Red Flame Sword on the Surface:

Red Flame Sword (Echinodorus 'Red Flame') is a compact sword plant that was originally cultivated and bred in Germany, with dark green leaves covered in reddish-brown spots and blotches. It roots into the substrate and forms a rosette that can rise several inches above the leaf litter bed. In the Botanical Method Aquarium, its broad leaves provide refuge for betta fish, shrimp, and small tetras, along with surfaces where biofilm can encrust. It can be grown emersed even with proper humidity, so it is well suited for the Paludarium to help mimic river margin habitats.

Essential Details

• Care Level: Easy
• Growth Habit: Rooted rosette, compact, moderate growth from the crown
• Light: Low to High
• CO2: Not Necessary
• Propagation: Adventitious plantlets on flower stalks, and mother plant division
• Tint Tolerance: Low to Moderate
• Habitat Location: Nursery-bred cultivar; genus native to the Americas
• Optimal For: Betta fish, shrimp, small tetras, and dwarf cichlids
• Use with Caution: Rinse before introducing; may carry beneficial hitchhiking snails, snail eggs, or duckweed from the grow-out ponds
• Size Range: Up to 12" tall with leaves ranging in size based on the plant maturity
• Quantities: Sold as 1c Potted Red Flame Sword

Red Flame Sword for Planted Aquariums & Blackwater Biotopes

The Red Flame Sword absorbs most of its micro- and macronutrients through its roots, so it grows best in a dirted aquarium or an inert sand substrate with root tabs placed near the crown. We plant it with the crown just above the substrate and arrange leaf litter around its base as we would see in nature. Biofilm encrusts its wide leaves as they mature and become a grazing resource for shrimp and our fishes, what we call supplemental nutrition. Dwarf cichlids and bettas, though found on opposite sides of the planet, utilize the leaves as refuge, territory, and spawning sites.

The darker the tint in your aquarium, the less light reaches your plants, and light dictates both the growth rate and the depth of the red spotting on each new leaf. Under low light, Red Flame Swords grow slowly and more green, and in medium to high light, paired with the use of root tabs, they grow more red. CO2 injection is optional and can speed growth. Aquasoils absorb tannins from the water column, so an inert sand substrate with root tabs keeps the tint your botanicals release and the nutrients this plant needs at its roots.

Once established, Red Flame Sword can send up a flower stalk that forms small plantlets along its length. We let each plantlet grow a few leaves and its own roots before pinching it off and rooting it down into the substrate. Its compact size suits the midground of mid-sized aquariums. To keep open swimming space, we remove older outer leaves at the base.

Beneath the Leaves: Echinodorus 'Red Flame' in the Wild

Red Flame Sword has no wild population. Breeder Hans Barth found it in 1996 at his nursery in Dessau, Germany, as a natural mutation of his cultivar 'Ozelot,' itself a cross between a red form of Echinodorus horemanii and Echinodorus schlueteri 'Leopard.' He selected it for its spotted leaves, and it was granted a U.S. plant patent in 1998. Its parent species belong to a genus native to the Americas, where sword plants can be found in marshes, pond margins, and seasonal wetlands as both submerged or emergent plants.

Where a botanical contributes as it breaks down, an aquatic plant is living and contributes as it grows. So let them grow. Mother Nature leads the way.

Sustainability Note:

Please select a heat/cold pack if necessary. Check your local weather before ordering to avoid any shipment holds or cancellations. All Plants may contain snails or snail eggs. We keep them in all of our aquariums for the benefits they provide. Our blackwater aquarium plants are provided in cooperation with PNW Bettas in adherence to their Shipping and DOA Policies. Your curated selection will arrive in their packaging separate from your botanical, wood & merch orders.