What's wrong with this plant...Will this fertilizer help?

[JPA]

I have an Amazon sword in my tank that seems to be struggling, and I don't know if it's from a lack of nutrients or if my wide-mouth pleco is doing it. Parts of the leaves have become clear, and it seems to be spreading (see picture below).

I went to my lfs and they recommended Pondcare Aquatic Food Tablets. I've never used tablets before, and these ones are huge. Are these good for a community tank and a medium-sized amazon sword? Will they harm the water at all? Tank is 38 gallons, cardinals, rasboras, and discus.

Thanks a lot for your help and advice.

 

[mfdrookie516]

what kind of lighting do you have? Im not sure on those root tabs, i always use flourish root tabs from seachem

 

[JPA]

what kind of lighting do you have? Im not sure on those root tabs, i always use flourish root tabs from seachem

That's the thing, I'm not sure about the lighting. It came with the tank so I assumed it was pretty weak, except I have had 7 plants in the tank for over two months now and this is the only one that has ever had a problem.

 

[mfdrookie516]

i dont know what swords look like when theyre not getting enough light, but i'd venture to say that its nutrient related. I had some a while back and before i used root tabs, they looked kinda like that, but were more yellow.

 

[Purrbox]

Since sword plants are such fast growing plants, they will tend to show deficiencies before other slower growing plants. My first suspect would be insufficient lighting, followed by a Potassium Deficiency.

 

[jsoong]

I never had luck with swords, even at 2 wpg. They seem to need high light & good ferts. If you have stock lights, that would be my first suspect. <You can find out what light you have by reading the inscription on the light bulb (might be on the underside/holder so you need to remove the bulb), or the sticker on the fixture itself.>

You can try the root tabs, but a pond one is huge! (OK if you have a 100 gal tank! ) Try to find the API ones for aquarium, or at least cut the pond one into quarters.

 

[cabezon]

if it came with the tank it is probably a low watt T8 bulb. like the ones in office ceilings but shorter?

i have my swords under a 2X24" T5 fixture and they are doing well. I would bet you need more light. But that gets tricky so that you don't end up with an algae problem. I use DIY CO2 and seachem flourish excel for carbon sourcing. I use Miracle grow for ferts, but don't tell anyone.

 

[timwag2001]

based on the size of the holes i vote phosphate def. i definately think those tabs are too much. use api, seachem or order the stuff you need to make your own. it doesnt look like a lighting issue imo.
some nutrients in plants are mobile which means that when new growth needs nutrients that it cant get from the water or substrate it reabsorbs it from older leaves.