# Removing a Sword in the....substrate



## onemyndseye (May 12, 2006)

I know this comes up from time to time and I have already read through afew suggestions.

I'm really considering removing the Amazon sword from the left corner of my tank... shown here: (latest picture avail.)









It was really a poor choice of placement for it and is already starting to look cramped up. It hasnt put on a whole lot of growth since being in the tank but I can bet that its roots are plentiful.

In a ten gallon I had once I simply cut the sword off just below the subtrate and washed my hands of it... but is wasnt doing well at all and I didnt care if it messed that tank up *shrug*... LOL but I like my 30g much much more than that ... although I will say that I never saw any problems from cutting that sword.

My thoughts right now are to use a very sharp knife (one of my sushi knives should work well) and "cut out" a circle in the substrate all the way around the sword trying to sever as many of the roots that I can.... then slowly pull it up. perhaps I should also scrape away as much of the onyx sand from around it as I can before removing so I'll be sure to have enough to recover the hole (I dont have any extra onyx)

I have 2 large A. Barteri that will take its place in that corner should I move it.

What do you guys think?

-Justin
One Mynds Eye


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## Mud Pie Mama (Jul 30, 2006)

Hi Justin,

A few questions might help decide more...
1.) Is your substrate layered? Ie., onyx on top of soil?
2.) How long has that sword been in this location? Weeks, months?

Also, I think I would not put any other sword into the back corner of a 30g. Did you mean Echinodorus berteroi? (A. barteri) will get too big. I pulled some E. bleheri out of both my 46g & 75g which I had badly stuck in back corners .... they started looking cramped. Maybe you could use some upright stem plant? Or I really like Cryptocoryne balansae: upright & tall, great textured, puckered leaf.


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## onemyndseye (May 12, 2006)

Mud Pie -

Yes - Its oynx sand over soil. The tank has been setup for about 115 Days now. 

Anubias Barteri is actually what I was thinking ... and some A. Barteri var. Petite 


Thanks,
-Justin
One Mynds Eye


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

any time I have taken out a big root plant, it is a big mess. The only thing that works is distroying it (cut it down to substrate lvl and let the roots etc decay) or slow pulling with lots of fast vibrating jiggling...Pretend you have epilepsy or parkensons as you remove it.


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## onemyndseye (May 12, 2006)

I dont mind destroying it so much as it produced several nice babies in its looks-to-be-short life...

You dont think I'll be asking for problems if I just hack it off at the subtrate?

Thanks,
-Justin
One Mynds Eye


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

all you will be leaving behind (if you give it a good wack job) are the roots.

THis may be of interest to you:
Tropica


> If plants are to be removed from the aquarium, cut the plants at the plant/root transition to avoid the plant substrate mixing with the water. Plant roots are left in the bottom layer. They are quickly broken down, so providing nutrition to other plants in the aquarium.


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## onemyndseye (May 12, 2006)

AH... thanks for that  That makes me feel much better. Not really something I didnt know but I wasnt sure how a root system this large would affect things.

Looks like itll get the skissors instead of the sashime kife 

Thanks again,
-Justin
One Mynds Eye


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## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

Diana mentioned using a razor blade to cut a large amazon sword off at the base. I believe she said she had some issues for a while as the roots decomposed.

I pulled up an amazon sword around that size here while back by accident (the tank was loaded with sag subulata and I was pulling by feel instead of looking at what I was doing). It didn't make that much of a mess.


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## onemyndseye (May 12, 2006)

uh oh.... LOL too late now.. it got the chop today 

Hopfully it wont be too problematic... Ill keep an eye on the ammonia over the next few weeks.

The part the sucks is that AFTER I cut it out...... I grabbed the 2 A. Barteri that I've been floating in my tank since monday... and they fell apart in my hands ...DOH!!! One had a big nice bloom on it too.

the Barteri petite came in today though and its Beautiful! I must have more of this plant 

-Justin
One Mynds Eye


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## Mud Pie Mama (Jul 30, 2006)

Hi Justin,

I'm Very Impressed that you knew the exact number of days on the sword in your tanks! Wow! I think you did the right thing in cutting your sword since your substrate is layered and you don't have any extra Onyx at hand. How's the tank been reacting since the CHOP?

Sorry to hear about your mushed Anubias. I once melted a gallon bowl FULL of Pogostemon helferi (Downoi). I had a crop of over 30 plants that had taken me almost four months propagation work which I left for just a few days while re-scaping my high light tank. Total Mush!:shock: I'm still kicking myself over that one.


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## onemyndseye (May 12, 2006)

Yeah..... Im still miffed about that ... VERY nice looking barteri too 

I have to confess - the only way I knew how old the tank/sword was is from the pictures that I've taken ... My photobucket.com account has all of them and they are dated - I just had to find the one from the initial setup 

So far no Ill effects from removing the sword.... I put in a Barteri Petite, and HUGE Narrow Leaf Java, and a couple of crypts in its place..... waiting on another Barteri to come in 

Take Care,
-Justin
One Mynds Eye


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