# Echinodorus Tenellus die back



## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

So I recently added Echinodorus Tenellus to my tank and it took off- practically covering the entire foreground of my tank. I heard that sometimes the plant arrives with terrestrial leaves on it which will die back in favor of aquatic leaves. This did not happen initially but now after about 2 months, all my tenellus plants are dieing back- why?!? After so much explosive growth, they are the only plants in my tank turning brown and dieing. The roots look ok (not spectacular but not dead) but even the runners are dieing back (which I wouldn't think should happen if it was just new leaves forming). My CO2 is weak right now but they have a ton of light and were obviously very happy at one point (nothing has changed since then except the CO2). Any thoughts?


----------



## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

I think you ID'd the issue when you said the CO2 has dropped.

Also, swords in general need a good supply of iron, this could also be contributing if they have used up the available amount in the tank?


----------



## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

Humm... my amazon swords are doing fabulous- they've been sending out babies for a while now. Would they need as much iron? I have some MTS on the way- my thinking is that when I planted the tenellus, I significantly disturbed the soil and pockets of CO2 escaped. So hopefully the little snails will help keep the soil from getting stagnant and distribute the CO2 more evenly.


----------



## ombcat (Sep 23, 2004)

Try adding a good brand of root tabs under the substrate of the plants. I have found these to be very helpful in keeping them healthy.
wilma


----------



## Emily6 (Feb 14, 2006)

So to conclude this topic I cut back the dead veg, added a bunch of MTS and placed two iron-rich root tabs near the tenellus and they're slowly recovering. Yay!


----------

