A rosette that eats through its roots, and five accounts of what it is called
The amazon sword never arrives small: twelve inches is the lowest figure any source publishes for it, which is the highest floor of any plant on this site. It is also the only one whose substrate row is a requirement rather than a preference. All four aquarium sources call it a root feeder and one states the consequence of ignoring that: the plant will slowly starve even with liquid fertilization. On the name they agree about nothing.
Wikipedia gives the accepted species as Echinodorus grisebachii and records both of the names the trade uses as synonyms of it. It also gives the sentence that explains why five sources can disagree: it is known as the amazon sword plant, although other plants are also known under this common name.
So this record is written about a trade category, and it says so. What every source does agree on is the shape of the plant and the way it feeds: a rosette of long leaves growing from a crown, fed through an extensive root system, reaching a foot to twenty inches and sometimes more. Station 07 has the five accounts of the name side by side.
The other thing worth knowing before the figures is that the plant in the bag is not the plant you will keep. Every source that mentions it says the plant is grown out of the water at the farm, and that leaves die back after planting. Station 06 has that, and it is why the first month is misleading.
Why this record was written now
- The gap
- The richest cluster left in our map: three thousand five hundred searches on the name and six thousand and forty across fifteen keywords, at position one, with an AI overview on only thirteen percent of results.
- What it changes
- The seventh plant record here, the first root feeder, and the third to print 72 to 82 °F exactly.
- What it does not
- No answer on which species is in your tank, because the common name covers more than one plant and no aquarium source we hold names the accepted one.
The water, and the same two sources failing to meet for the second time
| Source | Light | Temperature | pH | Hardness | Height |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aquarium Care Basics | moderate to strong, 10 to 12 h | 72 to 82 °F | 6.5 to 7.5 | none | 12 to 20 in |
| Aquarium Co-Op | 10 to 35 PAR | none | none | none | 20 in and more |
| Modest Fish | 50 to 80 PAR | 60.8 to 82.4, ideally 68 to 75 | 6.5 to 7.5 | 8 to 15 dGH | 12 to 20 in |
| Aquarium Store Depot | 40 to 250 PAR | 72 to 82 °F | 6.5 to 7.5 | 8 to 12 dGH | 4 to 20 in |
| Wikipedia | none | none | none | none | leaves 40 to 60 cm |
| This record | 50 to 80 PAR | 72 to 82 °F | 6.5 to 7.5 | not a row | 12 to 20 in |
The light column is the one to read, and it is the second time this site has printed exactly this gap. Aquarium Co-Op stops at 35 PAR and Aquarium Store Depot starts at 40, so there is no PAR value the two agree on for this plant, just as there is none for our water wisteria record. The row prints the 50 to 80 that Store Depot and Modest Fish both allow.
With seven plant records the light column shows something about the sources rather than the plants. Modest Fish has now published PAR 50 to 80 for three different plants here: this one, water wisteria and our water sprite record. Co-Op gives 10 to 35 for this and for water wisteria, and 10 to 20 for our anubias record. These are house brackets more than species figures, which is worth knowing before you treat either number as a measurement.
The temperature and pH columns are the opposite and worth saying so. Three sources publish 72 to 82 °F and three publish pH 6.5 to 7.5, identically, with two adding the same caveat that some suggest a pH as low as 6.0 is acceptable. Three sources agreeing without argument happens on perhaps one row in ten here. Modest Fish is the only source that separates tolerance from preference: 60.8 to 82.4 F, ideally 68 to 75.
Two of our records now print 72 to 82 as well, anubias and java fern, so an amazon sword plant sits in the same water as the two plants it is least like in every other row. And the pH makes it the second plant here that does not reach down to 6.0, after water wisteria; the other five all start there.
Hardness is not one of the nine fields a plant record carries. Two sources publish it anyway and they overlap: Modest Fish 8 to 15 dGH and Store Depot 8 to 12, which meet at 8 to 12 dGH, about 143 to 214 ppm.
Do amazon swords need root tabs, and the one part of the plant you must not bury
Yes, and this is the first plant record on this site where the substrate row is not a preference. Aquarium Store Depot puts it as an instruction with a consequence attached: add root tabs near the roots every 3 to 4 months or the plant will slowly starve even with liquid fertilization. Aquarium Co-Op calls them heavy root feeders and asks for two to three tabs at planting with monthly additions. Modest Fish asks for two to three inches of aqua soil or an inert substrate with tabs around the base.
