Plant typerosette
Native range
- Brazil Northeast
rosette background midground
A tall sword plant with very narrow, long-stalked leaves, found in a single river in eastern Brazil. Its airy shape lets you see the background through it, which few large plants allow.
- Light
- medium–high
- Difficulty
- easy
- Height
- 30 – 50 cm
- Temperature
- 18 – 30 °C
Parameters
Growth ratefast
Tolerates lightmedium – high
pH5 – 7
Carbonate hardness0 – 21 °dKH
General hardness0 – 30 °dGH
Placementbackground, midground
Propagationplantlets on the inflorescence
Grows emersedyes
Appearance
Narrow blades on long stalks in a loose upright rosette, 30–50 cm tall in an aquarium and taller still in ideal conditions. A group of large plants at the back reads almost like a stand of reeds.
Keeping
Easy and vigorous, with two preferences worth knowing: good light and a nutritious substrate, and warmth — it comes from hot eastern Brazil, likes 25 °C and upward, and grows well even around 30 °C. That makes it one of the better plants for a discus tank. Although it grows naturally in very soft, slightly acidic water, it does fine in medium-hard, slightly alkaline water.
Placement
The middle or back of a tall tank. Because the leaves are narrow it shades very little, so small-leaved stem plants can be grown around it.
Propagation
By young plants that form on the creeping flower stalk.
Fish and this plant
Water conditions match
The water suits 841 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.
ButterflyfishJulii CorydorasRed-finned ParotocinclusGastromyzon monticolaEgg-shaped GoldfishFlame TetraGardner's KillifishAfrican TetraHypsolebias picturatusCommon ZaccoLabeo BicolorGambusiaFlying barbGastromyzon scitulusAlbino Zebra DanioGeophagus BrokopondoHomaloptera bilineataRed-tailed RasboraBoraras naevusLampeye KillifishSpotted Raphael CatfishCorydoras melanotaeniaFestivum cichlidPseudomugil paskai
Will eat this plant
These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.
Bengal LoachZebra LoachBurmese Border LoachEmperor BotiaMarbled HeadstanderPellegrin's LeporinusLeporinus striatusFalse Black TetraCommon MetynnisMylossoma duriventreRed Whiptail CatfishMoonlight GouramiMelanotaenia parva
Will uproot it
These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.
Marble LoachPeacock EelForktail LoachGuntea LoachLong-nosed LoachHorseface LoachPearlscaleBlack Moor GoldfishShubunkinPainted PlecoFeatherfin SynodontisReddish Mystus CatfishBlue AcaraGeophagus altifronsGeophagus winemilleriPearl CichlidRed-spotted CichlidHaplochromis philanderRed ChromideJack Dempsey cichlid
Cultivars
The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.
Other varieties: Echinodorus decumbens, Echinodorus decumbens Topf