Amazon Sword in 10 Gallon -- remotely possible?

[stitches]

Hello all! 

I recently took a trip to my local fish shop and accidentally walked out with an amazon sword -- NOT the anubia congensis I assumed I picked out. I'm very new to aquatic plants and didn't realize this until I was attaching other plants to driftwood (which are in second tank, not shown here). A second trip to the same shop confirmed that i got the wrong plant but they offered advice which sums up as, "it looks great, just plant it in the gravel." However, after taking a look around online for advice and tips on how best to do this I realized that my 10gal tank is probably too small for this adorable plant baby. Everything I've come across says it's prob not the best set up (too small, etc).

any advice? I love it and my betta seems to enjoy swimming through this new plant, she keeps going between the leaves, so i would love to give it a shot if i can manage the growth and such. right now the gravel is at about 2 inches because I like to keep it low and with one fish (she is a solo, no tank mate gal), weekly water changes keep the tank healthy and maintained. 

you can see the sword in the pic below. it's still in the pot but out of the fertilizer pad thing plants come with. I have no intention to keep it in the pot but unsure of what to do.

thanks for your time and expertise!

 

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by stitches

[JettsPapa]

You're welcome to give it a try, but it will likely fill the tank in a few months.

[stitches]

On 6/21/2022 at 9:43 AM, JettsPapa said:

You're welcome to give it a try, but it will likely fill the tank in a few months.

is there any way to maintain the growth - what i mean is trimming etc.? i see some suggestions across the web about trimming but i'm so new i'm not sure if they mean the leaves that grow above water or if this could help maintain the width and spread of the roots. i know the roots should be in 2.5 gravel at the least -- how would this work with gravel hoses and cleaning?

sorry for all the q's!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

It is "possible" but you'll be likely pulling it in time- Amazons are huge and are good for bigger and/or taller tanks. There ARE smaller species Amazon Compacta that won't take over your 10. I have one of them in my 10 gallon grow out tank right now in a pot (as it is a bare bottom tank) - this will give you an idea (It is a standard Aqueon 10 gallon): 

I have one full sized Amazon in my 20 gallon tall. I trim leaves from the base of the plant all the time. This cuts down on the amount of leaves but not the tallness of them so trimming for size isn't like with say Bacopa, or Hornwort or other standard aquarium plants that you can trim the tallness- cutting a leaf halfway down just doesn't look good. They are beautiful plants- but very big- the leaves on a full grown plant are anywhere from 2" to 3"+ wide. It takes time to mature to this size- the plant in the tank below is over a year old almost 2 and you can see in my 20 tall leaves are curled coming from the top of the tank (it is currently behind some Narrow leaf Java):

:

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[JettsPapa]

On 6/21/2022 at 12:10 PM, stitches said:

is there any way to maintain the growth - what i mean is trimming etc.? i see some suggestions across the web about trimming but i'm so new i'm not sure if they mean the leaves that grow above water or if this could help maintain the width and spread of the roots. i know the roots should be in 2.5 gravel at the least -- how would this work with gravel hoses and cleaning?

sorry for all the q's!

You could try trimming off the older leaves, but I don't know how the plant will react to that long-term.  The roots will spread until they run into something they can't penetrate, but I'm not sure what you mean about the highlighted portion above.  The roots will be below the top of the substrate, so they shouldn't interfere with cleaning.