About the species

Echinodorus grisebachii 'Tropica' is a dwarf sword plant that appeared at Tropica's nursery in Denmark in the 1980s. It stays at five to ten centimetres and forms a low, spreading rosette of narrow, spoon-shaped leaves in dark green. The leaves are slightly bullate and bring Samolus valerandi to mind rather than a typical sword plant.

Facts

• Latin name: Echinodorus grisebachii 'Tropica'
• Plant type: Rosette plant
• Origin: Cultivated variety
• Height: 5–10 cm
• Growth rate: Medium
• Position: Foreground

Light requirement

Low light requirement. It manages with the lighting that comes with most aquariums and is happy in partial shade behind or beneath taller plants. Strong lighting does not harm it, but raises the risk of algae on the leaves because the plant cannot use all the available light.

CO₂ & nutrition

Manages entirely without added CO₂, which makes it as suitable for a simple aquarium as for an aquascape. Liquid carbon or injected CO₂ speeds up growth but is never a requirement. Dose an all-round fertiliser with iron and micronutrients every week.

Planting

Plant the root ball in the substrate so the roots are covered but the crown — where the new leaves emerge — sits just above it. Burying the growth point makes the plant rot. Give it plenty of room, since the leaves spread out in a rosette.

Rinse all the gel off in lukewarm water before planting, otherwise it can cause bacterial cloudiness. The cup holds many small plants — divide them up and plant them in several portions.

Care & propagation

Cut old outer leaves off at the base once they start to look tired, and the rosette stays fresh. The plant propagates itself with daughter plants from the rootstock; separate them from the mother plant once they have their own roots and a few leaves.

Position in the aquarium

Its low mature size makes it a foreground plant. Place it right at the front where nothing shades it, and let it form a continuous surface in front of the taller plants.

Difficulty level

🟢 Easy — grows in most aquariums without CO₂ and under ordinary lighting.

Delivery format

Delivered as 1-2-Grow! — a laboratory-grown cup holding many small plants in nutrient gel. Because the plant is cultivated in vitro it is completely free of snails, algae, planaria and pesticides, which makes it the safest choice for a shrimp aquarium.

Recommendation

A small sword plant if you want the rosette shape in a nano aquarium or right at the front of a bigger tank. Plant several portions a few centimetres apart and they knit together into a continuous surface.