Set that against the rest of the silo and the row is doing real work. Our water wisteria record has two sources calling the substrate irrelevant because that plant feeds from the water column. Our java fern and anubias records are tied to wood or rock and are killed by being planted at all. Three plants, three incompatible answers to one row, which is the argument for keeping the row rather than writing one planting guide for the silo.
The second half of the planting instruction is the part people get wrong, and two sources give it in the same words. Aquarium Care Basics: make sure the plant roots are anchored well, but take care to not bury the crown. The crown of the plant should be above the substrate and visible. Aquarium Co-Op says the same and defines the term for anybody who has not met it: the crown is the base of the plant where all the leaves come out.
So an amazon sword crown sitting under gravel is a plant that will rot from the middle while its leaves look fine, and it is the one mistake that is invisible for a week. Roots down and deep, crown up and showing.
The depth matters too, and only one source states it: two to three inches of substrate. On a plant that reaches a foot to twenty inches with an extensive root system, an inch of sand is not an anchor. It is also why an amazon sword aquascape is usually built around one specimen rather than a stand: Aquarium Care Basics is the source that says it, that planted alone it can be an eye catching centerpiece plant.
The full record
| Field | Recorded | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Light | 50 to 80 PAR, and one source stops at 35 | The same disagreement as our water wisteria record, in the same two places, and it is worth printing twice for that reason. Aquarium Co-Op gives low to medium light, 10 to 35 PAR. Aquarium Store Depot gives low to high, 40 to 250 PAR. Modest Fish gives medium to high, PAR 50 to 80, over six to eight hours. Aquarium Care Basics asks for moderate to strong for between 10 and 12 hours a day without a figure. On both plants where we hold both figures, Co-Op’s ceiling sits below Store Depot’s floor, so there is no PAR value the two agree on for either. The row prints the 50 to 80 that the two overlapping figures both allow. One more thing the light column shows once you have seven plant records: Modest Fish has now published PAR 50 to 80 for this plant, for water wisteria and for our water sprite record, three plants and one figure, while Co-Op gives 10 to 35 here and for water wisteria but 10 to 20 for our anubias record. |
| CO2 | Not needed, and one source says not worth it | Three of the four state it and none requires it. Aquarium Co-Op: none. Aquarium Store Depot: no. Modest Fish is the most useful because it prices the decision: CO2 is not required, but it will grow better with it added. But it is not worth the expense in my opinion. Aquarium Care Basics publishes nothing on CO2 at all. That makes seven plant records here and not one of them needs CO2, which is a real finding about the plants people search for rather than about any single species: the plants with the search volume are the ones a beginner can grow. |
| Placement | Mid to background, or a centerpiece | All four agree on the back and two allow the middle. Aquarium Co-Op gives background. Aquarium Store Depot gives mid ground or background. Modest Fish gives mid-ground, or the background in groups. Aquarium Care Basics gives the fourth option and the reason: an amazon sword makes a great background plant, and when planted alone it can be an eye catching centerpiece plant. That is the only use any of our seven plant records has for a single specimen, and it follows from the size: an amazon sword aquascape is usually built around one plant rather than a stand of them, which is the opposite of how our water wisteria and hornwort records describe a stem plant filling the back. |
| Substrate | Root feeder, and it wants root tabs | This is the first plant record on this site whose substrate row is a requirement rather than a preference, and all four aquarium sources say so. Aquarium Co-Op calls them heavy root feeders and asks for nutrient-rich planted tank substrate or root tabs, two to three at planting with monthly additions. Aquarium Store Depot types it as a root feeder and puts the consequence in one sentence: add root tabs near the roots every 3 to 4 months or the plant will slowly starve even with liquid fertilization. Modest Fish asks for two to three inches of aqua soil, a dirted tank with a sand cap, or an inert substrate with root tabs around the base. Aquarium Care Basics allows gravel but prefers a loosely packed plant substrate. Compare that with our water wisteria record, where two sources call the substrate irrelevant because the plant feeds from the water column, and with our java fern and anubias records, which are tied to hardscape and are killed by being planted at all. Three plant records here and three different answers to the same row. |
