newfound77951
Aquarium Advice Addict
Looks like things are heading in the right direction. It takes a LOT of fish bioload to get enough nitrate in the tank sometimes, and obviously your plants are sucking it up nicely.
The reason you were probably OK for a while and then everything went downhill is that it took a while for the plants to get established and start growing well enough to deplete the nitrate. Once they did the algae are able to grow better in the low-nutrient conditions and out-compete the plants.
IMO the sword is not going to be happy until you give it more light. Plus in a 20g it's going to get way too big very quickly if it starts growing. If you want a sword-like plant that will be happy in your 1 wpg, try some Cryptocorynes, they like low light and have a similar look.
The reason you were probably OK for a while and then everything went downhill is that it took a while for the plants to get established and start growing well enough to deplete the nitrate. Once they did the algae are able to grow better in the low-nutrient conditions and out-compete the plants.
IMO the sword is not going to be happy until you give it more light. Plus in a 20g it's going to get way too big very quickly if it starts growing. If you want a sword-like plant that will be happy in your 1 wpg, try some Cryptocorynes, they like low light and have a similar look.