# Best ways to encourage amazon sword growth?



## darsunt (Feb 12, 2012)

A while back I had some amazon sword plants in a 20 gal tank, I remember the only thing that really boosted their growth was soluble iron.
Is there anything else that can do this? Also can soluble iron harm the fish? And should I keep check on how much soluble iron is in the water?
My water is hard ph in southern california.


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

Swords are slow growing plants to begin with, but you can give it a root tab to help it along.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Adequate lighting is about all it needs but a root tab will help since they are very root heavy. Just need to make sure you have the right lighting for plant growth.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Yes you can increase iron in any tank FW or marine.

and it is entirely possible the plants (and marine macro algaes) to become iron starved.

And yes it is entirely possibe the iron to be too high for fish and most definately for marine corals.

And yes it is possible to safely dose iron cheaply.

What I do is get some ferris gulconate pills from the local drug store. (4-5 bucks for a bottle of pills). Then dissolve one pill in an old sodeabottle full of water (12oz-20oz). Then add 1/2 capfull to the tank each week.

The level is low enough to be safe for marine corals yet still provide iron to favor macro algaes (marine) and plants (Freshwater) over micro algae and cyano.


my .02


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Amazons do not need iron to grow. Don't go out of your way to get iron in your tank. They will grow anywhere just about.


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