| Growth rate | Moderate, and one source says slow | Aquarium Store Depot and Modest Fish both give moderate. Aquarium Care Basics qualifies it by setup: in low-tech tanks, an amazon sword plant growth rate will be slow and steady. Aquarium Co-Op publishes no rate but calls the plant easy. So the row prints the two that agree and names the condition the third attaches, which matters here more than on most records because the plant is a root feeder: a low tech tank with no tabs is exactly the setup Store Depot says will slowly starve it. Against our other plant records this sits in the middle, faster than anubias at one to two leaves in three weeks and slower than water wisteria, which six sources call fast. |
| Propagation | Runners, with a plantlet every 3 to 4 in | Every source describes the same mechanism and three of them measure it. Aquarium Care Basics: they reproduce by shooting a single long stem with runners, and about every 3 to 4 inches or so, a new small plant will form. Modest Fish gives the same figure, offshoots called runners every 3 to 4 inches, and says the new plants can be cut and planted once roots develop. Aquarium Store Depot calls them adventitious shoots and adds the timing rule: wait for the plantlet to develop strong plant roots of its own and some healthy leaves before severing it from the parent plant. Aquarium Co-Op describes a horizontal runner with a little plantlet at the end and says to trim off side shoots and replant. So the amazon sword mother plant does the work and the keeper only decides when to cut, which is a third answer to the propagation row on this site, against the cuttings our water wisteria record takes and the plantlets our water sprite record sheds by itself. |
| Temperature | 72 to 82 °F | Three sources publish a band and all three contain 72 to 82 F. Aquarium Care Basics gives 72 to 82. Aquarium Store Depot gives 72 to 82. Modest Fish goes much wider at 60.8 to 82.4 F and then narrows itself: ideally from 68 to 75 F. Aquarium Co-Op and Wikipedia publish no temperature. The row prints the 72 to 82 the three bands share, and Modest Fish’s ideal is worth carrying because it is the only source here that separates what the plant tolerates from what it prefers. This is the third plant record on this site to print 72 to 82 exactly, beside our anubias and java fern records, and like both of them it contains the 75 to 76 °F the rest of the site shares. |
| pH | 6.5 to 7.5 | Three sources and the identical range: Aquarium Care Basics 6.5 to 7.5, Modest Fish 6.5 to 7.5, Aquarium Store Depot 6.5 to 7.5. Two of the three add the same caveat in almost the same words, that some suggest a pH as low as 6.0 is acceptable. Aquarium Co-Op and Wikipedia publish nothing. Three sources publishing one range without argument happens on perhaps one row in ten here. It also makes this the second plant record on this site whose pH does not reach down to 6.0, after our water wisteria record at 6.5 to 7.3; the other five plant records all start at 6.0. Hardness is not one of the nine fields a plant record carries and two sources publish it anyway: Modest Fish 8 to 15 dGH and Aquarium Store Depot 8 to 12, which overlap at 8 to 12 dGH, about 143 to 214 ppm. |
| Eaten by | Goldfish, plecos and oscars, on three sources | Three of the four name animals and they name almost the same ones. Aquarium Care Basics: goldfish would pick at it from time to time, and eat the leaves as if it were salad, and rough fish like oscars, jack dempsey and plecos damage the leaves. Modest Fish says to avoid oscars, goldfish, large cichlids and in particular, plecos. Aquarium Store Depot agrees and adds a fourth: plecos, goldfish and silver dollars will be very quick to feed on your amazon swords, while ramshorn and bladder snails feed on the unhealthy or decaying leaves rather than the living plant. Aquarium Co-Op names nobody. Of the animals named, four have records here and every one of them overlaps this plant on temperature: our goldfish record at 68 to 74, our oscar record at 75 to 80, our common pleco record at 72 to 86 and our bristlenose pleco record at 74 to 79. Three of those are refused under the pairings grid and the fourth is carried as a caution, and the caution is better sourced than these four plant pages suggest. None of them names the bristlenose specifically, but Aquarium Co-Op names it from the other side. On the page our bristlenose pleco record cites, it writes that while many plecos are safe for plants, bristlenose plecos are known to sometimes snack on sword plants. Two records, two sources, opposite directions, one pairing. It stays a caution rather than a refusal because the fish is the pleco two of our plant records recommend, and because Co-Op says sometimes. |
The same nine fields for every animal on this site are in the A to Z index.
