Taking care of amazon sword

[Tazman12]

I have 30 gallon tank that I have had for 7 month now thought I would add some plants.

Herd that amazon sword are easy to take care of.

What should I add to my tank to help them do well

Thanks

 

[EddieW]

Hi Tazman,

Info from ww.tropica.com

Family Alismataceae
Continent South America
Height 20-50 cm
Width 25-40 cm
Light requirements low-very high
Temperature 20-30 °C
Hardness tolerance soft-hard
pH tolerance 5,5-9
Growth fast
Demands easy

Echinodorus bleheri is the most popular aquarium plant of them all, due to the fact that it is undemanding, beautiful and easy to cultivate. A nutritious bottom promotes growth, but the plant needs pruning to prevent it depriving plants underneath of light. E. bleheri does well even in poorly illuminated aquariums. It is a hardy and easy solitary plant for both beginners and the more experienced with medium/large aquariums. It has been sold under the name ''Paniculatus''

As the info says the Amazon Swords are a hardy and undemanding plant and will generally survive in most conditions. However, my personal experience is that they do appreciate a bit of liquid fertilizer especially the iron content. I dose my water change water with JBL Ferropol which works well for me, but there are many similar products out there, so its a case of finding one that works for you. Make sure that anything you get states that it is Nitrate and Phosphate free otherwise you are asking for algae problems....

HTH, Eddie

 

[maestro]

i beleive that amazon swords are root feeders so it would benefit if u bought some root tabs and put them around the base, i found that mine died off abit at first but now 6 weeks later looks great so dont be dissapointed if this happens to you

 

[Tazman12]

How about pruning how do I go about doing that.

Not now but when they get larger and established.

Thanks

 

[Bol]

re: pruning

If you're pruning just because the plant is too big, usually you'd want to take off entire leaves, by cutting as close to the base as possible (the leaf stem will most likely just rot, not grow another leaf).

If you're pruning to try to stop decay, just cut off the decayed part of the leaf. As with any plant, the sharper a tool you can use, and the cleaner a cut, the less damage will be done.

edit: oh, and sort of unrelated, but I've found that amazon swords are like crypts, in the fact that they don't like to be moved. Try to pick a good spot at the beginning, and stick with it, if possible.