Amazon sword plants not doing good

[Andream420]

Hey I have three amazing sword plants. I have them in a 55 gallon aquarium with gravel substrate. My plants leaves are yellow and transparent and just look like they're dying. I dose with seachem excel and seachem advance and just started using seachem root tabs. I think possibly it could be my light its an led aqueon that came out of the 55 gallon starter kit. I dont think those lights are good for plants are they. Thank you in advance.

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Amazon Swords do enjoy medium lighting, but let’s look at a couple of other things first. 

How long have you had them? Swords are most often grown out of water and they transition from when you add them to your aquarium. It’s possible the dying leaves are from the transition. Can you describe what the leaves look like? Are they kind of oval shaped or are they long, pointed leaves?
 

You said you were dosing Seachem’s Advance and that you had started using root tabs, if the plant has already transitioned to living underwater you may have starved it before you got the root tabs. They are heavy root feeders. Feel free to place another tab under the plant as soon as possible. They yellowing leaves can be an indicator that they aren’t getting enough to eat. I put three tabs under my largest swords every month. 

[Andream420]

So two of my plants are have long pointy leaves I've had them for a while and one if them has round oval shaped leaves I just bought that one  .  I had to restart my tank back up and put the plants and the fish in a temporary place. I put the aquarium back together two weeks ago and they've been slowing dying off . And I just bought a new led light coming in a couple of days it's a nicrew classic led for plants hopefully that helps and I just added 1 more seachem root tab I wish i can send a picture

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

I have a NICREW. I highly recommend picking up the $10 timer made for that light. You can lower the intensity and set a schedule for the light to come on and off. It’s a great buy!

The new plant is transitioning AND appears to have reproduced. The plants along that tall stems are new plants. They have their own roots so you can wait for them to detach or cut the stem and plant them in the substrate. Just make sure you give them root tabs. Three plants for the price of one is always a good deal. 
 

The plant that is growing very wide doesn’t appear to be struggling from light. If it was I think the leaves would be longer and the plant wouldn’t have grown so spread out. It does appear to have some algae on it?

It is time to cut away the dying leaves. Anything translucent or covered in algae can be removed. It will actually help your plant. It is devouring those leaves to stay alive. Removing them will allow it to grow again. Especially now that you are feeding root tabs. You won’t like how they look immediately after, but the grow pretty quick when they are happy. 

[Andream420]

How would I cut the leaves can I use kitchen scissors or just use my hands. And thank you so much for all of your help and I also have anubis attached to drift wood and it has a brown spot on it so you know what that can mean 

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

A sharp pair of scissors will be best. Just remove the worst leaves first. I wouldn’t cut too many at one time. Two or three every few days or week. 
 

From this picture it doesn’t really look like a deficiency. Could it just be a little diatom algae. If it is it is fine. It will go away or something will eat it. Here is the best graphic I’ve seen to help with plant deficiencies. 
 

 

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Were the leaves on the older swords just green? Or have they had red markings as well? 

[Andream420]

They never had red markings at all since I had them 

[Isaac M]

Hi @Andream420, if your amazon swords are experiencing yellow or translucent leaves, it is likely that they had a nitrogen deficiency as shown in the graphic @Mitch Norton provided from the Aquarium Co-op. Given that your aquarium is new and you did not have root tabs for the swords in a substrate with no nutrients, this is the likely cause. The root tabs will help the swords a lot as they are heavy root feeders. If the swords appear to still show a deficiency, it may need more root tabs or the root tabs you added have already been consumed. 

The anubias looks to be perfectly fine to me. It is a slow growing plant so they do not need a lot of nutrients or light. They will develop algae actually if you do this. I would just monitor it and if an obvious issue begins to unfold, please post about it here on the forum. 

[Martin]

I had a similar problem with browning/yellowing at the older leaf tips as well.  I realized I wasn't providing enough nutrients.  Once I started placing root tabs more frequently (2 root tabs monthly instead of 1) and increased dosing EZ Green for the nitrogen, the plant perked back up.  If there was significant browning, I trimmed the leaves.

[Andream420]

Sorry for the late reply. Since I started using the root tabs I've noticed a lot more growth. It's slow. I'm still scared to cut the Amazon leaves. I'm not exactly sure where to cut on the stem. I recently got some combomba and some animal on driftwood but I'm exactly sure what type it is. any tips for the new plants.

[Mitch_ScruffyCityAquatics]

Swords grow in a circular pattern. New growth starts in the center and the older leaves are toward the outside. When you need to trim off a damaged leaf you cut the stem of that leaf as close to the base of the plant as possible. 
 

Glad to hear that you are seeing new growth! They really love a lot of nutrients. Keep those root tabs handy. When you see any deficiencies, quickly add another. After a few months you should know how many your plants needs each month and ore-load them into the substrate. 
 

The plant on the piece of wood is an Anubias. It is one of my favorite slow growing plants. It will mostly feed from fertilizer that you add to the water. It is a lowlight and slow growing plant. It is very rewarding to see new growth form. If your lights are bright it prefers a little shade. 

Edited May 9, 2021 by Mitch Norton

[mibohes]

I think there must be something wrong with your plant. It can either be light, the lack of fertilizers, both, or even something else. You can take some remedial measures in this regard. In the first place, remove the yellowish or brown leaves because they are already dying, and rebuilding them will take a lot of nutrients and energy. In my opinion, there isn't much hope. A root tab in the tank is one of the essential things, especially if you have That type of Amazon Swords or other aquatic plants. Carbon dioxide injection is another solution that can revive yellowish and brown leaves. Your fish can die from a bit of extra carbon dioxide. Please do so accordingly and I hope that works.

Edited August 17, 2022 by mibohes