Dying Plants (Help)

     Hey, I am fairly new to having a tank and only getting the initial cycling process near the end now.. It was a fish-in cycle, with a couple losses on the way but not many, and none recently..
     During the cycle I added a couple plants.. Now, I am not a plant expert by any means, basically just a beginner with minimal knowledge! I went to the pet store and picked out a couple I liked and tried them. A grass looking one (that died off pretty quick) and a more leavy/branchy one (which is living awesome and the fish in the tank love)!
     Recently (about a week 1/2 ago), I purchased 2 amazon sword plants after being informed that they're really easy to keep alive.. Today, one is mostly green still with some browning on a few leaves, but the other one is about half brown and getting worse.. While, in the meantime, the other plant I mentioned is still growing strong and green..
     Keep in mind that I did not use any plant fert yet - since I'm mainly focusing on the Nitrogen Cycle in the tank and don't want to be adding too many different things to the water..
     So far I've only been using Prime and also Stress Zyme to help out with the fish in the tank as it cycles..
 
     Is there anything I should be doing that will help my plants stay alive? Are they dying because of the cycle? Perhaps I just added plants too early in the game.. ?

Can I get a photo of what plants you have in the tank? Better to ID them.
 
 
The amazon swords are heavy root feeders, Meaning they'll need really good plant substrate or root tabs to keep them alive, So they will slowly die off in the mean time. Everything else might be melting which is normal for plants, But without ferts they may just go on to die. It's easier if I could see what you have in the tank, The small grass plant sounds like hair grass and is one very hard plant to grow.

Swords are also notorious for being grown emmersed by the suppliers. It's far easier for them to do and keeps their prices way down.
 
Sadly the plants have to change leaf format over when you put them under water, so they throw up new underwater leaves and the old ones die off, so you could simply be seeing change over.

Swords won't die without a nutritious substrate, they feed just as well through their leaves. Believe it or not, the root systems are large due to them being marginal. They normally get flooded during rainy seasons, and the roots act as an anchor. Just because the have large roots doesn't mean then need more via the roots. I have seen plenty of swords grown in inert substrate with no problems.

I think the main point is that it will do no harm to your cycle to add a few more nutrients for your plants Pick up a trace fertiliser like Seachem flourish trace and a general fertiliser/plant food and dose lightly. Adding a source of carbon like Seachem flourish excel will also help your plants and minimise algae while you get established

Are they dying because of the cycle?

Click to expand...

What are your ammonia and nitrite readings?
Ammonia may kill plants in high enough concentrations but it sounds like you're already past that stage.

techen said:

Can I get a photo of what plants you have in the tank? Better to ID them.

Click to expand...

Here are the pics!
 
This one is the first plant I talked about that is flourishing and growing well.

 
And these are the swords.
**UPDATE** I did some other research yesterday and I read that you should trim off the dead leaves to give new ones better opportunity to grow and also dead plant pieces harm the water, correct?

tunagirll said:

I think the main point is that it will do no harm to your cycle to add a few more nutrients for your plants

Pick up a trace fertiliser like Seachem flourish trace and a general fertiliser/plant food and dose lightly. Adding a source of carbon like Seachem flourish excel will also help your plants and minimise algae while you get established

Click to expand...

Thanks!!! Much appreciated!
 
 

daizeUK said:

Are they dying because of the cycle?

Click to expand...

What are your ammonia and nitrite readings?
Ammonia may kill plants in high enough concentrations but it sounds like you're already past that stage.
 

Click to expand...

     Honestly, I live really close to multiple fish stores so whenever I need a water test I bring a sample to a store and have it done there and I haven't recorded the readings myself.. I guess that's something I should look into doing for sure.
     But I do know that the cycle is far enough that there isn't a high level of ammonia..
     According to the last water test, it's the nitrites which are high and it hasn't changed to nitrate yet.. So I've been feeding very small amounts and adding treatments to the water to get the bacteria stabilized / the fish alive.

I'm not an expert either, but I'm pretty sure the first plant is water sprite. A really great plant to have in your tank.
 
For the sword, I had a similar issue. I plucked off the worst of the browning leaves and it perked up on its own. The dead pieces do decompose in the water and foul it, but they can also come back if they aren't totally dead.

That is indeed a water sprite. Nigh on unkillable and a good grower.
 
Those swords would also benefit from being released from the ceramic rings, it'll give the roots room to establish properly, although you'll have to get them to stay put until they do it.