Eriocaulon sp. 'Amazon' Care Guide
Eriocaulon sp. 'Amazon' is a South American rosette plant from the pipewort family, adapted to soft acidic blackwater and requiring high light and CO2.
Overview
Eriocaulon sp. 'Amazon' is a hobbyist trade designation for a South American pipewort kept as a fine, grass-like rosette plant. The genus Eriocaulon is generally adapted to soft water, and South American forms occur in blackwater habitats. It is treated as an advanced, high-tech species.
Taxonomy
- Family: Eriocaulaceae
- Genus: Eriocaulon
- Trade name: Eriocaulon sp. 'Amazon'
- Note: not a formally described species
Habitat
Sourced from South America. Eriocaulon species there are associated with soft, acidic blackwater rivers and rivulets poor in dissolved minerals, conditions that hobbyists reproduce with low-hardness water and acidic substrates.
Tank requirements
- Temperature: 22-28 °C (72-82 °F)
- pH: 5.0-6.5
- GH: 0-4 °dGH
- Lighting: high
- CO2: required
- Substrate: nutrient-rich, acidic
- Placement: midground
- Maximum height: ~10 cm
Cultivation
Eriocaulon species require soft water (carbonate hardness around 2 dKH or lower), intense light and CO2 at substrate level. They respond strongly to root fertilisation and grow well in ammonia-rich aquasoils; rich acidic substrate speeds growth. Growth here is slow.
Propagation
Propagated by division of the rosette. Splitting a mature plant into daughter rosettes is the practical method for this slow-growing form.