Brazilian Sword Plants are almost clear

[Relic1882]

Hello. I'm pretty new to planted tanks altogether. I have a 24" SunGlo tube for lightning. I have a few Brazilian Swords planted in sand that's probably 4" or so in the rear and sloping downward to about 2" in the front. I recently had a problem with all of my fish dying in a very short time. I couldn't prevent it. I still don't know what happened and it happened very fast. Since then, my plants have become very clear looking. They've lost nearly all of their color. I understand that fish waste plays a part in keeping them fertilized. The problem is I'm really new at plants and I don't plan on having more than 2 oscars in the tank when I have it completed again. Can anyone give me fertilizer suggestions in the meantime? I was at the store today and saw a couple fertilizers that said they were supplements of a fert program for aquatic tanks, but I don't know what to buy to get good results. I don't have any special test kits except for the Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH kit. At the moment I'm assuming it's a fert nitrogen deficiency because before my fish problem they were screamin' green and growing like weeds. I actually got 3 extra plants growing off the 1st one within a few weeks. I need help. Thanks a lot

[malkore]

First of all, a 29gallon tank is [acronym:eec683df8a="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:eec683df8a] place for an oscar, let alone two. Maybe for a couple of months if they are still at 2" long, but after that, you're looking at a 75gallon tank, minimum, for one oscar.

Your problem is a lack of light. Swords do best at 1.5watts per gallon or higher, and you have 20watts over a 29gallon, so not even 1 watt per gallon. Swords also are heavy root feeders, and usually require root fertilization, even in plant substrates like Flourite.

[opiesilver]

Brazilian Swords, Spathiphyllum tasson, is not a true aquatic plant either. You can buy them under the common name "Peace Lily".

[travis simonson]

If what you have is a plant sold as 'Brazilian Sword' you most likely have what is known as a bog or marginal plant that was never intended for submersed growth. What is commonly (and unfortunately) sold in many [acronym:8a12fc9102="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:8a12fc9102]'s as Brazilian Sword is a variety of Spathiphyllum tasson (aka Peace Lily) that is actually a terrestrial plant that may live for some time submersed but will eventually decay and die, causing all sorts of problems. This plant is commonly sold in many [acronym:8a12fc9102="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:8a12fc9102]'s and they give no warning as to the fact that it will die if kept submersed. It is not a true Echinodorus sword plant and should not be kept in aquariums as a submersed species. Make sure to notify the store you bought it from that it should not be sold as such. I did so with my [acronym:8a12fc9102="Local Fish Store"]lfs[/acronym:8a12fc9102] and they were good enough to relable it as a 'bog' plant and now sell it with instructions as to its true nature. I hope this helps.