Echinodorus opacus Care Guide
Echinodorus opacus is a compact, slow-growing South American sword with thick dark-green leaves, well suited to the midground of soft-water aquariums.
Overview
Echinodorus opacus is a sword plant in the family Alismataceae, native to southeastern Brazil. It forms a compact rosette of thick, dark-green oval leaves and stays smaller than many of its relatives. Growth is slow and the plant rarely flowers in the aquarium, which together with its modest size makes it a stable midground rosette.
Taxonomy
- Family: Alismataceae
- Genus: Echinodorus
- Scientific name: Echinodorus opacus
Habitat
The species is recorded from southeastern Brazil, in the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina. Echinodorus are marginal plants of tropical and subtropical South American wetlands that grow either fully submersed or partly emersed, depending on water level.
Tank requirements
- Temperature: 22-28 °C (72-82 °F)
- pH: 6.0-7.5
- GH: 4-14 °dGH
- Lighting: medium to high
- CO2: not required
- Growth rate: slow
- Maximum height: about 25 cm
- Placement: midground
Planting and care
As a rosette sword with a substantial root system, it should be planted in a nutrient-rich substrate or supplied with root tabs in inert substrate. It is easy and undemanding, comparable to slow plants such as Anubias, and grows in low-tech tanks; added CO2 encourages faster growth. The plant takes up significant nitrate and shows fairly good resistance to algae.
Propagation
Echinodorus species propagate vegetatively. In opacus this occurs through adventitious plantlets and by division of the rootstock; daughter plants are separated once they have their own roots and replanted.