Added some Amazon Swords to 35 gallon tall hex

[Fishmanic]

Wanted something with some nice height to complete the look of my 35 gallon tall hex tank. So I picked up a nice Amazon Sword today. The tap hardness is 175 ppm. Very low KH. Ph is about 7.4. I have white low power led lights and also an 18 inch full spectrum flourescent tube. I leave lights on about 10 hrs a day. I presently use seachem flourish, excel, and seachem trace on alternate days. Have gravel substrate. Well established tank. Do I need to use any subtrate ferts for this plant?

What do you think of the new additon?

 

[Byron]

Echinodorus species (Amazon Swords) definitely benefit from substrate tabs. I use Seachem's Flourish Tabs, one a couple inches from the crown, replaced every 2-3 months. These really do make a significant difference, with or without liquid fertilizers.

BTW, you have two plants there, or it appears as such from what I can see of the crown; you could separate them at the crown, or leave them as one. Two plants in this small a space (relatively) might make the space seem smaller visually.

In case you're interested...this is probably an Echinodorus grisebachii though it may have been sold as E. bleherae which according to Rataj was a distinct species but DNA analysis (Lehtonen, 2006, 2008) has confirmed that what were thought to be E. bleherae, E. amazonicus, E. parviflorus, and a couple others, are in fact the same species in spite of external variances. The leaf form is the emerged form, so as new leaves appear they will likely be very different in appearance as the submersed form; this somewhat depends upon light and nutrients, but submersed leaves are usually much longer (strap-like) than those pictured here which is the emersed shape.

Byron.

 

[Fishmanic]

for substrate fert, can I use osmocote capsules? I have a lot left that i havent been using as I have mainly anubias and java fern which do best with water column ferts.

 

[Byron]

for substrate fert, can I use osmocote capsules? I have a lot left that i havent been using as I have mainly anubias and java fern which do best with water column ferts.

No, unfortunately. This is a good recipe for algae problems because there are minerals in the Osmocote that are needed in such high quantities by terrestrial plants but not by aquatic. We had a couple threads a few months back where terrible algae came down to the Osmocote, also high nitrates which are harmful to fish, and I believe phosphates (phosphorus).

I know the Osmocote are less expensive, but somethimes that doesn't "pay" in the long run. And I know some members probably use them and will say I don't know what I'm writing, but they do carry risks and in an aquarium that can be even more-so.