# Crinkled Amazon Swords



## Rtifs (Nov 6, 2009)

My Amazon Swords showed some rapid initial growth, but seem to have stalled out over the last couple weeks. Additionally their leaves are starting to look crinkled. I don’t heat the tank, other than what the lighting provides, so I understand growth will be reduced. But I was wondering if crinkled leaves might be an indicator of some sort of deficiency.


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## Dustymac (Apr 26, 2008)

If you have a good soil substrate, about all you have to worry about with Amazons is water hardness. It could be you need to add some Calcium, Potassium and Magnesium to the aquarium's water. Have you tested the GH?

Jim


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## Rtifs (Nov 6, 2009)

My test strip indicates:
GH - about 150 ppm
KH - indeterminate; the color does not match anything on the results reader. Maybe this is a defective batch of strips. 

I do have crushed coral mixed into the substrate gravel, so I can't imagine Ca would be deficient.


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## Dustymac (Apr 26, 2008)

I'm not sure I would trust the test strips - they never seemed to be very accurate to me. But assuming you have 150 ppm, that's on the low side and you could use more Calcium and Magnesium. Also, the test strip probably doesn't account for Potassium. What about water changes? Too much isn't good for an NPT since you can dilute hard water nutrients if your replacement water is really soft. Are you feeding the tank regularly? How are the fish doing?

Jim


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## Rtifs (Nov 6, 2009)

Well here are some pics so you can see it. The first is just there to show the original size. The second shows the growth in the last month. It also shows the crinkling, or warping effect I'm talking about. I suppose it doesn't look serious, but if there's an issue I want to nip it in the bud.


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## Dustymac (Apr 26, 2008)

Relax, those Amazons are just messing with you. 

I can't see anything unusual except the cloudy water. How long has it been since you set up this tank?

Jim


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