A few questions about my planted betta tank

[Abblivion]

Hi, I have a planted betta tank and wish to re-scape it and possibly swap out the gravel for a better substrate. I currently have lace fern, tropica and amazon sword planted in small gravel that was given to me. My lace fern has been going really well, its really nice and green and has been growing like mad. My other plants are not going well at all.

My tropica and amazon sword leaves seem to have died, I think this is because I didnt have fertilizers like root tabs to keep them alive and because I had them delivered on a very hot day and they arrived boiling. I now have root tabs, flourish excel and leaf zone (suggested by a member on my last post), the stems seem to be okay but the leaves are all but completely dead, should I trim all the decaying leaves and is there a chance the plants will spring back?

Also, will rearranging the plants and swapping out the gravel cause even more harm to my plants or will it not make a difference and is safe to do so?

I really hope I don't lose the tropica and sword as I paid decent money for them. Any help will be very much appreciated!

 

[ZxC]

Hi, I have a planted betta tank and wish to re-scape it and possibly swap out the gravel for a better substrate. I currently have lace fern, tropica and amazon sword planted in small gravel that was given to me. My lace fern has been going really well, its really nice and green and has been growing like mad. My other plants are not going well at all.

My tropica and amazon sword leaves seem to have died, I think this is because I didnt have fertilizers like root tabs to keep them alive and because I had them delivered on a very hot day and they arrived boiling. I now have root tabs, flourish excel and leaf zone (suggested by a member on my last post), the stems seem to be okay but the leaves are all but completely dead, should I trim all the decaying leaves and is there a chance the plants will spring back?

Also, will rearranging the plants and swapping out the gravel cause even more harm to my plants or will it not make a difference and is safe to do so?

I really hope I don't lose the tropica and sword as I paid decent money for them. Any help will be very much appreciated!

What kind of light do you have? And how tall is the tank?

I would trim off the dying leaves, try and cut them right at the base of the plant. Leave 3-4 newer leaves on and trim off any dying roots. Swapping gravel is fine. Replant the plants and gently tug up the swords, the crown where the leaves come out should be slightly ABOVE the gravel. Place a root tab or two where the roots are and replace as needed (swords will show slow growth and "funny" leaf shape when it's time for new root tabs). Dose the water column with the Excel and Leaf zone as per the bottle direction and keep up with a good water change schedule.

Do you have hard or soft water? Ca and Mg deficiencies in swords can pop up with softer water.

I hope this helps...