Aquarium plant

Echinodorus 'Red Chameleon'

Echinodorus 'Red Chameleon'

MidgroundRosette plant

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Plant overview

Echinodorus 'Red Chameleon' is a rosette plant for midground planting. Recorded care includes easy care and high light and required CO₂.

Water parameters include temperature 18–28 °C, pH 5–8, KH 0–21 °dKH, CO₂ 2–3 mg/L.

Planting & care

PlacementMidground
GrowthRosette plant
LightHigh
CO2Required

Water conditions

Temperature: 18–28 °C
pH: 5–8
Carbonate hardness: 0–21 °dKH
CO₂ (mg/L): 2–3 mg/L

Growth & placement

Growth rate: Medium
Color: green, red

Taxonomy

Major group: Angiosperms
Family: Alismataceae
Genus: Echinodorus
Botanical name: Echinodorus 'Red Chameleon'

About this plant

Echinodorus 'Red Chameleon' is a cultivated sword plant valued for red new leaves that gradually shift toward green as they mature. The compact rosette reaches up to about 30 cm, placing it in the midground of medium and large aquariums rather than among the largest Echinodorus cultivars. Medium to high light supports the strongest red colour, while a nutrient-rich substrate supplies the heavy root feeding typical of sword plants. Stable carbon dioxide around 20 to 30 mg/L promotes steady growth, although the cultivar remains comparatively easy when the substrate and water column are well fertilised. Keep the crown above the substrate and remove old outer leaves at their base. Propagation occurs through adventitious plantlets on the flower stalk; separate them after several leaves and roots have developed. With its moderate growth rate, broad colour transition and defined rosette shape, 'Red Chameleon' works best as an isolated red-green specimen rather than in a crowded stem-plant group.