Question specifically for Byron..

Byron

The sword is healthy, and that is E. bleherae as it is generally labeled. With two tubes now this should get larger, provided you dose Flourish Comp once or twice weekly and put one Flourish Tab close to the roots and replace this every 3 months.

Only thing I didn't ask was the GH. I don't see signs of calcium deficiency, but it would help to know the GH of the tap water. Swords are heavy feeders, and calcium is an essential macro-nutrient for cell development.

I would expect the plant to grow taller under the afore-mentioned regime. It can take a few months for this to kick in after changes. I have had these plants for years, and even in the same tank they go through periods of increased growth and then level off for a few months. Plus there is considerable variance in the growth within this species. As I have commented recently ion a couple of other threads, it now appears that botanically-speaking the species we have known for years as E. bleherae, E. amazonicus, E. parviflorus and E. grisebachii are not distinct species but one and the same. DNA studies have proven this. So when one considers that E. amazonicus grows much smaller than E. bleherae, and E. parviflorus is much different in leaf shape from E. bleherae, it should not be surprising that we get different growth formations from the same plant, nor that the same plant can vary so significantly according to conditions.

Byron.

smit3183

Thanks for your input. One thing I didn't consider was is that I've been bouncing around between having 1 bulb then 2 so much that it's affecting it. My GH is 12.

Byron

GH is fine. With two tubes, fert as previously suggested, the sword should in a few months show signs of increasing height. Monitor the light duration with respect to algae. Change duration in increments of one hour if needed; I find this usually works, waiting 3 weeks for the result.

Nemo the Clownfish

Looks pretty normal to me - the older leaves on my E. osiris are mostly on the ground and have algae (not BBA). BTW, I remembered that when I pruned my Water Sprite for the second time, I cut off the whole frond and cut off each subfrond and floated them and they did fine - roots began to appear on the subfronds after a short period. This was under old, partially used T12s - two of them on the frame of the tank, Home Depot fixture, heavy as anything. Now I have two Compact Fluorescent Lights and they're too bright (10w) when other people say theirs are doing fine,but don't worry about that yet - I put a sheet of of non-metal screening over the top of the glass top to cut down the light and the photoperiod is around 7 or 8 hours. Don't worry about that either. It would be important to note at this point that every tank is different, even the same size and sometimes the same owner.

I'm not happy with a photoperiod less than 10, I've got all my shades down so the light doesn't get into the front of the tank. And I'm not happy with having to shield the lights so I don't get an algae invasion. I think either I'm not fertilizing enough or I have too much dissolved organics - it's like I can't get most of the plants to go.

[end rant]