Echinodorus tenellus

[kingfisherfleshy]

Can anyone tell me anything about this plant? I was in petco the other day and I saw that they had some. So I did the buy two get one free...and I Have 7 little plants of it planted in my tank now. I stuck one root tab in the middle of all of them, and am now hoping for the best. Any advice or knowledge guys? Thanks

[Eden Marel]

Very easy, wonderful plant. I started with only one in February and I have a many more now from that one plant, plus any some more that I've given away. I thought they stay short, but for some reason mine grew really tall.

[Tex Gal]

They will stay short and actually turn pink if you have high light. Here is a px when I had it as a foreground plant. Plant tabs are a good idea.

[kingfisherfleshy]

Im excited...I have been having good luck with some swords in the tank, so I figured I would give these guys a go as a foreground "grass" plant. These say that they are the pygmy ones, so hopefully they will stay in the 2-4" range that I have been reading in other places. But who knows what petco's labeling skills are.

[Tex Gal]

Sounds like the same plant. Good luck!

[herns]

That is a very nice plant.

[frogmanjared]

Do you have any pics of your tank with the new plants?

[kingfisherfleshy]

Frogman...Im having a bit of an algae issue...I have redone some stuff with my tank, so we will see tomorrow if I can get a nice shot. Ill be back! ha

[kingfisherfleshy]

Having a hard time getting my pictures to upload...hopefully tonight guys. Then we can get a for sure ID on this plant. Im a little worried, they look kinda haggered. My co2 is out too, but today I will have that fixed. So fingers crossed.

[frogmanjared]

If they don't make it, I have some in my 5 that I could give ya! I don't have many to offer, but they'll spread like wildfire in a larger tank.

[macclellan]

Originally Posted by Tex Gal

They will stay short and actually turn pink if you have high light. Here is a px when I had it as a foreground plant. Plant tabs are a good idea.

Originally Posted by kingfisherfleshy

These say that they are the pygmy ones, so hopefully they will stay in the 2-4" range that I have been reading in other places. But who knows what petco's labeling skills are.

If they come from PetCo, chances are they are the larger, all green variety, and not the small variety that turns red. I bought "pygmy chain sword" at my LFS, which turned out to be a 14" plant given good conditions. The other variety is only available through other hobbyists (AFAIK) always stays very small regardless of light conditions and gets red in good conditions, like TexGal showed above.

Here'a pic of mine showing gobs of the stuff:


Here's a very old pic showing the plant in the front that you probably have - note that these got even bigger with time:


Both are easy to keep and very cool, just very different size-wise.

[kingfisherfleshy]

My leaves look narrower than yours do. They have grown to be about 3-4" and I think they are stopped. Sorry for the picture, cell phone is the only upload method STILL...but I think I am about to hit a breakthrough with my printer.

Cut off all the runners to encourage individual plant growth so we will see how big they get!