new to plants and need some advice

[cudamaster13]

im new to plants and currently have one amazon sword in a small tank with tetras but it is loseing leaf color and leaves so i was wondering if it needs something to help it grow and i am soon to have 2 other amazon swords,1 red sword,1 pygmy chainsword and some red telanthera plants and was wondering if they need any special reqiurements any help would be great

 

[Pshmock]

When a plant isn't doing good in my tank the first thing I check is the lighting. Make sure that you have proper lighting to grow plants. If that isn't the issue then I go into my backyard and take some soil from an area that I know has no chemicals / pesticides and mix it with sand. Then I plant it in the soil in a clay pot about 70% dirt and 30% gravel at the top to cover it up and to prevent the dirt from clouding the tank. you have to make sure that the bottom is plugged up though so the soil doesn't seep through. If you do it correctly your plants should flourish. I currently have an Aponogeton ulvaceus that has almost completely grown from a bulb in about a week.

 

[fish042099]

Amazon swords need bright light: low light-1-2wpg; medium light-2-2.5 wpg; high lighting-3 or more wpg. You would need at least 3 wpg. (ps wpg means watts per gallon)

 

[mgamer20o0]

adding to what the others said if its not the light which most likely it is another thing is they are grown out of the water. they have a transition period where the leafs change from a more rounder to a more pointed leaf. they also can use root tabs since they are heavy root feeders.