Replanting actually… I was looking for something that could grow submersed in the back right corner of the Shrimphaus that might be able to break the water surface and grow emersed. Amazon sword plants (Echinodorus species) are sometimes able to do that and I looked for an intermediate sized one with interesting aspects and came up with Echinodorus chrileni. I first picked up a pot from Pro-shrimp grown in rockwool by Aquafleur about 8 months ago. The plant arrived in great shape, but then gradually rotted away over several months, with no evidence of transitioning to the submersed growth form. This was back when I was using the Asta point-source lighting that was at the exact opposite corner of the tank so the spot for the chrileni was pretty shaded. When I switched over the Shrimphaus to the more even lighting from a Week Aqua S-400 Pro light, I figured let’s give the chrileni another try.
I picked up a fresh pot 5 months ago, again from Pro-shrimp. Once again the plant arrived looking great (sorry to do this to you plant). Comparison of the new plant vs what happened to the old plant is a pretty dramatic contrast.
Echinodorus chrileni rockwool pot
new plant vs. old rotted plant
Anyway, in goes the new plant, and we’re pretty much on the same track as for the old plant. After a couple months most of the leaves rot away, but there a few clingers on. Eventually the last two emersed leaves seem to be heading downhill and I figure it’s time to pull the plug on this one too.
The Echinodorus chrileni has rallied!
I pulled out rotted plant v2.0 but to my considerable surprise, it’s not all the way dead! To be sure there is the expected collection of rotted roots but also a few intact looking roots, and evidence of some brand new submersed form leaves.
new submersed form leaves
cleaned up and back in place
Ok! Unexpectedly, we’re good! I trimmed off the rotted pieces and the two last emersed form leaves and replanted the Echinodorus chrileni back in the same location. We’ll see how things progress from here. It is possible that the change in lighting made a difference and maybe it even did, but I suspect it is the conversion of the Shrimphaus to low alkalinity water that finally triggered with chrileni to successfully turn the corner.