planting amazon sword help

[joedodge]

i have a 75 gallon with two gold severums and 3 small clown loaches i have 2 fake amazon swords i would like to have some real ones to look nice and help lower nitrates in the water can i plant them in little clay pots instead of the gravel and are they easy to care for im new to plants so any help is greatly appreciated

 

[hybridtheoryd16]

You can plant them in pots if you want. But they will do very little for nitrates. Cause they are slow growers. As for care you will need a better light than your normal basic tank lights. And weekly water changes to replace minerals and such that they consume. And thats the basics for amazon swords. The light that i would get would be a 260 watt power compact. You can get one off of ebay for around 150 bucks and they work pretty good. i have a 130watt pc fixture over my 55 and it does good but I wish i would have gotten the 260 for a little more money.

 

[joedodge]

ok thankyou very much what do you recomend for a plant to help lower nitrates or a plant the will work under standard lighting

 

[HarlanAshmore]

elodea

 

[dragonfish]

Just keep in mind that the sevs will probably do some damage to the plants.

 

[msjinkzd]

Hornwort might work, its not very palatable, grows in low light conditions, and is a great nitrate sponge. You can float it or anchor it as it doesn't root.

 

[joedodge]

ok thankyou very much