Plant Lifespan

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

RadMax8

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jun 22, 2014
Messages
661
Location
Cleveland, Ohio
Hey guys,

I've had my tank up and running for just under three years now. I've had the same Amazon swords in since the tank was started. I moved a year ago, and my swords started to take a turn. They used to have leaves that were nearly 12 in tall, now I'm lucky if one grows to 5 in before it starts to turn brown. I've recently started using Mebbid's DIY root tabs. Will this start to bring the plants back, or are they close to the end of their life?

Let me know your thoughts!
 
The Root tabs should help. Swords are big root feeders and need deep enough substrate for their roots.

Has the lighting changed ?
Many fluorescent bulbs should be changed yearly. The UV output decreases over time.


Smoke signals from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I was aware that fluorescents do have a finite life. I had replaced the bulb shortly after I moved, and used a T-8 full spectrum bulb that I bought from the local Home Depot. Perhaps this was my error?
I changed my lighting fixture to an LED unit (the new ecoxotic), so lighting shouldn't be a problem now. I will have to be more diligent with my addition of root tabs.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
Plants Getting Old?

Hey guys,

I've had my tank up and running for just under three years now. I've had the same Amazon swords in since the tank was started. I moved a year ago, and my swords started to take a turn. They used to have leaves that were nearly 12 in tall, now I'm lucky if one grows to 5 in before it starts to turn brown. I've recently started using Mebbid's DIY root tabs. Will this start to bring the plants back, or are they close to the end of their life?

Let me know your thoughts!

Hello Rad...

I've been in the Waterkeeping" hobby 10 plus years and aquarium plants do, at some point, fail to regenerate. I really think, they're very much like fish. They don't live forever even in the best of conditions.

If you use commercial fertilizers, then make a change. Plants are like fish, they get tired of the same food and need a change. Water changes are important because it replenishes the minerals the plants need. I change at least half the tank water every 2 weeks in my tanks, more often if there's time.

Tank lighting does begin to dim after several months and the plants can be affected. So check these things out and make some changes. Maybe the plants will improve.

B
 
I think the lighting change has something to do with it.

I really do disagree with BBradbury about plants having a 'lifetime'. I see no reason why this would be the case, nor have i ever seen anything or even heard of this.

I would encourage BBradbury to maybe post a link to some kind of evidence of this?? After all im open to having my mindset changed :)

I defo agree with BBradbury on the 50% weekly water changes though



Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
That's a tricky subject, plants don't have a life span but the leaves seem to have a short one.

Stem plants in particular are easy to see it with. Lower leaves will eventually shrink and darken while the new growth on the top is lush. Cutting and replanting solves this. On a sword the leaves also have a finit life span the older leaves will eventually start to die off while new ones are growing in. It's also quite common for old sword plants to split into two separate plants at the Rosette. I recently had that happen with a few of my plants.

I would look at other factors before anything else on the plant.
 
That's a tricky subject, plants don't have a life span but the leaves seem to have a short one.

Stem plants in particular are easy to see it with. Lower leaves will eventually shrink and darken while the new growth on the top is lush. Cutting and replanting solves this. On a sword the leaves also have a finit life span the older leaves will eventually start to die off while new ones are growing in. It's also quite common for old sword plants to split into two separate plants at the Rosette. I recently had that happen with a few of my plants.

I would look at other factors before anything else on the plant.


100% agree with this.

The stem can lose almost all its leaves and still recover. Never heard of a plant simply die right off under normal conditions


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
Plants have a lifespan guys. Do trees and bushes live forever? No. Some can live 300 years plus under the right conditions but do eventually die. Water sprite is a well known aquatic that is annual in the wild and will die within a year or two in the aquarium but produces numerous "baby plants" that take root and take over where the mother plant left off. But yes in stems trimming and replanting can prevent them from totally dieing off.
 
Plants have a lifespan guys. Do trees and bushes live forever? No. Some can live 300 years plus under the right conditions but do eventually die. Water sprite is a well known aquatic that is annual in the wild and will die within a year or two in the aquarium but produces numerous "baby plants" that take root and take over where the mother plant left off. But yes in stems trimming and replanting can prevent them from totally dieing off.


Still not convinced im afraid. Id like to see some solid evidence


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice
 
Plants have a lifespan guys. Do trees and bushes live forever? No. Some can live 300 years plus under the right conditions but do eventually die. Water sprite is a well known aquatic that is annual in the wild and will die within a year or two in the aquarium but produces numerous "baby plants" that take root and take over where the mother plant left off. But yes in stems trimming and replanting can prevent them from totally dieing off.

