Stunted plant growth

[Errien75]

Howdy, it appears that my amazon swords have stopped growing . I dose 5ml of Seachem Flourish Excel twice a week, have good gravel for the roots, although it's just plain gravel. I also have about 1.5 WPG (96 watt compact on a 65 gal tank). I was just wondering at why the growth is stunted, because swords do look like very nice plants.

 

[sarcare]

Well your light is pretty low, but as long as the plant isn't actually dieing I wouldn't worry. Those swords tend to get too large for most aquariums anyways. I have a Red Rubin sword in my 55g that takes up a good third of the tank. It will have to come out or be heavily pruned back soon.

 

[webcricket]

It's possible the sword is in need of some other nutrients that it is not getting. Excel is simply a source of carbon, there are no other nutrients in it for the plant. Since the sword is a heavy root feeder, you might try a fertilizer root tab placed in the gravel near the base of the sword. Just don't disturb the gravel where you place the tab for a couple of months after.