Amazon Sword - leaf discoloration

bitbot

bitbot

AC Members
Nov 10, 2008
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Sydney, Australia
Hi all,

I haven't been very active on this forum for a while, but I'm hoping for some opinions from you plant experts.

[Tank - 120cm long - 29 gallon or 30 gallon (?), 90W of T8 fluoros, DIY CO2, EI ferts and Fluorish Comprehensive Supplement]

I have a sword (Echino. bleheri?) that is not doing as well as it used to. You can see in the photos that the older leaves have a kind of brown discoloration on them. I clip off a few leaves each week, but still about two thirds of the leaves look like this, kind of ugly. I can't tell if it is algal growth or just the deterioration of the older leaves.

Originally, leaves were growing to more than 50cm; now they are only about 30cm (which is okay for this tank) and they seem to be quite fragile, tear easily and often have holes.

The plant is over 1.5 years old, and the point where the roots start growing out is several cm above the substrate (the roots still reach down into the substrate) - is this a problem?

Also the rest of the tank has a fair bit of val, blyxa japonica, lace fern and moss now, so there is more competition for nutrients and light.

SO, questions are:
Is it algae, normal leaf aging, a sick plant?
Are the exposed roots a problem?

Thanks, hope you can help.
 
I dont see a pic.
 
image1.jpgimage3.jpegimage2.jpeg

Please excuse the sideways photos. It's an iPhone / PC issue and I don't know how to fix it (2nd attempt).

Also, the white dots on the leaves are just sand - just did a water change.

image1.jpg image3.jpeg image2.jpeg
 
WeedCali said:
Can you scrape any of it off? looks like algae to me.
Click to expand...

same here(I used to have something like that until BBA exploded in my tank) I just had to get rid of my huge amazon sword which had ~30+ leaves)

hopefully that won't happen since you have Co2, and I only use ferts
 
I had problems like that before I got rid of the DIY co2. Because of the always fluctuating levels of gas in the tank it makes it hard to balance the levels of ferts and light. Since eliminating the co2 and lowering the photoperiod to 5 hrs the algae is gone and the plants are healthy. Pressurised co2 is much more stable allowing you to balance the ferts and light much more easily.

I also suspect that the alcohols produced as a by product of co2 production make their way into the tank affecting the fish and plants. My fish are much better colored now that the co2 is gone and the strange mulm that covered the plants has dissapeared.
 
mine do the same thing. it's a combination of algae and debris. if you increase the water flow with a powerhead it will clean some of it off as will adding otos. you can also take the plant out and rinse it off in tap water which will help considerably.
 
Thank you for all the replies guys, really appreciate it.
I'm thinking it is algae as some of the rocks have a similar looking 'coating' if you look carefully - just looks different on the different coloured background. I can't really scrape it off though.

prober, I will have a think about what you said. I don't think I want to do 'grown-up' CO2 on the tank though.

rstrobel, I wish I could take the plant out, but you know how their roots grow through the whole tank! - I don't want to trash the scape. I love otos, but they are hard to find here, and expensive. I might try the powerhead idea, though, because there is very little movement in the tank, so it might be a problem.

Here's a whole tank shot for a bit of context - not a great shot, but at least it's not sidewways :)

120.jpg


Any ideas on why the new leaves are a bit stunted and have holes?
Old plant, exposed roots, nutrient deficiency, competition from other plants?
Would a savage pruning of the ugly leaves help the plant or hurt it?

120.jpg
 
I agree with rstrobel, plecos, nerites, otos will do a good job cleaning that. Pop some root tabs around the base of your plant, see if that livens it up.
 
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