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Not sure what to suggest.

OK, now I see the plant, it has nutritional issues. It seems to be dying actually, but the other plants look OK. How long have you had this sword? The salt is not going to help any plants. Most can go through a week or two, depending upon the strength. The liquid fertilizer, which one and...

All (most anyway) species in the genus Echinodorus (sword plants) can be variable depending upon their environment, which includes light and nutrients. Aside from this, there are some that remain on the small side. I have had what was initially called Echinodorus bleherae grow leaves more than...

OK, then nutrition is not likely an issue. That brings us to the light--spectrum and any other data? Are other plants doing well? A photo of the tank helps. Is it straight water, or through a softener.

On the hardness, which is expressed as GH (general hardness), subjective terms can be way off the mark. See if your municipal water authority has a website, this may be posted there. We (you) need to know the GH, and the pH, and if you can, the KH (carbonate hardness or Alkalinity) is useful...

Never add fish to a tank with ammonia or nitrite above zero.

Can you post a photo of the algae? I'm wondering if this is not black brush algae which can be very dark green, dark brown, grey, although it is a red algae technically. Not that that really matters--if this is a planted tank, you want to have any problem algae well under control. Without...

It is highly unlikely to be the depth of the sand. When I had swords reproducing, I often left some of them floating for months. It is unlikely to be the GH, my water was zero. But the root tabs--which brand? I had one Flourish Tab next to each sword, replaced every three months, and no soft...

"Subulata" I assume is Sagittaria subulata. And is "japonica" perhaps Blyxa japonica? The genus and species epithet are needed for identification. It could be either, but of these two (if I'm correct in my assumptions) Blyxa japonica might be more likely, but the photos remind me of a...

It would be better not to use common names, this species is not in the same genus. It may have this or that, but it is not a Congo. This can make a difference when tracking down species. The fish yesterday was in the same genus.

Spectrum is the Kelvin number, and in the range of 5000K-6500K is just where you want it. So that brings us to the duration. Given the photos, I would reduce this down to seven hours. Just one hour, this can make quite a difference. Changing fertilizer may take more than just a few days, but...

More data on the issue will help. First light, what is it, how long, what spectrum? Second fertilizer...elsewhere API has not received as good a mention as others, I used Flourish Comprehensive and Flourish Tabs and had amazing results for over 10 years. TNC Lite should be as good, others...

You are correct, the circadian rhythm is extremely important to fish, and less so to plants because they can adjust to different lengths of "daylight." Fish cannot, and it is stressful. The period of "daylight" which is when the white light which is high in red/blue/green as a mix--note, not...

That is not shrimp nor snail damage in the photos. I am not aware of anything that will actively eat live java fern. If a leaf or blotch on a leaf (fronds actually, these are true ferns) with dying cells, critters may well snack on that. But not live healthy tissue. The holes in leaves that...

Now we are getting into other areas, and we need numbers. The GH and pH of the source/tap water on its own; you need to out-gas the CO2 for the pH with tap water. Or you may be able to find these numbers on the water authority's website. Second, what is the pH of the tank water normally? If...

Provided the parameters, being the GH, pH and temperature, are basically the same, you cannot do too many water changes. Something in the water is causing this, so fresh water should help. Make sure you use a conditioner though.

I think the brown on the substrate is organic mulm.

No. Males are territorial and while various males may or may not take this as literally as others, it is still a trait of all fish in the species. Females are less so, but again, we have had members who reported them tearing into each other. The tank being discussed is inadequate for any...

They are distinct species, not hybrids. And in the same genus, so very closely related. Species within a genus can differ in several external traits, such as the caudal fin.

There is now scientific studies showing that numbers of a shoaling species matter very much. The fact that a fish swims, eats and spawns is not to be taken as proof that all is well. It may very well not be well. In one study, groups of three, five and ten fish were housed in individual...

This tank is too small for a group of angelfish long term. Please understand that this fish attains 6 inches in body length (minus the tail) and a vertical fin span of 8 inches. If you have a bonded breeding pair, they would work here at least for a time, depending upon tank dimensions, but...

This is from Wikipedia. In terms of particle size as used by geologists, sand particles range in diameter from 0.0625 mm (or 1⁄16 mm) a volume of approximately 0.00012 cubic millimetres, to 2 mm, a volume of approximately 4.2 cubic millimetres, the difference in volumes being 34,688 measures...

We are going from the photo, and to me that is certainly not sand. And sand will go through undergravel plates, so that seems to settle it.

Agree, and this also eliminates Corydoras.

My first observation is that angelfish are a shoaling species. But here we have something quite different from say characins, or cyprinids. There has to be a group sufficient to avoid stress, but there is the added difficulty that this is a cichlid and the males are territorial. I would...

I very rarely take a different stance from Colin, but here I must. This tank is not sufficient space for mature angelfish. The height is 45cm/17 inches, and the vertical fin span of a mature angelfish is 8-9 inches. That leaves the poor fish with precious little space. And this is just one...

I would change fertilizers as this one is iron and potassium, but no other nutrients are mentioned. As you are in the UK, one of your best options is TNC Lite. It is balanced and has all the micro-nutrients.

But that doesn't tell us where the "converted" ammonia goes, and that is the issue. Most conditioners detoxify ammonia by changing it to the less toxic ammonium. Plants grab this, and nitrifying bacteria as well. And plant uptake of ammonia at such low levels is well within 24 hours, and...

You may be correct. I had thought this was some sort of chemical filtration used to lock ammonia in the tank, which is not good (for plants or bacteria). But on researching now, it seems to be more of a conditioner. However, I wonder what happens to the locked ammonia?

I don't think this is wise. First, ammonia in the source water is best dealt with by using a conditioner that detoxifies ammonia. This will be immediate. As the bacteria and (even more) the plants get active in taking the ammonia up, it is gone within 24 hours.

OK. My response in this current thread is general, that chemical filtration is not advisable with plants. The other thread has specific issues.

I believe this topic is being covered in another thread-- isn't it? Twotankamin has posted therein...?

First thing to note is, that a balanced healthy aquarium does not have ammonia or nitrite issues, so any chemical filtration to deal with such is (or should be) totally unnecessary. Second, if you have live plants, they will take up as much ammonia as the fish and decomposition could ever...

If there is a bulb, then it is likely Aponogeton, of which there are several species. I don't know them well enough to suggest which but there are two or three with leaves as here.

Your comment that leaves under the water line are turning brown is likely the issue. New leaf growth is evident, so I wouldn't worry.

Yes, these photos in post #11 are Frogbit. I will track down some photos of the other species when I return later.

That is Frogbit in the latest two photos. I previously thought there were only the two plants, Salvinia (which you thought might be duckweed) and Water Lettuce. But this latest is Frogbit, and now I know it is there, I can see some in the distance of the first photos. No duckweed that I can...

It is probably worth mentioning that this fish, either the red tail black shark or the albino form, needs a 4-foot long tank. It also has an often nasty disposition, and other substrate fish can be pestered to say the least and even killed.

Yes it will. The substrate is the biological bed of a healthy aquarium. Various species of bacteria live in the substrate (and some of them not in the filter) and it is important to maintain the tank, and deal with bacterial issues. Every tank needs a substrate. Some fish need soft sand...

These latest photos look like a different plant from the former. Did you order just the Salvinia and Water Lettuce, or another plant?