[Sword Plant Never Came Back]

Bummer but thank you!

[Sword Plant Never Came Back]

Here’s what it looks like. Do you think there’s any hope?

[Sword Plant Never Came Back]

It’s pure RO with equilibrium and then buffers added. The leaves did look similar to when I bought the plant. Thanks for the idea to check the roots!

[Sword Plant Never Came Back]

Yes it was the emmersed version. I fully expected it to die back - and it did. But the new growth looked good but then it all disappeared. 

[Sword Plant Never Came Back]

Fish are listed in the original post. The plant was planted and then uprooted initially and it sent out a ton of roots and pulled itself down towards the sand. I replanted it a week or so later. 
It’s pool filter sand so hopefully a little less packed than finer sand. 

[Sword Plant Never Came Back]

I bought this large, gorgeous sword plant from my LFS several months ago. Some of the leaves died back, but it also produced new ones. It rooted like mad. I added root tabs and some easy green. I also have fairly high nitrates in the tank. I often lose plants - they die back and never return. This mostly happens with stem plants. I don’t know if my fish tear them up or if there’s just a deficiency. There’s tons of mulm in the sand. 
 

Details:

RO water with equilibrium, acid buffer and alkaline buffer

Temp 77-82 

50gal with 2 turquoise, 3 goyder river, and 2 yellow rainbows. Also 3 Dennison barbs, 1 bn pleco, 7 red phantom tetras and snails. 
 

Very stable parameters:

pH 8

0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 30-40 nitrate

kh 3, gh 6-8

fluval light set according to the picture below. The sword is off to the side where the light is less strong but it was growing fine for awhile there. Light is 48” and doesn’t cover all the way to the edges. However the other plants on the right side in the “shade” seem to flourish. 
 

Photos: 

What the plant looked like when I got it (stock photo)

What’s left of the plant  

The full tank - the plant is all the way on the left in the back 

FluvalSmart light settings

 

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[What is this plant?]

@Odd Duckthanks so much! I love it too although it frequently gets out of hand. All the tank inhabitants love it too

[What is this plant?]

@Odd DuckYES! The one that’s darker green and more substantial gets light from our kitchen LEDs that are 8 inches above and through a layer of duckweed (photo). The other has a Fluval plant light. 

[What is this plant?]

Thanks everyone! I have guppy grass in another tank that is darker, holds its shape, and has shorter leaves. Maybe they are both types of guppy grass. Comparison and close up pictures below. 
 

@Martinthank you! Yes it went crazy! The cherry shrimp are in hog heaven. I also have a bamboo shrimp, rabbit and nerite snails, P. Luminatus, and a scarlet badis in there. I cleaned out about 75% of the growth and searched it for Luminatus eggs. No luck 🤬

 

 

[What is this plant?]

I got a tiny piece of this plant with a fish I purchased. It looks like guppy grass but side by side they look different. The GG is darker and the leaves are less slender. 
 

thanks!

[Pseudomugil Luminatus age and sexing]

Thanks! Hopefully I’ll have some success with breeding now that I have a mature female!

[Pseudomugil Luminatus age and sexing]

I bought 6   P. Luminatus in early 2021. They were pretty small. I tried to breed them and got one egg in June 2021. 
 

I just took a female from a friend who had lost the rest of her school. She said the fish is about a year old/had her for a year. 

 

She’s huge compared to my only female (and to a couple of my males frankly). She does have the blue stripe along her back particular to Luminatus. 

Pics showing the comparison. Do you think all these are Luminatus? 
 

Thanks!

[Surprise Fry!]

So far they are eating green water, repashy powder and I think a few have been able to eat BBS. They’re more active and I don’t think I’ve lost any. Thank you!!

[Surprise Fry!]

I also have Repashy Spawn and Grow and Super Green powder. 

[Surprise Fry!]

I have been struggling with breeding projects for months. Even my rainbows seemed to take a vow of chastity. 

I had Red Phantom tetras in different combinations in my breeding tank for a month or so - no luck. Lots of breeding behavior, no eggs or fry that I could see. I put them back in my display tank Dec 18. I bought some ottos and isolated them in the breeding tank. I can't find stuff they like to eat so I tossed a hornwort covered in algae from my display tank into the iso tank sometime between Christmas and Dec 29.  

Tonight, I found fry swimming in the upper part of the tank! I've attached pictures - one unedited from my Nikon with a macro lens on. The other is a cropped version of the same photo.

I was thrilled at first but now I'm worried - could these be hybrid rainbow fry? My display tank has turquoise, yellow, and goyder river bows as well as the RPT school and denison barbs. This plant was jammed at the top of the tank right under the light and above a large decoration. I never see any of the fish near it. I'm hoping that bit of blue in the eye means they are RPTs (the adults have this). They look like little slivers of glass. The fry are free swimming (sorry I couldn't get a video to upload) and I can't tell if they are big enough to eat frozen baby brine (it looks nearly as big as their heads). I have Co-op fry food, frozen baby brine, and a mosquito culture outside that has some algae growing in it (I use the water to feed my bamboo shrimp - it has all sorts of small particles in it). Are these ok to feed? The ottos didn't touch the hornwort/algae so I'm sure it's full of tiny food too. I can also squeeze my sponge filter out into the water for tiny food. They are very active and did go after the BB but I can't tell if they managed to eat it. 

Thank you so much for any help!

[Stared out like ich but now I’m not sure.]

Thank you for the help. The pleco died this morning and it looks like one more Otto won’t make it. UGH

[Stared out like ich but now I’m not sure.]

I’ve had 5 ottos and a BN pleco in iso since 8/4. 4 days ago my BN had white spots all over. It was starting on the ottos too. I raised temp to 80 and started ich x treatment per the label. The ottos are already doing great (I did lose one). The pleco now looks like gold spots instead of white spots and its tail is frayed. 
 

Everyone is eating and active. 
 

pH 7.8

A 0

Ni 0

Na 5

kh 3

gh 7
 

Do I have two diseases going on?

 

thanks!

[I cannot believe Purigen is this good!!!!]

My plan was for it to help me get on top of the nitrates and then see if regular water changes would keep me where I wanted to be. So if I use it until it’s “full” and then leave it until nitrates are trending up again would I have allowed the BB to build back up enough to remove it without disturbing the cycle? 🤔

[I cannot believe Purigen is this good!!!!]

I rinsed it really well and it was a little powdery the first day. After that it was fine. Mine is in the prepackaged form. Are you using powder in your own bag?

[I cannot believe Purigen is this good!!!!]

Thanks for that information. This confirms what I’ve read and gives me more to think about. Basically I just wanted to see what it would do for clear water and lowering nitrate. I really wasn’t expecting much. What surprises me is that it keeps dropping. My theory is the major algae bloom and added light is making the plants remove it. 

[I cannot believe Purigen is this good!!!!]

Ah yes - I considered just pitching it and getting a new one to be safe. I’m hoping not to need it long term. 

[I cannot believe Purigen is this good!!!!]

@StreetwiseCare to elaborate?

[I cannot believe Purigen is this good!!!!]

It’s been coming down since I put it in. It was 20 after a water change 2 weeks ago. I am having an algae bloom due to a new light so that may be helping. 

[I cannot believe Purigen is this good!!!!]

I put purigen in my 50g that always has nitrates in the red zone. This is two weeks since a water change. 😳

[What was in your first tank]

OMG I love this and was just trying to remember. I had a 10gallon with an UGF. I’m pretty sure over time I had cardinal tetras, baby angelfish, and red eyes tetras in there. Moved on to livebearers.