Amazon Swords declining

[soulgraft]

Hi all,
I am new to aquariums. Though I have had my 20g tank for a year, I have not spent as much time learning and working with it as I should have. Anyway, I have planted amazon swords, which have been slowly declining. Although nothing is obviously wrong, the leaves are getting smaller and smaller over time with hardly any stems. I have low light (28 w) and am not dosing with any fertilizers. The fish load is light - 3 otocincluses and 4 tetras. I have recently had a major cyanobacteria outbreak, which seems to be under control now. However, there are still some sheets on the substrate, which I could not remove. The sword's decline has been happening before the outbreak as well. Any thoughts? It is sad to see plants slowly withering away. Many thanks!

 

[HN1]

Have you changed your bulbs(s)?

Welcome to AA!

 

[soulgraft]

Hi, - thank you for the welcome!
Yes, I have recently changed the bulbs. I don't know whether that matters, but my water has pretty high pH even though the tap water is neutral.

 

[jsoong]

Swords are heavy feeders, so need a rich substrate. If you are planting in plain gravel, some root tabs might help.

 

[HeathB]

I'm not sure if it helps much on a 20 gallon with 1 bulb which seems like any way you do it is going to be low light unless its t5h0, but I'm trying out a 6700K bulb. The 6000s seem to be the spectrum plants do good in, or so I hear.

+1 jsoong on substrate and root tabs. I think another thing to consider about the gravel you already have is the size of it too. One of the main reasons I got some laterite (not the best from what I hear) was just so that rooting plants would have something a tad better to actually grab onto.

 

[HN1]

How long have you had the swords? Do you happen to know if they were grown submerged? Most swords are grown immersed since they grow fastest that way and take awhile to become fully submerged plants. If the leaves are "floppy" when healthy, you have a fully aquatic sword. When making the transition, the leaves will usually die off and the plant grows softer leaves in their place. They could also be affected by the recent bulb change and jsoong is absolutely right about their nutritionary needs.

 

[DragonFish71]

Couldn't agree more with what has been said here.

Any plant you buy can, notice I said CAN, go through an acclimation cycle like a fish will. They have to get used to the new environment. They can lose leaves and look like they are near death. Roots tabs are great for swords and crypts because they are heavy root feeders. They also like some light. Now I'm not going to say I know everything about this whole tank lighting thing, I'm just going to go from my experience. On some of our tanks I use the 6500k daylight bulbs. They aren't high wattage, I think they are 40w bulbs. I get them at Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot (depends on which store I'm near) These are used on our 40g, 29g, 20L and 55g. Since changing to these bulbs vs the "plant and aquarium" bulbs all our plants have gone crazy. I have much better growth, the leaves are full and green. I know someone will probably say my advice on this is wrong, but I suggest going to the store, getting a new bulb like the one I mentioned and putting it in. Now, if your light fixture is the screw in kind, incandecent lighting, use the spiral compact fluorescent bulbs. They have those in 6500k daylight also. Go for one with a higher wattage if you can. These are just regular household bulbs, nothing special. Just make sure it's 6500k daylight. Usually they are in a blue box or have blue on the label. Of course if you have the money you can go with the more expensive lighting for planted tanks.

All I do for most of my plants is the bulbs, root tabs and Seachem Excel once a week.

 

[soulgraft]

Thank you all, - I'll give a try to the tabs. I have been hesitant to use any fertilizers as I have just emerged from a major blue-green disaster. But may be this will help the plants to dominate. I have had the swords for as long as I have had the aquarium and they have been slowly but steadily diminishing in size. I have two Coralife bulbs F14T5-BP: one Coloremax and the other 6700K. I assume they are 14 W each.

 

[Purrbox]

You might want to check to see if the sword has developed a crom (sp?). It's sort of like a bulb and will be at the base of the roots. If there is one you will need to break it off to encourage the plant to start growing again instead of going into a dormant phase.

 

[Jim173]

Very interesting. I think my swords are just getting used to being fully submerged. My Ozelot is loving it already .

 

[BillD]

You might want to check to see if the sword has developed a crom (sp?). It's sort of like a bulb and will be at the base of the roots. If there is one you will need to break it off to encourage the plant to start growing again instead of going into a dormant phase.

Good advice. It usually happens after about a year, wherein the plant will stop growing. The corm can be planted to produce one or more plants.