Amazon Sword

Scientific name: Echinodorus grisebachii (sold as E. bleherae or E. amazonicus)

Origin: tropical South America

Growth: fast, 50 cm or more

Light and CO2: low to medium; no CO2 needed

Placement: background centrepiece

Propagation: plantlets on a runner

Amazon Sword (Echinodorus grisebachii, long sold as Echinodorus bleherae) is a large rosette plant, one that grows its leaves in a ring from a central crown, and it becomes the centrepiece of a tank once established. It is probably the most widely kept sword plant in the hobby and is thought to come from the Amazon region. Its long, broad, pointed leaves are bright to dark green, and a mature plant can exceed 50 cm in both height and width, so it needs space and shades whatever sits behind it. It grows fast for such a big plant in low to medium light without added CO2. Unlike mosses and ferns it feeds mostly through its roots, so it does best in a nutrient-rich substrate or with root tabs, fertiliser capsules pushed into the substrate beside the plant. Nursery plants are grown with leaves in air and often melt back after planting; leave the roots, feed them, and new underwater leaves grow from the crown. It propagates by sending up a long runner with plantlets along it, which can be cut off and planted. The big leaves carry a lot of biofilm, the microbial film shrimp graze.

Water: Flowgrow lists 18–30 °C with 22–26 °C ideal; it tolerates a wide range of hardness and pH.

Planting: plant the roots deep with the crown, where the leaves meet the roots, just at the surface. Push two or three root tabs in around it at planting and top them up every month or so as the plant grows. Give it a back or side position with room to spread.

Light and feeding: low to medium light (Aquarium Co-op gives 10–35 PAR). CO2 injection (carbon dioxide gas added to boost growth) is not needed. It is a heavy root feeder, so root tabs or a nutrient-rich substrate are the main feed.