Where our sources disagree
Every record here names a disagreement. On this one it is the name, and five sources give five different accounts of it.
Wikipedia, on the accepted species
Echinodorus amazonicus Rataj and Echinodorus bleherae Rataj are synonyms of Echinodorus grisebachii; Echinodorus bleheri is a common misspelling of E. bleherae
Aquarium Care Basics, on the same two names
Echinodorus bleheri has broad leaves. Another variety, Echinodorus amazonicus has narrower leaves
Aquarium Co-Op, on the same two names again
Echinodorus amazonicus (formerly Echinodorus bleheri)
What we record: we print the accepted species and we print all five accounts, because they cannot be reconciled and the difference is not academic. If Aquarium Care Basics is right the shop is selling you one of two plants with different leaves; if Aquarium Co-Op is right one of those names is simply obsolete; if Wikipedia is right both are synonyms of a third name none of the four aquarium sources prints, and one of the two is a misspelling of a fourth.
Wikipedia is also the only source that says the common name is not a species at all: it is called the amazon sword plant, although other plants are also known under this common name. So the figures on this record are the figures published under a trade category, and the honest use of them is that every plant sold under it is a large root feeding rosette that will starve without tabs, which is the one thing all four aquarium sources agree on.
How to propagate amazon sword, which mostly means deciding when to cut
Every source describes one mechanism and three of them measure it. Aquarium Care Basics: they reproduce by shooting a single long stem with runners, and about every 3 to 4 inches or so, a new small plant will form. Modest Fish gives the identical figure, offshoots called runners every 3 to 4 inches, and says the new plants can be cut and planted once they have roots.
Aquarium Store Depot calls them adventitious shoots and supplies the timing rule the others leave out: wait for the plantlet to develop strong plant roots of its own and some healthy leaves before severing it from the parent plant. Aquarium Co-Op describes a horizontal runner with a little plantlet at the end and says to trim off side shoots and replant.
Which means the amazon sword mother plant does all of the work. There is nothing to cut and root, no hormone, no waiting for a cutting to decide whether it will live. The runner grows, plantlets form along it at intervals you can measure, each one grows its own roots, and the only decision is when to sever.
That is a third answer to the propagation row on this site. Our water wisteria record propagates by cuttings the keeper takes; our water sprite record makes plantlets on its leaf edges and detaches them without being asked; this one makes them on a stalk and holds them until they are ready.
Trimming is the same job from the other end. Aquarium Care Basics says to trim dead or dying leaves at the stem from the bottom of the plant and warns that the leaves crack or tear easily and cannot repair themselves. Store Depot says to remove the leaf and stalk completely rather than cutting a leaf in half. Modest Fish separates stems as close as possible to the root.
Amazon sword melting, and the plant you did not actually buy
Every source that raises it says the same thing and none of them leads with it. Aquarium Co-Op: the plants arrive with round leaves grown out of water while the slender leaves are grown under water, and they are sometimes known to experience melting when they suddenly move to a new environment. Modest Fish attributes the melt directly to the cause: the plant was grown out of the water, emersed, and the yellowing, cracking and tearing happens when it is newly planted.
Aquarium Store Depot describes the emersed form: grown emersed or partially submerged, the plants tend to grow shorter, with smaller and wider leaf blades. Aquarium Care Basics puts it plainly, that it is not uncommon for some amazon sword leaves to begin to die soon after being added to a tank.
So the leaves the plant arrives with are the wrong leaves, and it has to build a second set. This is the same event our water wisteria record covers, where Wikipedia supplies the word for it, heterophylly, different leaf morphology on the same plant. Two plants, two silo records, one mechanism, and on both of them the melt looks like a dying plant to anybody who was not told.
Aquarium Co-Op gives the only instruction any source gives: leave the roots planted and provide nutrients to aid recovery. Which is the root tab row again, arriving at the worst possible moment, because a plant rebuilding its whole leaf set is a plant with a nutrient demand and no reserves.
