The Challenge- Eichhornia azurea
aglass@wi.rr.com
As I would thumb through the various aquatic plant books over the past couple of years there was a plant that always would show up that made me very curious, it is Eichhornia azurea. Pictures show it as a non-standard stem plant with broad long leaves, something that is not normally seen with stem and bunch plants. Reading and research had indicated that this plant was extremely difficult to cultivate, so that peaked my curiosity even more.
I figured that I would give this plant a whirl so I set out to find a specimen. I have never seen this plant ever displayed at any fish store so I had to turn to the Internet. I kept an eye on AquaBid.com for specimens and after a number of weeks there was a specimen posted by somebody that I have bartered with before. I placed my bid and waited through the process. At the end of the auction I was the lucky winner and sent my money off via PayPal to the seller. The seller communicated back quickly and had requested delay in the shipment due to an algae outbreak that had just occurred and wanted to wait a few weeks until a higher quality plant was available in his aquariums. I was more than happy to hold off for a few weeks and the anticipation grew.
After a couple of weeks I was notified that the plant was shipping out from Colorado and I received it about 2-3 days later. The plant arrived in excellent condition and the stem was about 6 inches long. The individual leaf length was about 5 inches with a blade width of about ¾". I planted the individual stem in my 40-gallon tank and let nature take its course. The tank is a 40-gallon breeder that is running pressurized carbon dioxide, a canister filter, and UV sterilization. Water changes are 50% usually done bi-weekly and Seachem liquid fertilizers are added per directions on the bottles. Substrate is 66% medium natural flint gravel and 33% Turface mixed together. I add root tabs and Jobes Plant Spikes to the substrate about once every 4-6 months. 4 X 25-watt 8500K ZooMed FloraSun bulbs that are on for 12 hours per day supply lighting.
The plant stem was pushed into the gravel by about 2 inches. Within a week I could visibly see that the stem was growing and due to the carbon dioxide and good lighting it was pearling on a regular basis during the lights on period. After about two weeks I had to cut the stem in half since the stem grew to the surface. The topped off stem was replanted and I left the other rooted stem in place to see what would happen. The topped off stem that I replanted started to show growth after a couple of days and the stem that was left in place started to send out shoots as part of it vegetative propagation. The new shoots came out at the cut location and also occasionally along the length of the stem.
After growing this plant for a couple of months now I have found that I routinely have to trim the plant about once every two weeks and detach any new shoots. I have also found from experience that if you let the stem stay on the surface of the water too long it will go into its emersed form. I recently had to remove an emersed stem and give it to another person since I don’t have the facilities in place to handle such a specimen.
If you are looking for an extremely beautiful and non-typical aquarium plant with a moderate amount of difficulty then the Eichhornia azurea is a plant for you. Due to the size and beauty of the plant a single solitary specimen may be all you need to set a good tone in your aquarium.