Should I get more decor?

[hcgirl80]

Hi again,
My tank has two small(and I mean small) decorations/hiding places and 10 lbs of gravel and about 3 tall plants. I really want to get more plants but all my local petsmart sells is plants that are tall and skinny. I really want an amazon sword. Will that work? My average water parims are:

pH: 7.2
Amonnia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrite: 5
Water temp: 80-82

I'd also like a mini-sword.

~Paige

 

[brookelyn]

First, how big is your tank?

If the plants at Petco, Petsmart, etc don't appear healthy, you might want to see if you can't locate a local fish store in your area. I found a few in my area by mistake after going to Marineland's (marineland.com) website, entering my zip code, and stumbling upon local dealers (I was looking for tank parts). You could also use the phone book as well.

 

[Leopardess]

Um...do you mean live plants?

If so, swords require nutrient rich substrates (not plain gravel). They also require a bit more light than is standard. In addition, they will grow huge.I just removed some from my 55g because they were too big. Not sure what you mean by a "mini" sword...only thing that comes to mind to me is "mircosword" or lilaeposis brasiliensis...a foreground plant that requires higher light and co2 to do well.

How big is the tank and how many watts are on it?

 

[hcgirl80]

Sorry, Sorry. That's what petsmart called the microswords. :rant:
Maybe I could get a fake amazon sword.

 

[fishlvr]

I found a couple small (fake) sword plants on sale at Petsmart for only 1.99 each. Check around you could find some great deals on clearance stuff.

 

[Dapple2]

Swords are tough plants. They can be grown in plain gravel with moderate lighting and fertilization, they just don't get as big. Considering how large many have the potential to become, that's a good thing...

 

[ChicoRaton]

FWIW my amazon sword in a 55g with 2wpg and pressurized CO2, plain gravel and PMDD is pearling and growing like crazy. I've only had it a few weeks and it's tripled or quadrupled in size. it started with 8 leaves and now it has 16

Red melon swords are cool little plants too. not sure how big they get but mine is in plain gravel and growing a new leaf every 3-5 days. looks like it's staying short too.

you might try anubias or cryptocoryne species. they are slow growing but bulletproof and do fine in low light. java fern is really low-maintenance as well. just tie it with thread to a piece of driftwood and put it in water with light.

The amazon sword might need a little more light than standard though. I'm assuming you have an 18" 15w fluorescent over your 10g. am I right? The microsword woill for sure. There are a lot of other plant species listed by difficulty and light requirements at www.plantgeek.net.

Careful though, plants are an addictive habit