Amazon sword help

[Sidman24]

What am I doing wrong? They are in a play sand substrate with root tabs. I dose with excel twice a week, and have 6500 K bulb on 8-9 hours a day. Is this normal? Thanks for replies!

 

[FallenRedeemer]

I have kept amazon swords for a while and started having problems with them not doing well at one point. One week I missed my water change and they did better. I haven't done a water change in 2 weeks now and they are bright and vibrant with new growth.

 

[Sidman24]

I have kept amazon swords for a while and started having problems with them not doing well at one point. One week I missed my water change and they did better. I haven't done a water change in 2 weeks now and they are bright and vibrant with new growth.

Well I don't think I want to sacrifice my fish by not doing a water change when I am suppose to... :/

 

[Mama Karoti]

I have finally found the balance for my Amazon Swords. Flourish once a week, Flourish Excel once a day in the mornings, and Flourish root tabs. Won't fix the dead/dying leaves, but the new growth will be healthy. You'll have to prune the unhealthy leaves. I have moderately hard water, 8.0 pH, 75% stocked, 78 degrees, weekly water change of 20-25%.

 

[Mama Karoti]

Sorry, should have also said 60 gallon with two 54W T5HO lighting.

 

[AquaAussie]

Plants need co2 as well

 

[Mama Karoti]

I don't use a CO2 supplementation system and mine are thriving.

 

[wildroseofky]

The higher the light the more fertilizer needed. Your amazon needs more nutrients. It also needs more phosphate. Do you have a phosphate test kit? Up the dosing of the Excel and the liquid fertilizers. Also up the amount of root tabs. I started adding two whole Jobe plants spikes a month to mine and it improved the leaf growth. Do a search on here for Excel dosing to get a good estimate on what you can safely dose a tank with fish.

 

[Sidman24]

So do I need to use flourish excel and just flourish ??? I use to use API co2 booster, but was told it wasn't needed

 

[Sidman24]

I'm sorry. I don't think I use excel. I dose just with the fertilizer liquid. I stopped using the c02... I'm confused which is which haha

 

[Mama Karoti]

Flourish is a micronutrient fertilizer that you dose 1-2 times per week. Flourish Excel is a kindof substitute to some degree for CO2 supplementation. It supplies plants with a usable form of carbon. It does not contain fertilizer. Seems to be working nicely for me. I dose it once in the morning since the plants utilize the carbon during daylight. Some people say it is costly, but I am not finding it to be so.

 

[AquaAussie]

Get a co2 canister, solenoid and diffuser.

 

[flitabout]

Swords don't need that much work. Changes are you have a macro deficiency. Macros are potassium, nitrogen, and phosphate. Seachem root tabs, and flourish comp are micros. Api co2 booster, excel, and metricide are all forms of glutaraldehyde which acts as a carbon source for plants and an algaecide not a fertilizer. It lasts in the tank anywhere from 12-24 hours depending on your bioload, so it should be dosed everyday around 30 minutes before the lights come on. You also need to remove the damaged leaves so that the plant doesn't waste it's energy trying to repair them. You might also want to look into a dry fert regime like pps-pro or EI (estimative index).
My swords under high light with pps-pro high dosing glut and root tabs look amazing and are 20+inches tall. I do nothing with them other than trim down leaves that get to tall and toss in a root tab every couple of months.