# Help with Diagnosing holy yellow Echinodorus bleheri



## slasley (Oct 19, 2011)

Hello,
I'm very new to planted aquariums so I'm running a low tech setup, and trying to learn as I go.

Tank: 20g
Water: ~7 ph (half RO half tap)
Temp: 82F
Lighting 1 24w T5 10000k
1 24w T5 6700k
25% water changes weekly.
Fish: pair german blue rams, 9 tetras, gold nugget pleco, one pair of apistogramma cacs.

my Amazonian swords have just started rapidly going down hill. I pulled one and moved it to another tank and it's root growth has tripled since I bought it 4 weeks ago but the leaves are starting to get holes and turn slightly yellowish. I purchased them from aquariumplants.com and they were immaculate when I got them. The substrate is plain old playsand which from what I've read may not be giving the plants enough nutrients since they rely heavily on nutrients from substrate. Do you think some seachem flourish tabs would be enough to bring these guys back?



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Thank you!
Stone


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## cdSan (Nov 17, 2011)

Those will help along with some potassium and iron.


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## Klaus07 (Sep 18, 2011)

Without actually seeing your plant it is hard to comment except to generalize and guess. Most swords as well as plants bought from stores or online vendors that arent true obligate aquatics are grown out of water. It is easier to grow them that way, they ship better and require less space and care. That being said, when you put them into a submersed environment, the old emeresed growth slowly dies and is replaced by new nice green growth. Submersed swordplant leaves are very different from emeresed leaves. They are less rigid as they are thinner and are forced to do a more effective job of capturing sunlight. It is normal to see swordplants behave in this way. To grow them effectively, you should put them in a soil environment and feed them with a well balanced fertilizer at the roots, eg slow release osmocote. As long as your plant is putting out new healthy growth I would just trim the unsightly yellow leaves away. It may be a good idea also to put the entire mess in a pot, otherwise the roots will take over the entire tank (over time), and it will be hard to move without destroying your substrate. By potting the amazon sword you effectively contain the soil and the roots at the same time. 

Klaus


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