Plants do not look healthy

[sardesign]

Specs:

20 gallon long
130 watts (mix 10,000K + 6,700K) on for 12 hours a day.
12 amazon swords (12+ inches tall)
1 anubias
1 (forgot name... long thin stem, reddish flat leaves)
2 italian val
2 small anubias

dose 10mL of Flourish a week
dose 10mL of Flourish Iron a week
does 4mL of Flourish Excel a week
have about 7 Jobe's plant spikes underneath gravel.

My poor plants do not look good at all. Some of the amazons look thin and veiny. Some just rotted away. I lost two leaves to the larger anubias. Does anyone have any suggestions. Am I overfeeding plants? Am I underfeeding plants?

[Captain Hook]

I can think of 3 good reasons your plants aren't doing too well.

1. Are you adding CO2 at all? That is a ton of light you have on the tank and if you don't have CO2 that is a major problem. I seriously doubt Excel can keep up with the lights you have.

2. Too many swords! One sword could FILL your entire tank, believe me. You should really consider cutting it back to one or two at most. Give them room to grow (already very limited in a 20 gallon)

3. You aren't adding any macro nutrients in liquid form. I know you have the Jobes but that likely isn't enough with the lights you have. If I were you, I'd head over to the closest hydroponics store and buy some fertilizer crystals. KNO3, K2PO4, etc. You want to add Nitrogen (N), Phosphate (P), Potassium (K), and probably smaller amounts of Calcium (Ca) and Magnesium (Mg).

Are you familiar with the Barr Estimate Index method? I've never used it 100% personally, but I hear good things. It would work well for you I'd think.

[sardesign]

Thanks,

I'll cut the lighting down to 65 watts. I'll have to wait to get my new tank before I move the swords (1 week away). I'm am supplying the macro nutrients in liquid form. I just got my bag of KNO3 in the mail for an extra supplement.

[Jerm]

Yeah, with that much light, i would think it would be like a laser for your plants. What about adding a blue bulb into one of the sections and using it as a moonlight?

[reiverix]

Do you know your NO3 and PO4 levels? How long have the plants been in the tank? But I agree with Captain Hook that you need to be adding macros to the tank. I also think you are seriously underdosing your trace elements. Excel is best dosed daily IME.

[sardesign]

I do have two 1 watt moonlights already :)
I just cut the intensity down. I'll just get some more lighting for the new larger tank instead and work up a CO2 system. Hopefully my plants will survive the week or two before I get my new tank setup (they are still green at least).

[Captain Hook]

Where are the liquid macros you're talking about? You didn't mention them in the first post.

[sardesign]

Doesn't Flourish contain macros? I'm reading the side of the bottle and see:

Nitrogen, Phosphate, Calcium, Iron. I also have a bag of Potassium Nitrate.

[Captain Hook]

Not really. Only in very small amounts, not nearly enough for the amount of light you have.