Still feel like a newb.

[The Morning]

What constitutes a healthy planted aquarium? I have had this tank set up for well over a year. I have added and subtracted from it plant wise over that period. I am not a seasoned planted aquarist but I want to be successful. My Anubis is doing awesome, growth like crazy. I hate to say it but I forget the name of the background plant but it is growing well. It was purchased about 3 months ago and I have cut it multiple times and replanted the stems and they grow well. But, if you look at picture hopefully you can see there are several leaves that are brown and pitted.
My Amazon swords are pitiful. They have a few longer leaves but the majority of the new growth are leaves that are compact and clustered around the center of the plant. The leaves rarely reach more than 3 to 4 inches in length. I am running CO2 for about a month and also treat the swords with root tabs monthly.
so I guesss I want to know is this a normal healthy planted tank? Why do the swords not grow longer leaves? They have been in the tank for about 6 months. What is the background plant I am using? I had the plastic tab but unfortunately lost it. Are the leaves browning normal on a plant like this? I guess I just want to know if the care of the tank is adequate?

 

[andyroo]

are you kidding - this is gorgeous. Is that thick-stem to the left a bamboo?
I wish I could keep plants like this. If they work, they take over. If they don't, then... This tends to be related to how costly the stock was

 

[Kolton13]

This looks really nice, sometimes the plants take awhile to grow. Personally I love planted tanks, I love the natural look of it.

 

[FJB]

Your aquarium and plants look very nice. The background plant is an Hygrophila of one type or another. It needs constant trimming or it would take over everything. The Anubias are certainly growing very well; the roots are quite healthy.
There is a bit of green spot algae (Anubias and swords), and a bit of brown diatom film on the swords and some Hygrophila.
None of your plants are of high light requirements, and although it seems to be working for you, you probably don't need the CO2.
The swords are probably affected by the spot algae, as some of the blades are kinkied and curled. I also think you have too many swords, competing among them, and competing with the Hygrophila. Because the Hygro is a much better competitor, the swords suffer somewhat.
However, they are not doing too bad, and the one on the left has a spike, which may be either a developing string of runners, or a flower spike. Very nice! Good luck, and keep trimming!

 

[The Morning]

Thank you for the ID of the plant. I added that to the tank for height because the swords were not growing upwards at all. What should I look for as the cause of the spot algae and diatoms?

 

[The Morning]

On a side note as well. I added both the extra grow light and the CO2 because none of the plants were doing exceptionally well. There has definitely been a boost since they were added.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

BRUH! YOUR PLANTS ARE CRAZY GOOD. I DONT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT. What is it stocked with?

edit: You are not as much as a newb as me.

 

[The Morning]

Thanks. I am relatively new to plants. I have tried many times over the years with little to no success. This is the first time I have really gone out of my way to have a planted tank. The swords are my main concern. They have been in there a long time and produce many leaves but they are all staying low. Originally I had purchased them to be the background plants but switched it up due to their lack of growth. There are 2 swords on the tank a variety of anubias and the above identified hygrophilia. Fish wise there are two Calvus, 7 cyprichromis, 2 lucipinnis and an albino bristlenose. Also a variety of snails in the tank.
tank itself is doing great. I change 10-20% of the water every other day. All the numbers look good and happy to say the nitrates don’t even register when tested.

 

[The Morning]

Two of the residents.

 

[The Morning]

Hygrophila is growing like crazy. Literally you can see growth daily. I am considering removing the swords entirely and making more room for the hygro to spread. However the swords both have significant spikes so that is also interesting to see.