Amazon Ecosystem Plants - your experience wanted

I'd definatly agree about the amazon swords. I kNOW i'll have to replace mine, but they are a good, hardy plant from everything i've seen so they buy me time to experiment and grow up some other stuff like the ruffled swords that might take their place as backgrounds once fully grown that hopefully won't get as huge.
 
Forgot about Brazilian Pennywort! It's a neat plant, can be used floating or rooted. Definitely add this to your list. Grows pretty fast and loves N.
 
I got them last night, and I already am less then thrilled with the hornwort. very messy, needles all over. if the anachris doesn't work out, i'll replace both. with the penny wort, if you let it float, do you anchor it in place to keep it where you want it? if so, do you just let it hang during major water changes or do yuo need to detach it?
 
I have anacharis, cabomba, swords, chain sword in my discus / angel tank it is at a little over 3 wpg with pressurized CO2.

these plants love the high light..but they do grow in a 2 wpg system too. my egeria survived excell and is growing in the the other tanks I have it in.

I float egeria.elodea in my tanks..I use suction cups and zip ties...these are used to snag the free floaters..If I didn't fo that it would block my over flow to the sump or get clogged in the pick up tubes.
 
Pic of Pennywort

Here's what mine looks like.

DSC01487a.jpg
 
ok, you convinced me :) I am going to place an order for some moneywort and starflower to replace the hornwort (which is looking absolutly horrible and has already heavily annoyed me). I am also considering trying out green foxtail since i can get that in the same order. I have an Ah hood and 2.5 watts of lighting, so I am hoping its enough.
 
Don't be too harsh with the hornwort. Yes, it sometimes falls apart. But if it gets used to the tank, it will grow quite nicely as a floating plant. I have several feet long plants in one of my tanks.
 
Thank you

Thank you for all your assistance and ideas. Because I can't get most of the plants locally I ordered chain, compacta, and radican swords, pennywort, and stargrass from aquariumgarden.com. I'm looking to the smaller plants to be cover and possibly grow some pennywort on my driftwood. The two larger swords will provide some more height to the display.

Any suggestions on different colored plants (red?) to add to mix? I looked at red temple it was not in stock at aquarium gardens and its not clear if this is an Amazon plant anyway.
 
i have grown my own amazon swords plants for years from a single motheer plant in a 20 high. its the centerpeice plant and no, it is not too big or anything like that. if it gets big, then you have 2 options. divide it and sel the other half on ebay or trim the plant down. either way works and has worked extensively with me. i use excel, florish, and planttabs for nourishment. it thrives under the 2.5 wpg and has grown into quite a plant. the lighting is key with these plants though- they will get large under the right conditions. one big plus is that the root system of my mother sword is so extensive that i have no need to siphon the gravel in the areas close to the roots and stem! seriosuly- all other places the gravel collects debris and fish junk as is typical, but theradius around my sword is always immaculate. plus the plants are tough and resilient even to fish who nip at them. i have tried all the other plants, but by far my favorite is the amazon swords. all other plants break up too easily during prunings or tank cleanings. in my opinion as a sword lover, propagator, and grower, i would get one medium sword and let it fly.
 
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