Planting plants allows you to make the landscape in the aquarium much more beautiful. In addition, various kinds of representatives of underwater flora, as well as terrestrial, are able to liberate oxygen and absorb nitrates. And this, in turn, makes water more suitable for keeping fish. There are many species of underwater plants used to decorate aquariums. For example, the echinodorus of Uruguay looks very impressive under water.
Origin
In the wild, this beautiful plant is found mainly in South America in fast flowing rivers. The peculiarity of Uruguayan echinodorus, among other things, is that under different environmental conditions it can have different sizes and colors. This underwater plant is found quite often in South America. But especially a lot of it happens in the rivers in the south of this continent.
general description
Even in small aquariums, an echinodorus of this species can grow very large. Therefore, they usually place it in the background behind other plants. In this case, echinodorus are planted in aquariums, even in volumetric, in most cases, one by one. Due to the large size and bright color of the leaves, such plants look very impressive under water. Photos of Echinodorus Uruguayan are presented on the page. As you can see, this plant is actually just luxurious.
This representative of the underwater flora receives nutrients from the soil. One of the features of this plant is the absence of a stem. The leaves of echinodorus grow directly from its roots. The color of this beautiful plant is green in most cases. But sometimes in aquariums you can see red echinodorus Uruguayan. The content of both of these forms is technologically no different. In any case, both green and red leaves of this plant are large. In length, they can reach 50 cm, in width - 8 cm.
The density of the leaves of Uruguayan echinodorus when growing under water is not too high. If there is good lighting in the aquarium, their plates shine through and look very bright. The leaves of this plant never rise above the water. Their upper part floats on the surface of the water in the aquarium.
In one outlet of echinodorus, quite a large number of leaves can grow. Therefore, this representative of the underwater flora looks really very impressive. Typically, the rosette of one such plant includes 8-10 full leaves.
Uruguay Echinodorus content in an aquarium: water parameters
This remarkable plant does not belong to especially demanding representatives of underwater flora. Even in the aquariums of beginners, in the absence of any special care, including the supply of CO 2 , it usually looks quite worthy.
To plant such a plant, since it is significant in size, of course, it is only possible in large enough aquariums (from 100 l). Adult echinodorus of this species can reach a height of 1 m.
Despite the fact that in nature this representative of the flora grows in rivers, he still loves water not alkaline, but slightly acidic. The most suitable indicators for this plant are pH 6.5-7.0.
Water parameters in relation to acidity are not critical for echinodorus. If desired, this plant can be planted in an aquarium with slightly alkaline water. In this case, the echinodorus will not die, but still slow down its development. And the appearance in him in such water will not be so impressive.
This plant is found in nature in hot countries. However, as already mentioned, echinodorus prefers a fast flow. Water in such rivers is usually too warm. So, Uruguay’s echinodorus will develop well even in an unheated aquarium. The optimum water temperature for this plant is considered to be 18-24 ° C.
Lighting Echinodorus Uruguayan loves quite intense. It is advisable to equip an aquarium with this plant, for example, with T5 fluorescent lamps. The optimal daylight hours for echinodorus are 6-12 hours.
What soil is needed
Like many other aquarium plants, Uruguay's echinodorus loves quite nutritious substrates. Ideal for this representative of the flora will be a special purchased soil saturated with minerals. Such substrates under echinodorus are layered with a layer of 5-15 cm and covered with pebbles on top.
If you cannot get a special aquarium soil, you can plant this plant simply in a pot with garden soil. In this case, the soil is also covered with pebbles from above. The pot for echinodorus needs to be taken large enough. Subsequently, it will have to be masked not with sand and pebbles, but with some objects of aquarium decor.
How to plant
Soil for echinodorus, therefore, is best nutritious. But large enough, this underwater decorative culture can grow simply on saturated silt pebbles in an old aquarium. In any case, both red and green Uruguayan echinodorus should be planted correctly.
In the soil for this plant, they first dig a fairly large hole. Next, echinodorus is installed in it, its roots are straightened and sprinkled with earth and pebbles. This plant is planted in pots like this:
pour a little garden soil to the bottom of the container;
set the echinodorus in the pot and spread its roots;
sprinkle the roots with such an amount of earth so that it fills the pot by about 2/3;
fill the soil from above with a thick layer of fine river pebbles.
At the final stage, the echinodorus pot is simply gently placed in the aquarium. Of course, the acquired plant before planting is treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (slightly pink) by immersion in it for 20 minutes.
How to propagate
In aquariums with 100-250 l echinodorus, as already mentioned, usually grow individually. But in a very large capacity (300-500 or more liters), of course, you can plant several of these plants.
Uruguayan echinodorus propagate by daughter processes. The latter are formed in adult plants on the floral arrows they have released. If you want to propagate echinodorus in the aquarium, you can also by dividing the bunch of its roots.