# my amazon swords won't grow.



## angeli697 (Jul 5, 2007)

my 2 amazon sword plants won't grow at all in my tank. i have plant fertilizer, i put in 33ml. (1ml. per gallon.) once a week. i got a plant bulb on them to. with pea gravel. i'm kinda new to live plant growing. n e other advice?


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## angeli697 (Jul 5, 2007)

bump...


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

what ya got for lights?


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## angeli697 (Jul 5, 2007)

cueball said:


> what ya got for lights?


120 watt plant light bulb per plant.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

angeli697 said:


> what ya got for lights?


120 watt plant light bulb per plant.
[/quote]

So, 240 watts for a 33g tank...or did you mean two 40 watt bulbs? If you are using normal fluorescent bulbs, then you are at just over 1wpg which doesn't cut it for swords (maybe if they were CF or T-5 bulbs).


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

swords will grow just fine under 1wpg. Sure they wont grow and a phenomenal rate but they will survive just fine.

What the real question here is What are you using for plant fert?

What is the size of your tank?

and yes could you clarify your lighting setup? 2X 120w bulbs see the thing is there are no 120W bulbs. so that is a little confusing. when you say plant bulb what do you mean by that? what spectrum is it. what type of bulb? Compact flourscent? Incandecent? T5? If your not sure could you take a pic of the fixture and the setup?


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## angeli697 (Jul 5, 2007)

BlackSunshine said:


> swords will grow just fine under 1wpg. Sure they wont grow and a phenomenal rate but they will survive just fine.
> 
> What the real question here is What are you using for plant fert?
> 
> ...


i'm using API Leaf Zone plant fertilizer. I have a 33 gallon tank, 36" x 12.5" 17". that was a typo, i have 1 - 65 watt light bulb per plant, so 130 watts total, and it was 240 volts, not watts. i have pea gravel substrate too. about 76oF temp. why won't they grow? they don't grow/die. they stay the same...should increase wattage?


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## angeli697 (Jul 5, 2007)

bump...


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

are the bulbs floroesents right?

when i hade mine in a 30 gal with 1.5wpg they grew very slow plus it was a piranhas tank so they where constantly broken off (one actually to the bud with no leaves)

they have now been moved to a 5.5 with about 30-50watts of light and they are all coming back good

also i have never dosed them with ferts (have been given diy co2 but that was a while ago and not no more)


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## Ibanez247 (Nov 9, 2006)

thats weird my swords are out of control. I have four 40watt flourescent lights over my 125 gallon and thats it besides some flourish now and again. Straight play sand for substrate. I thought about doing co2 but apperently I dont need it lol. Not sure why your having trouble. Mine grew real slow at first, so they might be growing just give them some time. I got mine when they were at about 4" tall now they're like 24". That took about 2-3 months.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

angeli697 said:


> swords will grow just fine under 1wpg. Sure they wont grow and a phenomenal rate but they will survive just fine.
> 
> What the real question here is What are you using for plant fert?
> 
> ...


i'm using API Leaf Zone plant fertilizer. I have a 33 gallon tank, 36" x 12.5" 17". that was a typo, i have 1 - 65 watt light bulb per plant, so 130 watts total, and it was 240 volts, not watts. i have pea gravel substrate too. about 76oF temp. why won't they grow? they don't grow/die. they stay the same...should increase wattage?
[/quote]

leaf zone.. ehh.. I used that for a very short while when I started keeping plants. it did nothing. 
Switch up to Seachem Flourish Comprehensive. And also get a bottle of excel and douse that 2x a week. see if that helps


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