What am I doing wrong???

[Columbian Shark Catfish]

So I have a 75 gallon with a 2x 54w (1 6,700k, 1 10,000k) Coralife fixture.

I took an amazon sword, and 2 crypts and put them in and they started falling apart after about 2 days. After a couple days, I put in some root tabs; no change. So after about a week of dosing iron and no changes, I replaced the sand with Eco Complete. And it's been 2 days and they are doing even worse.
I'm not using co2, but I plan on making some DIY co2 systems in the next couple days.

The tank has 1 8-9" common pleco, 2 small yoyo loaches (>3 inches), 1 1.5" clown pleco, and 1 1.5" ladder loach.

This is what it looks like

 

[Columbian Shark Catfish]

Anyone?

 

[FSM]

There is probably inadequate nitrogen, potassium, phosphate, etc. The root tabs generally just have iron and other trace elements in them. Eco-complete doesn't provide these either.

 

[jcardona1]

i'm not good at ID'ing plant deficiencies, but i agree with FSM. are there any fish in that tank? plants need decent levels of nitrates, so that could be part of the problem. seachem has a full line of the n-p-k ferts (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium)

 

[Sab_Fan]

crypts are notorious for collapsing whenever something changes, whether it is new lighting, new substrate or changes in water hardness/ph . . . I recently changed the fixture on my 15G and had several crypts go through this "crypt rot"

however, they also typically bounce back after about a week or so, after they adjust to the new conditions

as to the amazons, I have had good luck with them once given: a) seachem excel, b) seachem potassium and c) time

looks like you might also have some crinums? or are those balansae crypts?

 

[Columbian Shark Catfish]

are there any fish in that tank? plants need decent levels of nitrates, so that could be part of the problem. seachem has a full line of the n-p-k ferts (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium)

The tank has 1 8-9" common pleco, 2 small yoyo loaches (>3 inches), 1 1.5" clown pleco, and 1 1.5" ladder loach.

I plan on getting some oto catfish and maybe some zebra loaches though

 

[SkySouza]

the best way to make plants grow is over stocking your tank. don't be stupid with it but definitely add a cat fish or two and some medium sized middle swimmers to give the tank some more life. careful with that pleco cause he will destroy your plants. you should get rid of him. try and find some bushy nose or ottos. i have three long fin albino bushy nose in my 55. best it ever did was when i was about 20" over stocked

 

[WyldFya]

the best way to make plants grow is over stocking your tank. don't be stupid with it but definitely add a cat fish or two and some medium sized middle swimmers to give the tank some more life. careful with that pleco cause he will destroy your plants. you should get rid of him. try and find some bushy nose or ottos. i have three long fin albino bushy nose in my 55. best it ever did was when i was about 20" over stocked

Over stocking a plant tank=dead plants, and overgrown algae.

 

[WyldFya]

You are deficient in potassium and possibly nitrogen.

 

[SkySouza]

educate me wyldfya. how so? like i said it worked well for me. originally i was given this advice by lfs but for once they seemed to be right. what kills the plants? i can see how severely over stocking could kill the plants but as long as you don't go to the extreme and over do it more fish should add more fertilizer for the plants. unless i'm wrong... but for my tank i wasn't.

just trying to expand my knowledge. thanks man