Amazon swords dieing off

[Spunky]

I had 3 amazon sword plants in my 75gal. 2 large, very full and one medium. We moved the tank, and I updated my lighting from 1/2 wpg, plus lots of natural sunlight to 2.6 wpg and even more direct sunlight. Instead of flourishing, all the leaves turned transparent and died off within the first week.

I have moved the plants before and they where fine, so it must be the increased light, but what is the reasoning behind it? I have new leaves starting and growing much faster than before, so they will be good as new in acouple months. I am not worried, I am just more courious than anything.

[Kashta]

That was a double-whammy for the plants, Spunky. They went into shock briefly because they were transplanted PLUS the lighting was way higher... both at the same time. Had it been just one or the other, you might not have seen any change at all. << This is my theory, at least. >>

They'll be fine and you're already seeing new growth. The energy of the plant is at the bottom, they just sacrificed their leaf growth to divert all energy to survival. That's a defensive reaction plants have.

[247Plants]

That was a double-whammy for the plants, Spunky. They went into shock briefly because they were transplanted PLUS the lighting was way higher... both at the same time. Had it been just one or the other, you might not have seen any change at all. << This is my theory, at least. >>

They'll be fine and you're already seeing new growth. The energy of the plant is at the bottom, they just sacrificed their leaf growth to divert all energy to survival. That's a defensive reaction plants have.


Kashta is very correct in this situation. Just like terrestrial plants, aquatic plants can go through a shock period also. One plant that is notorious for this is Cryptocoryne plants.

Some plants take well to change, others not so much, some even change their leaf form dramatically like Hygrophila Difformis.

Glad to hear they are shooting up new healthy leaves.

[Spunky]

Kashta is very correct in this situation. Just like terrestrial plants, aquatic plants can go through a shock period also. One plant that is notorious for this is Cryptocoryne plants.

thanks for the replies. I have had these swords for years, moving back and forth between dorm and home without any problems. They also moved from a high light 5.5gal to the 75gal low light without a problem. I never thought about the combination...

Its funny you should tank about crypts, because that is the other plant in the tank. Although i know wentii is known for being the hardiest of the crypts, I just can not kill the plant. :) i know that is a good thing, and i dont try, but the only change the wentii had in this whole transition is loosing a couple leaves because i dropped a slate rock on them while aquascaping!