Quick Stats
Minimum Tank Size: 20 Gallons
Care Level: Easy
Water Conditions: 6.5-75 and Soft to Moderately Hard
Temperature: 22–27 °C (72–82 °F)
Maximum Size: 24 inches (60 cm)
The Amazon sword (Echinodorus bleheri) is a rossette plant that is widely available in the aquarium trade. Originally found throughout the Amazon basin, it is now widely cultivated on farms around the world.
While the Amazon sword is considered an aquatic plant, it will still continue to grow when only partially submerged. With that being said, the water level should always be maintained above the leaf blades for optimal growth.
The Amazon sword makes an excellent center-piece plant in aquariums, and is best suited for larger aquariums (29 gallons+). If it is well cared for and provided with adequate space, it can grow leave blades up to 24 inches (60cm) long. In a smaller aquarium, these huge leave blades will completely overgrow the tank, and will leave little room for the fish.
Care
The Amazon sword is easy to care for, and will thrive in most home aquariums. It should be planted in a loose substrate, with a small grain gravel or speciality planting substrate being the best choices. It will also root in a sand substrate but requires more care when it is first planted. This is especially true if there larger fish in the tank, as they will easily pull out an Amazon sword from sand substrate before it has properly rooted.
Amazon sword plants benefit from regular doses of an iron rich fertilizer and fertilizer should be added weekly after a water change. It will also benefit from root tab fertilizers and unlike many other plants, will grow extremely well without the addition of any CO2 to the aquarium.
When choosing lighting for an Amazon sword plant, a high quality LED, or speciality plant bulb (CFL, Flourescent Tube) is the best choice. It needs approximately 3 watts per gallon, but you should be careful not to provide too much light, as the leaves of Amazon sword plants can be susceptible to algae growth.
If you do notice excessive algae growth on the leaf blades, it should be gently wiped off during the weekly water changes. It is also important to remember that Amazon swords should be checked for damaged and torn leaves during water changes. Amazon sword plants cannot repair damaged leaves, and these should be removed to allow the plant to redirect energy to the healthy leaves.
Propagation
The propagation of Amazon swords is quite easy, and occurs through either division or adventitious plantlets. In the home aquarium, you will likely only ever see the adventitious plantlets, so this is what the article will concentrate on.
When dividing through adventitious plantlets, the Amazon sword will shoot out a long stem, and miniature Amazon swords (runners) will begin to develop on the stem. Once the plantlets have developed roots, they can be removed from the stem and planted on their own.
The runners should always be trimmed from the end first, to allow all of the daughter plants to fully develop. Once they have been separated from the plant, they can then be planted on their own. At this stage, any damaged leaves should be removed, and the roots should have their ends trimmed to encourage growth.
Compatibility
Amazon swords are compatible with most types of fish, but there are several fish to avoid. These include goldfish, most species of plecos and many of the larger cichlids unless it is property secured in the aquarium.
The greatest enemy of an Amazon sword in the home aquarium are plecos. Plecos love nothing more than to rasp the top layer of the Amazon sword off, which causes severe damage to the plant over time. The damage will either severely curtail the growth of the plant, or will kill it outright.
While goldfish are bad for most plants in general, they are especially bad for Amazon sword plants. The reasons for this are two-fold. The first is that temperature requirements are completely different for goldfish and Amazon sword plants. If you are keeping Amazon swords in a cold water aquarium, it is unlikely that it will survive for any length of time.
The second reason is that goldfish love to eat plants. While the leaves are generally too tough for goldfish to eat, their efforts to eat the plant will constantly pull it out of the substrate. Even if you replant it daily, the goldfish will immediately start working at pulling it up. Needless to say, this is not healthy for any plant.
The other fish to avoid is larger cichlids. While some will generally leave it alone, large cichlids like oscars and even convicts will constantly move the Amazon sword plant around the tank. The only way to avoid this is to plant the Amazon sword in a clay pot with mess over the top, or anchor the Amazon sword with river rocks around the base. Depending on the type of cichlid, even these measures may prove ineffective.
Hey Rob I am not sure what I am doing wrong but on a larger amazon sword plant I am getting short green hairs coming off its leaves. Could you please tell me what I did wrong and how could I fix it
It sounds like you’re getting hair algae, so what that means is that you’re either giving the tank too much light, or there are too many nutrients in the tank. For now, I would try to reduce the lighting to maybe 8 hours, and also try feeding a little less. Another option to reduce the nutrients is to find some beneficial snails like Malaysian trumpet snails, and they will eat any excess food in the aquarium.
Ok thanks
So I planted my group of a Amazon all together like when I got it is that how you’re supposed to do it or are you supposed to break them into individual stems and plant them like some other plants? Also I’m not sure what’s going on because they haven’t grown any taller whatsoever and I’ve had implanted for about 6 months or longer but I have had about three of the taller ones turn brown and transparent and rot away.
It’s just one large plant, so you need to keep it all together. And it sounds like you might be giving it too much light. Try giving it less light for the day.
Would amazon sword out grow a 36 gallon
It would most likely fill the majority of the tank, but it won’t outgrow it.
Does a liquid fertilizer work with Amazon swords? And can i keep it in my tank while it is cycling?
They take a lot of their nutrients from their roots, so I would recommend roots tabs if you can, but a liquid fertilizer would still work. And plants do quite well in tanks that are cycling so I wouldn’t worry about that.
Awesome, thanks!
I have a sword plant in my 55 gallon tank and it’s HUGE!! What’s the best way to trim it back? I have 2 big goldfish and they have difficulty swimming by the plant as it is the width of the tank now! Thanks!
The best way to trim it is to first get rid of any damaged leaves (Amazon swords can’t regenerate them), and then pinch off some of the larger leaves at the base. And I have a sword in my 55 gallon as well, and it’s a monster. 🙂
Can you burn the plant with too much light and are we talking actual cfl/led watts or advertised watts? I am using a combo 5000 k cfl and a full blue red spectrum led.
Amazon swords grow quite well in high lighting, and I wouldn’t worry about the light you’re providing at all. Generally, algae will become a problem long before the Amazon swords gets too much light.
I am going to be planting an amazon sword in my tank next week. Is there a particular spot that it will do best in?
They grow pretty massive, so unless you have a monster fish tank, it’s best to plant them near the center. They can easily grow to dominate an entire 29 gallon aquarium. But if you have a larger than, then they do well on the sides as well. Generally, I try to place them away from the filter outtake if you have a hang-on-back filter.
I just purchased one today and put in my 55 gallon tank all I have is gravel substrate and I also have natural slate July ABS as a centerpiece what I might to do would be to cover the gravel substrate but some type of mouse and also the all I have is Molly’s in my 55 gallon tank I’m not sure if you answer questions about other plants but when I plant the mouse should I put something down over the substrate some other type of media such a sander anything like that I’m new to this completely as far as plants go please help
I have 3 Bristlenosed Plecos in with my Sword, (also was a monster), and no problem. Also the Bristlenosed Pleco only reaches 3 – 3 1/2 inches. At one point, I had to completely remove the plant because it was just too big. (eheim 240 liter aquarium) I had two runner plants ready to go, so I planted those in It’s place. They are both doing very well with the plecos. They love ozmocote root tabs, and iron doses a couple times a week.