The useful rule is that the plant you judge at week two is not the plant you bought. New growth from the crown is the signal to read, not the state of the leaves that came in the bag, and established yellowing means something entirely different: Store Depot calls it mineral deficiency needing iron and macronutrients, and Modest Fish calls it poor water conditions or a lack of nutrients.
One plant, five names, and the accepted one appears on a single source
| Source | The name it prints | What it says about the others |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | Echinodorus grisebachii | amazonicus and bleherae are synonyms; bleheri is a misspelling of bleherae |
| Aquarium Care Basics | E. bleheri and E. amazonicus | two varieties, one broad leaved and one narrow |
| Aquarium Co-Op | E. amazonicus | formerly E. bleheri |
| Modest Fish | E. grisebachii / E. amazonicus | two that basically look the same, minor leaf width difference |
| Aquarium Store Depot | all three, side by side | no comment |
Read the middle column down. Not one of the four aquarium sources prints the accepted species on its own, and the four disagree about whether the two names they do print are one plant, two plants, or an old name and a new one. Wikipedia settles it and then unsettles something larger: the common name covers more than one plant.
The difference is not academic if you are buying. On Aquarium Care Basics you are choosing between a broad leaved and a narrow leaved plant. On Aquarium Co-Op one of those names is simply obsolete. On Wikipedia both are synonyms of a third name, and one of them is a misspelling of a fourth.
What survives all five accounts is the care, and that is why the record still works. Every aquarium source describes the same plant: a large rosette, a crown that must stay above the substrate, a root system that needs feeding, runners with plantlets, and leaves that die back after planting. The figures are published under a trade category and they agree with each other far better than the names do.
On java fern vs amazon sword, which is the comparison people search for, the two are opposites on the row that matters most. Our java fern record is attached to hardscape and dies if its rhizome is buried; this plant is planted, and dies if its crown is buried. Both sit in 72 to 82 °F, both take low to moderate light on at least one source, and the planting instruction for one is the failure mode of the other.
Amazon sword questions, answered from the record
How big do amazon swords get?
Our sources cluster at 12 to 20 inches and two go past it. Aquarium Care Basics gives 12 inches, then 18 to 20 or more. Modest Fish gives 12 to 20 inches, 30 to 50 cm, and up to 18 inches tall and wide. Aquarium Co-Op says it can grow 20 inches tall or more. Aquarium Store Depot gives the widest span at 4 to 20 inches, which is a figure about the plant you buy as well as the one you get. Wikipedia measures the leaves rather than the plant: submergent leaves 40 to 60 cm, which is 16 to 24 inches.
Do amazon swords need root tabs?
Yes, and it is the one row on this record nobody hedges. Aquarium Store Depot: add root tabs near the roots every 3 to 4 months or the plant will slowly starve even with liquid fertilization. Aquarium Co-Op asks for two to three at planting with monthly additions and calls them heavy root feeders. Modest Fish asks for tabs around the base in an inert substrate. It is the first plant record on this site whose substrate row is a requirement.
Why is my amazon sword melting?
Because it was grown out of the water. Aquarium Co-Op says the plants arrive with round leaves grown out of water and slender leaves grown under water, and are sometimes known to experience melting when they suddenly move to a new environment. Modest Fish attributes the yellowing, cracking and tearing of new plants to the same cause. Leave the roots planted, feed it, and watch the crown for new growth rather than watching the old leaves.
Can amazon sword grow out of water?
Yes, and it usually did before you bought it. Aquarium Store Depot describes the emersed form directly: grown emersed or partially submerged, the plants tend to grow shorter, with smaller and wider leaf blades. Aquarium Co-Op says its stock is grown out of water at the farm. What no source we hold recommends is keeping it that way in an aquarium, and the leaf change on the way under is what station 06 is about.
How to trim amazon sword?
Take whole leaves, never halves. Aquarium Care Basics: trim dead or dying leaves at the stem from the bottom of the plant, and it warns the leaves can crack or tear easily and they cannot repair themselves. Aquarium Store Depot says to remove the leaf and stalk completely. Modest Fish separates stems as close as possible to the root. A cut leaf stays cut, so the trim is at the base or not at all.
How do you propagate an amazon sword?
