Another question about swords

[Xzap]

90 gal planted 2.9 wpg

I'm using tropic sunset as a background plant right now, but I'm not liking the way it's looking..ugly runners and doesn't fill in thick.
So, I thought about replacing it with sword plants. Anything in particular I need to know about sword plants ?

Thx,

Dave

 

[jcarlilesiu]

I love the red ozelot sword. Low maintance, shrugs off algea pretty easily compared, and has a nice deep color. Some swords are said to get BBA very easily, however this is an exception.

Picture: http://www.plantgeek.net/images/plantpics/ozelot.jpg

 

[Xzap]

I can get this in an ozelot sword
pic here

And I really want red, I have one small red melon now.

Dave

 

[travis simonson]

Echinodorus x barthii, E. rubin, and E. 'Kleinar Bar' are all great red swords. There are numerous others as well. Robert Hudson at Aquabotanic.com tends to get in a lot of the new cultivars that come out so you might try checking there. There have been some very colorful new vars hitting the U.S. market over the past year.

 

[Xzap]

I had looked at this Travis: http://www.aquariumplants.com/cgi-bin/cart/sw869.html?id=ZdaqXpDr
In general, how tall do those 3 varietes you mentioned grow Travis ? My tank is 24" high.

Thx,

dave

 

[Zezmo]

With 24" you can do well with even a large sword like a Rubin. A lot of the swords are in that 18-22" range that makes them just alittle too big for my 55. I have kept a few for about 6 months until they got too large.

 

[Xzap]

Since swords are heavy root feeders, should I look into getting some roots tabs I think they're called ?

Thx,

dave

 

[rich311k]

It would be a good idea. Wait till you see the roots sword plants grow.

 

[Xzap]

I did some more research last night on swords. Am I correct that most swords average 20" height ?

Dave

 

[rich311k]

I have amazons and my tank is 18 inches. They do grow above the water line. So yes amazons do.

 

[Simpte]

Most swords will fill a 20 gallon high if left unkept. You can always prune Root tabs are not necessary as its easier for plants to draw from the water column than from the substrate; wee let me clarify that. It requires less energy to draw directly into the leaf than to transplant nutrients throughout the plant and some nutrients, calcium and iron for example, are immoblie anyway and must be taken directly into the plant leaf. I'm curious as to why your H. polysperma isn't as thick as you want it. Are you pruning it at least weekly? Cutting it back to just a little over half height will cause it (and most plants) to grow in thicker.

 

[Xzap]

I pruned out a lot of the sunset last night & did cut some back to 1/2 height. I think this is my problem, not pruning it right.

Thx,

Dave

 

[travis simonson]

Dave, of the three swords I mentioned, the E. rubin will get by far the largest - over 30" under the right conditions. The E. x barthii and E. "Kleiner Bar" are only about half the size of the E. rubin, growing to a max of 15-18". My E. x barthii did not get very large and had a great reddish-purple color with yellow venation. A very pretty plant.

And I'm with Simpte on the H. polysperma, pruning it will definitely cause it get bushy. Just make sure you've got enough light to penetrate into the jungle you create or the base of the stems can rot and leaves will die off or turn yellow. All in all a fairly undemanding plant though

 

[Xzap]

Thanks Travis Tonight I moved some jungle vals to the back; I think I'll let the vals be a brackground with H. polysperma lower and thicker in front of it. I love valis, I think it's an often over looked plant.

I think I'm gonna throw out all my red temple and just get a new batch; BBA has taken them over. BTW, I watched a BN pleco eat a patch of BBA clean off a rock last week !

Thx,

Dave