Plants look warn and transparent....

[blankenship]

I bought 2 plants yesterday (see picture below on left). The leaves look like they are turning transparent. They are not a dark rich green. They look kind of faded and warn. I do not know the name of the plant. I currently have 21W of light in my 10g tank and I am injecting DIY CO2. Maybe I need some fertilizers, I don't know. Any thoughs??

http://images.snapfish.com/3423896323232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E232%3A%3D%3C64%3D676%3 DXROQDF%3E2323688%3A64%3B99ot1lsi

[SnakeIce]

your sword plants have been grown with thier leaves out of the water. the plant will survive in water but those leaves won't, so new leaves will have to grow for underwater life.

[blankenship]

Interesting.....so what can I expect happen. The leaves will just die and fall off and eventually new ones will grow in?

Do you think I will need fertilizers? If so should I go with tablets or liquid?

[SnakeIce]

ya the swords will look like they are dieing befor they really get going with the submersed leaves.

swords are root feeders meaning they get most of the nutrients they need from the substrate. so to supply what they need you would need to put something down under their roots for them. but if your substrate isn't deep enough that can cause problems from nutrients leaching into the water column more than the other plants in you tank can use.

so how deep is your gravel there?

[blankenship]

The gravel is about 2 inches deep. I also have a Java fern and some Christmas Moss in there (see pics below). So does this mean I should get fert tabs and place them next to the swords, and then get some liquid ferts for the fern and moss?

http://images.snapfish.com/3423942%3B23232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E232%3A%3D%3C64%3D676 %3DXROQDF%3E2323688%3A64%3A%3C6ot1lsi http://images.snapfish.com/3423942%3B23232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E232%3A%3D%3C64%3D676 %3DXROQDF%3E2323688%3A64%3B56ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3423942%3B23232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E232%3A%3D%3C64%3D676 %3DXROQDF%3E2323688%3A64%3B48ot1lsi

[djlen]

Yes, swords are 'root' feeders. But IMO, no you do not have to use in-gravel fertilization for them to thrive.......at least in my experience.
I grew them for years with regular nutrients, until I got tired of them taking over my tanks. One day I just pulled them all(no easy task as their roots had expanded to cover most of the bottom of the tank as well), and took them back to the LFS.
Crypts are supposed to be big root feeders. I grow them well and have never used plant tabs or anything of that genre.
When your new leaves grow in they should become nice and dark green. If after a period of time they start to fade, you can fertilize with regular water table nutrients and they should do fine.


Len

[blankenship]

So if I do use tabs, would using liquid ferts for the fern and moss be overkill for the swords. Or becuase the swords are root plants they won't use the liquid ferts?

[djlen]

Using root tabs is unnecessary, IMO.
Especially if you move plants around, as many of us do. If they are disturbed before they are spent, there is a good possibility of the excess nutrients getting into the water table. This can/will cause heavy duty algae issues.

Len