Make certain the tank is placed nearly a window and that it gets between x to 12 hours of sunlight per day. Medium to high lite is a prerequisite for the success of these tropical aquatic plants.
  5. Adjacent, you need to add together substrate (soil) to the bottom of the tank. You'll need iron-rich soil in this instance. Use a PVC pipe almost 2 inches in diameter to transfer the substrate to the aquarium.
  6. Push the pipe all the fashion to the bottom and lean it at a 45 degrees angle. Then pour the substrate into the pipe and move the pipe along the bottom of the aquarium to spread the soil.
  7. Dig a hole deep enough to take the rhizome of the establish and push the Amazon sword downward that hole. Cover the hole with soil and pack it lightly to keep the constitute in place.
  8. Do the same for the residue of the plants making sure they're arranged at the back of the aquarium.

Amazon Sword Intendance

And that was the easy part! Now to continue the institute happy and growing inside command, you'll need to keep a watchful eye on the thermostat, the aquarium filter, and how much light the plant the Amazon sword is getting every 24-hour interval. On elevation of that, y'all have to go on your pruning shears handy and examine the leaves regularly for any algae buildup or yellowing leaves. That might sound like a lot of work, only it takes that much to make the fish happy.

Tank Size and Substrate

The average Amazon sword grows to near sixteen inches high, not to mention the runners that grow into new plants if left to their own devices. So even if y'all abound simply ane plant, you'll need a xl-gallon tank to conform it along with the fish.

As for the substrate, yous'll need rich soil to nurture the plant. The soil should be dense to assistance go along the rhizomes of the found anchored to the bottom of the aquarium. For best results, make certain y'all have virtually a 2.five-inch thick substrate in the tank. If the soil is also sparse, the institute will float to the surface of the water.

Lighting

Sunlight is important for the wellness of the Amazon sword. The leaves of the found absorb sunlight and turn it into vitamin D., So you need to expose the aquarium to anything betwixt 10 to 12 hours of sunlight a 24-hour interval. If that's not possible, y'all can employ natural light equally a viable alternative. Place the light at the top of the tank and keep it on for 12 hours a 24-hour interval. Light impecuniousness causes the leaves to cleft and leads to the buildup of algae on the leaves of the constitute.

Amazon sword plant (echinodorus amazonicus) close up on a fish tank

Filter

With fish and other marine life in the tank, the water gets muddy pretty chop-chop. Although the Amazon sword has an excellent filtration system, it tin can go exhausted with the number of pollutants in such a limited space equally your small fish tank. So make certain you have a powerful filter running at the aquarium that extracts and removes the pollutants from the water. That mode, your plant volition take healthy dark green leaves and grow without issues.

Water Type and Temperature

On average, y'all should water with hardness levels between 8 to 12 dGH. Most of the tap and well water fall somewhere between those levels. As for the water type, the Amazon sword grows well in different types of freshwater as long equally they're non highly acidic. It can tolerate slightly alkaline water with a pH as high as 7.v. So check the h2o in your tap to brand sure its pH is betwixt 5.five and seven.5. You can adjust the h2o pH with commercial products to bring it up or down to this range.

The water temperature is another important factor. Luckily, you have more than command over the temperature of the h2o than the pH or hardness levels. Try to keep the h2o in the aquarium at a steady 75 degrees Fahrenheit. In cold zones, a water heater will do this job efficiently.

Compatibility and Tankmates

Considering of its big size, you will need to arrange the Amazon sword in the back of the tank so that it doesn't cover the residue of the fish and plants. You tin abound it successfully with companion plants such equally water lettuce, pygmy chain sword, or spade-leaf sword institute.

Most fish that don't swallow the leaves of the Amazon sword will practice well as tankmates for the aquatic plants. Ideal candidates are discus, platies, guppies, gouramis, mollies, zebra danios, plecos, and angelfish.

Notwithstanding, you shouldn't grow the Amazon sword in a fish tank where species such as gilt fish, Texas cichlids, oscar, or Jack Dempsey abound. They tend to rough up the leaves and tear them off at times.

Diseases

With the whole of the Amazon sword fully submerged underwater, it's fully protected confronting pests and virtually of the diseases they carry. However, water as a medium has its own health hazards. One of those is algae. Algae grow in harsh lite conditions and when the water is not clean. They usually grow on the leaves of the Amazon sword, and if you try to wipe them off, the leaves would crack. So grow some marine life species that feed on algae such every bit Amano shrimp, nerite snails, mystery snails, or red cherry shrimp.

The leaves of the Amazon sword are sensitive to changes in temperature and light conditions. Sometimes the leaves would start to die every bit soon as you place them in the aquarium. That's normal. Just trim off the dead parts and continue monitoring the progress of the found.

Poor soil can also crusade the leaves to turn yellow. Apply a liquid fertilizer rich in oil to bring the leaves back to life.