Caring For Amazon Swords in Planted Aquarium

Dear friends, have you ever heard of an aquatic plant, named Amazon Sword? Or have you ever planted it in your fish tank? If your Amazon swords are blooming, the flowering period will be more than half a month and its flowers are amazing. Today, we will discuss the Amazon sword plants. After reading, you will get a deeper understanding of it. Let’s dive in.

Amazon sword plant

1. Brief introduction

Amazon swords are freshwater aquatic plants, which are also called Echinodorus. They are hardy and easy to care for. Also, Amazon swords can grow well in most water conditions, which makes them an excellent option for beginners. Amazon swords are beautiful, featuring broad, light green leaves and thin stems. The leaves look like sword blades, narrowing at the top. Besides, they are one kind of fast-growing plant and can grow up to 8–20 inches. Furthermore, Amazon swords can grow flowers, which may grow new plants. On the other hand, Amazon swords can live up to 1.5-3 years. However, you can extend their lifespan by changing the water regularly or adding regular doses of high-iron fertilizers.

If your tank keeps good water parameters, the Amazon Swords will bloom for you for more than half of a month with its stunning flowers. The Amazon sword is one of the low-light aquatic plants, which require the minimum light to survive in tanks. And for more additional information about low-light aquatic plants, you can read Easy Low Light Aquarium Plants For Fish Tank.

2. Demands for Amazon sword

Water temperature: 68-83℉
pH level: 6.5-7.5
Hardness level: 5-10 KH
Light level: low light
Carbon dioxide: low level
Minimum tank size: 20 gallon

How to plant Amazon sword

After knowing more about Amazon swords, do you eager to plant some in your fish tank? In this part, we will share how to plant Amazon swords. Generally speaking, you should prepare aquascaping tweezers in advance, a curved one is better. Then use the tweezers to hold the plant’s roots. Next, place it into the substrate. Or you can plant the Amazon sword just with your hands. Since Amazon swords can grow large, thus, it is crucial to plant them firmly to avoid floating. Keeping the Amazon sword floating may not be a good option. Because they are root feeders, they get nutrients from the substrate.

In addition to this, choosing a suitable substrate is also necessary. You should make sure the substrate is 2.5 inches thick at least. Available options are gravel, aquarium soil, or sand. Most gravel is heavy, accordingly, it can firmly keep the Amazon swords. Nonetheless, the gravel does not have nutrients. But aquarium soil can provide nutrients for Amazon swords. Thus, using gravel and aquarium soil is an excellent choice. On the other hand, the sand seems not a good one. Although Amazon swords can grow in the sand, it may be difficult to firmly keep the plants in the sand. Likewise, it can not provide nutrients.

Also, you should provide ideal light conditions. Specifically, three or fewer watts of light per gallon of water is feasible. And the Amazon swords may require 50–80 lumens per gallon. Moreover, it is better to keep the aquarium light on for about 8–12 hours each day. Meanwhile, full-spectrum light simulates natural light. As a result, Amazon swords can grow well under full-spectrum light. A planted aquarium light is perfect. It can meet all requirements as well as create optimal lighting conditions.

For another thing, carbon dioxide is essential for your plants. Adding carbon dioxide to a planted tank can certainly help to improve the health and growth of your plants. You can add carbon dioxide by using a pressurized gas tank and a regulator with adjustable output, DIY yeast reactors, or carbon dioxide injectors.

Trim Amazon sword plants

Trim Amazon swords regularly make sense in creating new leaves and improving ornamental values. Nevertheless, how to trim Amazon sword plants? You can get answers from this segment. You may require aquascaping tools, like curved scissors and a sand spatula. It will help to trim plants easily. Then you can cut the stem of taller leaves. Besides, pruning the old, diseased, and dying leaves are also essential. It promotes making good use of nutrients. For another thing, diseased leaves may cause infection. And the leaves will turn black. You should remove them to avoid spreading to the base of the plant.

Common problems of Amazon swords

1. Turning dark green

It is common that Amazon swords turning dark green. If you purchase an emerged one, keep it submerged. The Amazon swords may turn dark green. As they can not adapt to the environment quickly. By the way, a submerged one should be placed in the water completely.

On the contrary, an emerged one is not, in which only the base and part of the plant are submerged in the water. In this case, Amazon swords can survive but require your proper care. And they take time to adapt to the aquatic environment.

2. Yellow leaves

If the Amazon swords’ leaves turn yellow, it is probably the result of iron, nitrogen, or potassium deficiency. Specifically, newborn leaves turning yellow refers to lacking iron. On the other hand, nitrogen or potassium deficiency may lead to older leaves turning yellow. Therefore, to provide enough nutrients, you should make sure sufficient root tabs.

3. Brown leaves’ tips and veins

Magnesium deficiency will cause brown leaves tips and veins. Besides that, there is also another situation. Veins are brown only among newborn leaves, and they will turn green as they grow up. In addition, tips turn brown because of soft water.

4. Melting

Melting means the loss of some or all leaves of plants. In general, the old leaves start first, which will lose color and are transparent before decomposing. The reasons for plants melting may include changes in the environment, unideal aquarium conditions, and diseases.

5. Algae growth

Algae thrive as a signal of excess light and nutrients in your aquarium. Though some algae can decorate your aquarium, some are harmful, such as black beard algae, blue-green algae, and chladophora. Too many algae may cause plant deaths. Thus, it is better to control the algae. For a bio solution to remove algae, Amano shrimp is an excellent option.

Sum up

After reading, have you learned more about how to care for Amazon swords? In summary, Amazon swords are easy to care for. They can grow well in your aquarium if you meet their requirements of light, nutrients, and carbon dioxide injection. By the way, you can also plant Amazon swords in fish tanks. The plant can get along well with guppies, mollies, zebra danios, etc. Any recommendations or ideas, welcome to share them in the comment! I hope you will enjoy planting Amazon swords in your aquarium. Finally, thanks for your reading!

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