Any idea on what type of Amazon sword this is?

I apologize in advance if the pic isn't detailed enough, but it's at the back of the tank behind several other objects so it was the best I could get.

I've had this AS for about a few months now. Put a multiple root tabs around it as I've heard they are nutrient hogs and it's growing fine as you can see with all the new leaves, but why is it so low? Was expecting a little more height by now but it seems content to be more of a bush than the tall, centerpiece background plant I was hoping for. So is it a specific kind of AS that grows lower or does it just need more time?

Looks like bleherae.. how deep is the substrate? The deeper the substrate the taller it'll grow, otherwise it grows outwards

I'm not sure on species, but it does look to be buried too deep in the substrate. See the base where all the leaves are coming from? That's the crown. Pull it up a bit until that crown is just above the surface of the substrate. You don't want the leaves to have to force their way through substrate to break out. Pull it up a little higher, it'll be secure since it should have some good roots by now

mbsqw1d said:

Looks like bleherae.. how deep is the substrate? The deeper the substrate the taller it'll grow, otherwise it grows outwards

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It's close to if not 3 inches deep (or around 8 centimeters).

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

I'm not sure on species, but it does look to be buried too deep in the substrate. See the base where all the leaves are coming from? That's the crown. Pull it up a bit until that crown is just above the surface of the substrate. You don't want the leaves to have to force their way through substrate to break out. Pull it up a little higher, it'll be secure since it should have some good roots by now

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Good roots indeed. Had to really put some force into it but I got the crown above the sand layer.

Snagrio said:

It's close to if not 3 inches deep (or around 8 centimeters).

Good roots indeed. Had to really put some force into it but I got the crown above the sand layer.

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Good job They're definitely greedy root feeders, mine seems to suck down root tabs as fast as I add them. I can tell because my sterbai cories like to root around in the sand, and I end up reburying the little balls inside the root tabs at times, but never around the sword. He just gobbles them up it seems.

I think yours just needs a bit more time, and as it adds more leaves, and they come up through the middle, it'll get taller rather than being floppy.

My sword at the back left when I first added it last October, still had it's emersed leaf form;


I ended up moving it to the back centre of the tank shortly after, and how it looks now, six months later... I need to move it soon, it's already outgrown this tank (60L);

I only bought the one because I've heard and seen how monstrous they can get, but mine's stayed the way it is for so long that I've been wondering if I should get a couple more especially since I have a bigger than average tank (125 gallons) that's been having mixed success with plant growth.

The vallis are doing the best by far, the Java ferns are also doing well (just attached a ton of babies to the decor this morning), but everything else is in varying degrees of just existing (anubias), not doing so hot (bacopa, ludwigia), miserable (micro sword), to gone altogether (salvinia).

My guess is lack of CO2. I've been using root tabs and liquid fertilizer and have full spectrum lighting, but I really don't want to try dealing with CO2 for multiple reasons.

Snagrio said:

I only bought the one because I've heard and seen how monstrous they can get, but mine's stayed the way it is for so long that I've been wondering if I should get a couple more especially since I have a bigger than average tank (125 gallons) that's been having mixed success with plant growth.
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The vallis are doing the best by far, the Java ferns are also doing well (just attached a ton of babies to the decor this morning), but everything else is in varying degrees of just existing (anubias), not doing so hot (bacopa, ludwigia), miserable (micro sword), to gone altogether (salvinia).

My guess is lack of CO2. I've been using root tabs and liquid fertilizer and have full spectrum lighting, but I really don't want to try dealing with CO2 for multiple reasons.

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Wow, gorgeous sized tank! I'm deeply jealous

I doubt it's a lack of CO2, I don't use CO2 and you can see the growth I have! You can have a great planted tank without CO2 (although injected CO2 is needed for some plants, and gives more growth with most others) but it's not essential for plant growth by any means. My guess is ferts, need to find the right ones for your tank. I'm not a planted tank nerd, and I mean nerd as a compliment! Some people are super knowledgeable about the various nutrients needed, and @mbsqw1d definitely understands lighting in a way I have no clue about. Maybe the light isn't penetrating deeply enough? Maybe your water is lacking some minerals that plants need but is generally not included in fertilisers since they expect that to be in the water? @Stan510 might be able to help!

I'm with you on not wanting to deal with CO2 though... way too advanced for me!

Looking closer at the pic, looks like the crypt(?) at the front left and the one on the front right might be buried a tad too deep too. Go round your tank and pull them all up a leeeeetle bit!

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

I'm with you on not wanting to deal with CO2 though... way too advanced for me!

Looking closer at the pic, looks like the crypt(?) at the front left and the one on the front right might be buried a tad too deep too. Go round your tank and pull them all up a leeeeetle bit!

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Done. Got all their crowns above the sand as was done for the AS.

For whatever reason I keep forgetting about the crypts when I list all the plants, probably because they were added significantly later than the rest of the flora. Cryptocoryne parva to be specific. Not the biggest fan of them considering how extremely plain they look, both as a crypt and in general, but to their credit they've proven to be extremely hardy. Poor things have been moved around at least twice as the aquascaping changed over time and they're still growing as if nothing's happened. One of them even disintegrated down to bare roots shortly after arriving from the store and still bounced back.

Some species of AS plants can get pretty big. I planted four in my 55-gallon aquarium nine months ago.