It propagates itself and you decide when to cut. The plant sends out a runner and, on two sources, a new plantlet forms about every 3 to 4 inches along it. Aquarium Store Depot gives the rule for timing: wait for the plantlet to develop strong roots of its own and some healthy leaves before severing it from the parent plant. No cuttings, no rooting hormone, nothing to buy.
What is the amazon sword mother plant?
It is the parent rosette that sends out the runner, and the term matters because of what it implies: the plantlets stay attached and fed until they can stand alone. Severing early is the one way to lose them. Aquarium Store Depot is the source that states the condition, strong roots of its own and some healthy leaves, and Aquarium Co-Op describes the same thing as a horizontal runner with a little plantlet at the end.
Why is my amazon sword turning yellow?
It depends entirely on whether the plant is new. On a newly planted sword, yellowing is the emersed to submersed transition and Modest Fish names it as such. On an established plant, two sources call it feeding: Aquarium Store Depot says mineral deficiency needing iron and macronutrient supplements, and Modest Fish says poor water conditions or a lack of nutrients. On a root feeder the first thing to check is the tabs.
Why are my amazon sword leaves turning brown?
Same division as the yellowing, and the same first check. Aquarium Care Basics gives the practical instruction rather than the cause: if leaves turn brown, clear, or become covered with algae, gently trim them off. A brown leaf will not come back, the plant cannot repair it, and leaving it on costs the plant nutrients it is already short of.
Java fern vs amazon sword: which should I choose?
They fail in opposite ways, which is the useful answer. Our java fern record attaches to wood or rock and dies if its rhizome is buried; this plant is planted deep and dies if its crown is buried. Java fern needs no substrate and no tabs; this one needs both. They share the water, 72 to 82 °F, and java fern is the slower and the more forgiving of the two.
Is an amazon sword good for an aquascape?
As a specimen rather than a mass. Aquarium Care Basics is the source that says it: it makes a great background plant, and when planted alone it can be an eye catching centerpiece plant. An amazon sword aquascape is usually built around one plant, because at 12 to 20 inches with an extensive root system it is not a plant you place in threes in a small tank.
Which fish will eat an amazon sword?
Three of our four aquarium sources name almost the same list. Aquarium Care Basics says a goldfish will eat the leaves as if it were salad and names oscars, jack dempsey and plecos among rough fish that damage leaves. Modest Fish says avoid oscars, goldfish, large cichlids and in particular, plecos. Aquarium Store Depot adds silver dollars. Four of those have records here and this record refuses our goldfish, common pleco and oscar records, and cautions on our bristlenose pleco record.
Does an amazon sword need CO2?
No. Aquarium Co-Op says none, Aquarium Store Depot says no, and Modest Fish prices the question rather than answering it abstractly: CO2 is not required, but it will grow better with it added. But it is not worth the expense in my opinion. That makes seven plant records on this site and not one of them needs CO2.
What an amazon sword needs that a java fern does not
One of these is the whole difference between this plant and the two attached to hardscape.
- Root tabs, every three to four monthsall four aquarium sources call it a root feeder and one states the consequence of skipping them: the plant will slowly starve even with liquid fertilization
- Two to three inches of substrateone source gives the depth and every source describes an extensive root system, which is a real constraint in a shallow tank and not a preference
- Patience for the first monthevery source that mentions it says the plant is grown out of the water and that leaves die back after planting, so the plant you judge at week two is not the plant you bought
Every item our records ask for is gathered on the tank setup topic.
Nothing here is a paid link. It is the shortfall between what this record asks for and what a boxed kit contains.
How this record was compiled
- By
- Verified
- Sources
Aquarium Care Basics, amazon sword plant, Aquarium Co-Op, amazon sword, Modest Fish, amazon sword, Aquarium Store Depot, amazon sword and Wikipedia, Echinodorus grisebachii
- Conflicts
Printed rather than resolved: five sources give five accounts of the scientific name, and two sources publish light ranges with nothing between them.
- Not recorded
Which species is in your tank, because Wikipedia says the common name covers more than one plant and none of our aquarium sources names the accepted one; a hardness row, because the plant schema does not carry one, though station 02 prints the two figures; a lifespan, because a rosette that replaces its own leaves and sends out runners does not have one in any sense a source states; and whether the narrow leaved and broad leaved forms sold under this name need anything different, because the source that treats them as separate publishes one set of figures for both