Trees die because they get too large, have issues bringing water up to their leaves and then eventually die as a result of stressors or collapse under their own weight. However, trees and bushes are not aquarium plants.

Instead of dying completely, when water sprite grows too large it will shade out the areas of lower growth causing it to die off. This causes a reaction higher up in the plant to grow a new root ball and then it separates from its old stem. It's the same exact plant, it just ended up breaking itself apart into multiple plants and not even through the use of runners. It is the exact same plant. If it had a 2 - 3 year life span then I would shortly see all my entire stock of water sprite die off because again, it is the same exact plant.

Sword plants are continuously regenerating themselves in new leaf growth. The old leaves die, new ones grow, and when the rosette reaches a large size it will split creating 2 new plants. This directly defies the aging process because the plant is in a constant state of renewal.
 
Do Plants Have A Life Expectancy?

I think the lighting change has something to do with it.

I really do disagree with BBradbury about plants having a 'lifetime'. I see no reason why this would be the case, nor have i ever seen anything or even heard of this.

I would encourage BBradbury to maybe post a link to some kind of evidence of this?? After all im open to having my mindset changed :)

I defo agree with BBradbury on the 50% weekly water changes though



Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

Hello Sk...

No evidence other than my observations over the years. The original plant will die off at some point, but new leaves or whole plants will grow. The Java fern is a good example. I've had plants last for quite a long time, but those that regrow are just a copy of the original and don't seem to be as hardy. Eventually, the plant needs to be removed and I just replant with the same type plant or something different that works under the lighting.

B
 
Yes, plants do have a lifespan. As they grow and their cells divide, their dna gets "damaged" in the same way animal cells do. Some trees, like cottonwoods grow quickly, but have a short lifespan (around 100 years or so,) while bristlecone pine trees routinely live thousands of years. The oldest one still alive is named Methuselah and is believed to be around 4700 years old.Scientists and botanists have noted the normal life spans of most all plants.:thanks:
 
Yes, plants do have a lifespan. As they grow and their cells divide, their dna gets "damaged" in the same way animal cells do. Some trees, like cottonwoods grow quickly, but have a short lifespan (around 100 years or so,) while bristlecone pine trees routinely live thousands of years. The oldest one still alive is named Methuselah and is believed to be around 4700 years old.Scientists and botanists have noted the normal life spans of most all plants.:thanks:
Again with the trees... Trees do not grow the same way aquarium plants do. That's like comparing apples and oranges.

If plants had a limited lifespan from their damaged DNA then every single plant that was created from that plant through stem clippings, runners, and splitting would die at roughly the same time. They are created a sexually and are a clone of the original. That's problematic in the way that some of the plants that are spread throughout our hobby originate from a few original plants.
 
Wow, didn't think I'd spark such an interesting discussion.

So, in order to jump start my swords, would it be a good idea to do some serious trimming to get rid of a lot of the ill-looking leaves? A lot of the leaves have a brownish base that looks a little soft.

Thanks again, everyone. I'm learning so much!
 
Wow, didn't think I'd spark such an interesting discussion.

So, in order to jump start my swords, would it be a good idea to do some serious trimming to get rid of a lot of the ill-looking leaves? A lot of the leaves have a brownish base that looks a little soft.

Thanks again, everyone. I'm learning so much!

Strange discussions often happen in unexpected places here :)

You will want to trim all holey or damaged leaves off of plants. The plants will waste energy trying to repair them instead of using it on growing.
 
I don't have the science background to say as to why plants have a lifespan but I do know that it is widely agreed on by botanists and biologists that plants cannot live indefinatley, just like any other organism. A quick google search can show that. But yes, with stem plants you can trim from the top and replant for many years without a problem.
 
I don't have the science background to say as to why plants have a lifespan but I do know that it is widely agreed on by botanists and biologists that plants cannot live indefinatley, just like any other organism. A quick google search can show that. But yes, with stem plants you can trim from the top and replant for many years without a problem.

I agree, I don't think any aquatic plants can be truly "immortal" so to speak. Random example: Lobsters will not die unless eaten or killed by an outside source. They keep growing. HOWEVER, soon, they grow too large and are unable to consume enough energy to sustain themselves, and die. Same thing with trees I believe.
 
That's the fun thing about sword plants, when they can't feed themselves anymore they just lose their oldest leaves and smaller ones grow that are most appropriate such as what's happening in this instance.
 
Back
Top Bottom