My amazon sword is dying!

[Goldfish loach boy]

Hello, my amazon swords are dying, I haven't added any tabs yet and won't for another week at least and I'm pretty worried, I thought, if I cut the roots to 2 inches long, and I add 5 sinking food pellets under them, would that work? Thanks

[aqua_chem]

The sinking food pellets probably won't do anything for you. What's your tank setup? Ferts, lights, CO2, etc? Do you have a pic of the plant in question?

[Goldfish loach boy]

I have led lights, sand substrate, no co2 as its too expensive and liquid carbon will melt away my anacharis away
I'll post a pic if the plant right now

[azmodan]

How long has the sword been in there?

[Goldfish loach boy]

Well, it's been here for about 4 months, it's three of them by the way, but 2 weeks ago I took out my gravel and put in my sand, here it is

[boadams87]

They are heavy root feeders, you need some root tabs.

[foster53]

You could use DIY co2. It very inexpensive, and works fairly well.
Before I went pressurized I used it. Made a world of difference in plant health, and growth.

[Goldfish loach boy]

Originally Posted by boadams87

They are heavy root feeders, you need some root tabs.

I know, but it's dying very quickly, can I put anything to help it? And I need to cut its roots to 2 inches right? They are currently about 8 inches

[Goldfish loach boy]

Originally Posted by foster53

You could use DIY co2. It very inexpensive, and works fairly well.
Before I went pressurized I used it. Made a world of difference in plant health, and growth.

How do I go about the co2?

[Rivercats]

When you uprooted it for your substrate change it's having to acclimate and reestablish its roots. Yes cutting the roots encourages new roots to grow. You need to cut off the bad leaves so the plant doesn't waste energy on them. They also appear to have a nutrient deficiency. The Anubia has dark viens and light tissue which indicates a magnesium deficiency. I assume you don't have a Gh and Kh test kit?

[Goldfish loach boy]

Originally Posted by Rivercats

When you uprooted it for your substrate change it's having to acclimate and reestablish its roots. Yes cutting the roots encourages new roots to grow. You need to cut off the bad leaves so the plant doesn't waste energy on them. They also appear to have a nutrient deficiency. The Anubia has dark viens and light tissue which indicates a magnesium deficiency. I assume you don't have a Gh and Kh test kit?

Ok I'll take out the bad leaves and cut the roots to 2 inches, I don't have a gh or kh kit, but I do have a diatom bloom an I think those dark markings are diatoms
I'm finding every penny I can to go buy the root tabs

[Rivercats]

If the sword is really tall leave 3" of roots.

[Goldfish loach boy]

Well, the biggest one is about 8-9 inches tall, one is around 6-7, and the last one is 5

[Rivercats]

I'd leave about 3" of roots so the plants hopefully stand up without aid.

[Goldfish loach boy]

Originally Posted by Rivercats

I'd leave about 3" of roots so the plants hopefully stand up without aid.

Ok thanks!

[Mebbid]

How deeply did you plant the sword? If the rhizome is buried them it'll kill the plant.

Also, I would try excel in the tank. If you're worried about the anacharis then you can start out at a small dose and work your way up until you see it react negatively. Personally I use 4x the dose of excel and my anacharis is doing just fine.

[Goldfish loach boy]

Really? See that

I thought amazons had no rhizome?

[Aquarium advice master]

I have a DIY co2 and it works great for my plants it helped alot

[foster53]

Originally Posted by Goldfish loach boy

How do I go about the co2?

Google DIY co2, or look at the sites on this forum. There are tons of instructions for building, and using co2

[Aquarium advice master]

Ya it's pretty easy to hook up