TankBud

Quadricostatus chain sword

Helanthium bolivianum 'Quadricostatus'

Also known as Echinodorus quadricostatus, Echinodorus bolivianus var. magdalenensis, Broad-leaf chain sword, Echinodorus xinguensis, Echinodorus quadricostatus var. xinguensis

FreshwaterRosetteRunnersPlantlets

Quadricostatus chain sword (Helanthium bolivianum 'Quadricostatus')
Tommy Kronkvist · CC BY-SA 3.0

Care at a glance

Light
Low light
CO2
CO₂ beneficial
Temperature
72–82°F
22–28°C
Max height
5.9 in
15 cm
Growth rate
Medium
Placement
Midground
Type
Rosette
pH
5.5–7.5
Hardness
2–18 dGH
Spread
7.9 in (20 cm)
Nutrient uptake
Root + water column
Growth region
Submersed or emersed
Difficulty
Easy
Family
Alismataceae
Origin
South America

Overview

Use it as a midground filler or a taller foreground in larger tanks, planting rosettes in a group so the runners build a bright green turf. It is easy and grows in low to medium light without CO2, though CO2 and steady fertilization make it noticeably faster and denser. It is a hungry plant, especially for iron, and shows pale new leaves when short, so feed the water column and substrate. Because it spreads vigorously by runners it can crowd a small tank, so thin daughter plants regularly.

In the wild

This is a South American chain sword from the wider Helanthium bolivianum complex, found in shallow, often seasonally flooded waters and damp margins. It forms a low rosette of broad, bright green strap leaves and creeps outward along long runners that root into the substrate. In nature it readily switches between submerged and emersed growth as water levels change.

Good to know

Long known in the hobby as Echinodorus quadricostatus, it is now treated as a form of Helanthium bolivianum, so the old Echinodorus name is a synonym. The cultivar name 'Quadricostatus' refers to the leaf with several prominent longitudinal veins or ribs. Plants in this complex are taxonomically tangled, and the same trade material has circulated under several Echinodorus and Helanthium names.

Did you know

Did you know this plant helped pioneer easy carpeting in the hobby? It was one of the original fast, low-demand 'chain swords' recommended for starting up new tanks long before modern high-tech carpet plants existed.

Related plants