Care at a glance
Statement background plant. Heavy root feeder, root tabs are non-negotiable. Single plant fills a 60 cm tank corner within 6 months.
By Mike ElmiraUpdated 2 min read
Part of our complete guide to the planted aquarium.
PlantRosette
Amazon Sword
Echinodorus grisebachii
BrazilEasy
TL;DR, Amazon Sword
Statement background plant. Heavy root feeder, root tabs are non-negotiable. Single plant fills a 60 cm tank corner within 6 months.
Amazon Sword (Echinodorus grisebachii) is a rosette / heavy root feeder aquatic plant for the background of a planted tank. It reaches 40–50 cm under good conditions and grows at a medium to fast rate. Light: low to medium. CO₂: optional. Target 22–28 °C, pH 6.5–7.5, and 3–18 dGH. Substrate: Nutrient-rich substrate + root tabs essential. Propagate via runners and adventitious plantlets.
Tank fit
The parameters that decide whether amazon sword fits in your tank.
Parameters
15 °C20 °C25 °C30 °C
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0 dGH5 dGH10 dGH15 dGH20 dGH25 dGH
020406080
Low
Medium
High
None
Optional
Recommended
Required
Slow
Medium
Fast
V. fast
Still
Low
Medium
High
V. high
Profile
Family
Alismataceae
Type
Rosette / Heavy Root Feeder
Position
Background
Substrate
Nutrient-rich substrate + root tabs essential
Propagation
Runners and adventitious plantlets
Habitat
Marshes and slow margins of the Amazon basin
Brazil
Who it lives with
Tank-mate safety and the species this one is documented to thrive (or fail) alongside.
Pro tips
Hard-won lessons from the tank.
A single mature Amazon sword fills a 60 cm tank corner. Plan its space generously. When the plant produces a flower stalk with plantlets, leave it floating — once plantlets have 4–6 leaves and visible roots, snip and plant them. Free propagation forever.
Things to watch for
What can go wrong and how to spot it.
Things to watch for
Failure modes, in order of how dramatic the fix is.
Nutrition
Common deficiencies
Yellow leaves with green veins: iron deficiency. Pinholes: potassium. Stunted new growth: nitrogen. Pale stunted overall: insufficient root nutrition — add tabs.
Algae
Algae issues
Old leaves accumulate BBA and spot algae as the plant cycles them out. Trim early rather than letting old leaves linger.
How to care for it
The practical routine, read top to bottom.
Fertilization
HEAVY root feeder. Root tabs every 3 months are essential. Iron deficiency manifests as pale yellow leaves with green veins; correct quickly. Macro dosing (N, P, K) needed in dense planted setups.
Trimming
Snip oldest outer leaves at the rhizome base. Don't cut leaves in half — they die back. Trim flower stalks only if you don't want plantlets.
Background
Where it comes from, how it behaves, and the variants you'll see at retail.
Show backgroundHide background
In the wild
Where it lived before it came home.
Native rangeBrazil
Origin · Brazil
Brazilian wetlands and slow rivers; often grows emersed on river banks and floods to fully submerged in wet season.
Emersed form
Dramatically different — leaves are stiff, oval, on long petioles; produces white flowers on tall stalks. Almost all retail Amazon swords arrive in emersed form.
Flowering
Underwater swords occasionally send up flowering stalks that produce adventitious plantlets (rather than seed-fertile flowers). These are how it propagates submerged.
Variants & identification
The named cultivars and the lookalikes worth flagging.
Variants / cultivars
trueRoseRed RubinIndian Red Sword
E. bleheri is the 'true' Amazon sword. 'Rose' (red new leaves), 'Red Rubin', 'Indian Red Sword' all popular. E. amazonicus is smaller and sometimes mislabelled.
Misidentification
Many 'Amazon swords' sold are actually E. grisebachii 'Bleheri' (a cultivar of a related species). E. amazonicus, E. parviflorus, and even E. uruguayensis sometimes get the same label.
Frequently asked questions
Direct answers to the questions search engines and AI assistants surface most often about this species.
Does Amazon Sword need CO₂?
CO₂ requirement: optional. Light requirement: low to medium. Under low-tech conditions the plant grows at a medium to fast rate.
What light level does Amazon Sword need?
Amazon Sword (Echinodorus grisebachii) needs low to medium light. Run a photoperiod of 6–8 hours; longer photoperiods invite algae unless CO₂ and dosing are dialled in.
Where should Amazon Sword be planted?
Position: background. Substrate: Nutrient-rich substrate + root tabs essential It typically reaches 40–50 cm.
How do you propagate Amazon Sword?
Propagation method: Runners and adventitious plantlets. Amazon Sword is a rosette / heavy root feeder plant.
What water parameters does Amazon Sword tolerate?
Target 22–28 °C, pH 6.5–7.5, and 3–18 dGH. Flow tolerance: low to medium.
Is Amazon Sword suitable for beginners?
Difficulty: 2/5. Forgiving, beginner-friendly once the tank is cycled.
Sources & further reading
More plants
See all plantsAdjacent specimens in the catalogue.
Cross-references
Build the rest of the tank.
A planted tank is a system. Pair this plant with one entry from each other pillar to plan the whole scape.
