Amazon Sword health

[thegerm76]

Hi,
I recently set up a 23 gallon angelfish tank. The fish have been doing fine. The water sample I took to the pet store found that my water was fine. I also bought some Amazon Sword plants. They were fine for a week or so but have started to droop and some of the tips of the leaves have been turning brown and thinning out. I have a Flora light over them for 10-12 hours a day. Is there anything I can do to improve the health of these Amazon swords?
Thanks

[twotone12valve]

What type of substrate do you have? Swords need lots of root supplement so this may be your problem.

[thegerm76]

Matt,
I have them in a sand substrate but if you think gravel would help I have some. It's the same color too. I use it in another tank I have that has no live plants. I have plenty extra to add to the root area of the Amazon swords. What do you think?
Thanks,
Jeremy

[meh]

Sand and gravel have little nutrients so that may be the problem

[thegerm76]

Matt,
Do you think using some of those plant food tablets that you bury near the base of the plant would help? Or maybe some liquid plant food?
Jeremy

[thegerm76]

This morning I uprooted the plants and replanted them in the original plastic pots they came in with some looser gravel to hold them in. I pushed them into the sand just about halfway. When I uprooted them I saw that the roots were in pretty good shape. I've had these plants for only 8 days now and the roots were twice as long and spread out nicely. It just seems to be the leaves that are showing any signs of less-than-perfect health (brown spots, thinning here and their, some small cracks/holes). They weren't their a week ago and I have no snails or any leaf eating fish. Anyone have any other ideas?

[ScottFish]

You'll need to take them out of the pots; swords need a lot of room for their roots. Plant tabs for fert. vs. liquid fert. What is the condition of the water in your tank? It would be helpful to know more about these conditions --what is the Ammonia reading?, for ex. Also, what kind of lighting do you have? I'm glad there is some root growth. Sometimes it takes time for the sword to settle in a new tank.

[twotone12valve]

Ok, it sounds like you need some nutrients for it, I would pick up some root tabs for sure! Take it out of the pot and plant it in some gravel at least a few inches worth around the base. If your lighting is ok that should fix you up.

Also potassium liquid fertilizers work wonders when introducing new plants or even new setups, but beware of algae blooms!

[Crazygar]

Also, uprooting and replanting will not help the swords. Place them where they will be forever. Do you realize that in a 23 gallon tank, those Swords will dominate, and 23GAL is way too small for Angelfish.

Gary