Uruguay Sword

Aquarius uruguayensis

A large sword plant with long dark ribbon leaves. Undemanding, fast for its size, and one of the few swords that also does well in cool water.

Light: medium–high
Difficulty: easy
Height: 30 – 70 cm (12 – 28 in)
Temperature: 4 – 30 °C (39 – 86 °F)

Leaf colour: green
Plant type: rosette
Growth rate: fast
Tolerates light: medium – high
Carbonate hardness: 0 – 21 °dKH
Placement: background
Propagation: plantlets on the inflorescence +3 plantlets on the inflorescence, rhizome division, division, daughter plants
Grows emersed: yes

Appearance

Narrow strap leaves 30–70 cm long in a strong rosette, deep green and slightly wavy. A settled plant fills the whole back wall of a tank.

Keeping

Easy, with one firm requirement: it is a heavy root feeder, so a nutritious substrate or root tablets are not optional. Light can be moderate to strong, carbon dioxide helps but is not needed. Sudden changes in water make the leaves melt, so change water regularly in small amounts.

Placement

The back of a large tank. In a small aquarium it simply takes over.

Propagation

By young plants on the flower stalk, and by dividing the rhizome of an old plant.

Water conditions match

The water suits 1017 of 1249 species in the catalogue — these are the ones people look up most often.

Swordtail Guppies Cobra Guppy Blood Red Molly Butterflyfish Red Zebra Cichlid Julii Corydoras Red-finned Parotocinclus Gastromyzon monticola Egg-shaped Goldfish Flame Tetra Gardner's Killifish African Tetra Kenyi Cichlid Cuckoo Catfish Golden Swordtail Hypsolebias picturatus Common Zacco Labeo Bicolor Gambusia Flying barb Gastromyzon scitulus Albino Zebra Danio Geophagus Brokopondo Zebra Mbuna

Will eat this plant

These species damage plants, especially when their diet is short of vegetable food.

Bengal Loach Zebra Loach Burmese Border Loach Emperor Botia Spined Loach Marbled Headstander Pellegrin's Leporinus Leporinus striatus False Black Tetra Common Metynnis Mylossoma duriventre Red Whiptail Catfish Molly sphenops Balloon Molly Lyretail Molly Marble Molly Hi-Fin Platy Hawaii Platy Blue Platy Pintail Platy Black Platy Chocolate Molly Moonlight Gourami Melanotaenia parva

Will uproot it

These species dig through the substrate and pull rooted plants out.

Marble Loach Peacock Eel Forktail Loach Guntea Loach Long-nosed Loach Horseface Loach Pearlscale Black Moor Goldfish Shubunkin Painted Pleco Featherfin Synodontis Reddish Mystus Catfish Blue Acara Aulonocara maylandi Aulonocara multicolor Aulonocara Orchid Geophagus altifrons Geophagus winemilleri Pearlscale Cichlid Pearl Cichlid Redbelly Cichlid Red-spotted Cichlid Chuco godmanni Haplochromis philander Red Chromide Jack Dempsey cichlid

Matching water does not mean the fish will leave the plant alone.

The same plant with a different look: light, water and care are shared with the species.

Other varieties: Echinodorus aschersonianus, Echinodorus osiris, Echinodorus uruguayensis, Echinodorus uruguayensis africanus, Echinodorus uruguayensis africanus Topf, Echinodorus Uruguayensis Variegated, Echinodorus Horemanii Red Sword, Echinodorus Horemanii Red

Scientific and other names, conservation status

Other scientific names: Echinodorus africanus Rataj, Echinodorus aschersonianus Graebner, Echinodorus horemanii Rataj, Echinodorus africanus, Echinodorus aschersonianus, Echinodorus grandiflorus pusillus, Echinodorus horemanii, Echinodorus janii, Echinodorus martii uruguayensis, Echinodorus osiris, Echinodorus uruguayensis, Echinodorus uruguayensis minor, Echinodorus veronikae, Echinodorus viridis
Family: Alismataceae

Uruguay Sword

Tank conditions

Care and keeping