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Originally Posted by hydrophyte  The sword will appreciate the real topsoil. If you are concerned about nutrients getting into the water you could just a use a shallow "lens" with thick gravel below and above. Stop the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot with your fingertip whenever you might remove it from the tank, so that excess organics/nutrients won't drain through and into the aquarium water. |
The nutrients released by the soil in one small pot will probably be quickly taken up other plants in the tank or they will be taken up by the leaves of the potted Amazon Swordplant.
Trust me on this: An Amazon Swordplant will slowly die in a pot with just gravel. Not only is there a total absence of nutrients, but there's no iron to neutralize the hydrogen sulfide that will eventually be released as organic matter accumulates in the gravel.
If you add an Amazon Swordplant to a pot with soil, the plant should take off like crazy within a month or two. (If not, the pot is too big for the plant, you don't have enough light, or the water is not hard enough.) The luxuriant leaf growth will suck up ammonia and other nutrients from the water. To me, an established Amazon Swordplant in a pot is an "algae buster" and a boon to any aquarium.