Amazon sword die off in summer

[Sgooosh]

Hello! As summer rolls in, for the second year now my amazon sword melts aggressively from the crown. I’ve lost one of them last year because of this. every single leaf rots from the base. during winter, it grows very fast and healthily

What is the problem here?

 

[Sir Guppy]

Is there a temperature difference in the aquarium during the seasons?
If not, it could be the water source, if you use tap water.
Water perimeters can change during seasons.

 

[Colin_T]

Amazon Sword plants normally grow more in warm weather than cool weather. I have had mine outdoors in 40C water and they were fine so temperature is unlikely to be an issue unless it's a massive jump in temperature (10-20C over night) and that would probably kill the fish too.

It could be a change in water supply (as mentioned by Sir guppy) from your water company or they are adding something else to it in summer. Maybe contact the water company and find out if they change water sources during the year and if they add anything extra in summer.

 

[Naughts]

Do you use root tabs? They need a lot of food. My swords struggle without a couple of root tabs each every 3 months.

 

[Archerfish]

Agree with the above responses ++++
Here is what I would do:
Make a list of what has changed. Things like the fish/bioload, lighting (even consider ambient light not just overhead artificial lighting), quantity/quality/frequency of nutrients, your water source etc.
Look for any changes, even seemingly inconsequential things like window shades or curtains being pulled to keep the room cooler. Massive water changes can affect the plant. Doing repeated water changes to stimulate spawning and at the same time, cleaning the filters can affect this plant if nutrients are not replaced. In summary, make a list and document the changes to prevent whipsawing.

 

[Sgooosh]

Is there a temperature difference in the aquarium during the seasons?
If not, it could be the water source, if you use tap water.
Water perimeters can change during seasons.

yes, there is a very great temperature difference.

Amazon Sword plants normally grow more in warm weather than cool weather. I have had mine outdoors in 40C water and they were fine so temperature is unlikely to be an issue unless it's a massive jump in temperature (10-20C over night) and that would probably kill the fish too.

It could be a change in water supply (as mentioned by Sir guppy) from your water company or they are adding something else to it in summer. Maybe contact the water company and find out if they change water sources during the year and if they add anything extra in summer.

hmm, that is very interesting, as in high temperatures my sword does not do well, however in very low temperatures it does amazing.

Do you use root tabs? They need a lot of food. My swords struggle without a couple of root tabs each every 3 months.

yes, I do use them, I will replenish them now since I'm not sure the last time that I did them

Agree with the above responses ++++
Here is what I would do:
Make a list of what has changed. Things like the fish/bioload, lighting (even consider ambient light not just overhead artificial lighting), quantity/quality/frequency of nutrients, your water source etc.
Look for any changes, even seemingly inconsequential things like window shades or curtains being pulled to keep the room cooler. Massive water changes can affect the plant. Doing repeated water changes to stimulate spawning and at the same time, cleaning the filters can affect this plant if nutrients are not replaced. In summary, make a list and document the changes to prevent whipsawing.

thank you.
temperature went up a lot, which almost directly affected the sword plant, but I believe it is actually indirect because the water supply might change something?
I do a 40-50% change and clean the filters that get clogged with duckweed every week, which is pretty much constant and did not affect the plants in winter.
Today I'll check the water supply details and see if differente water is supplied in the summer.

 

[Sir Guppy]

When I mentioned water perimeters, I meant where the water comes from, not the supplier adding stuff.
River water perimeters can change over seasons,
and I am assuming possibly other places as well.

 

[Colin_T]

If you have duckweed on the surface and you remove it all (or a lot of it) suddenly, the plant could be bleaching/ burning due to the extra light. This would be more of an issue in warm weather where the sun is stronger than in cooler weather.

The other option is you have an unusual variety of sword plant that comes from higher altitudes and likes cooler water.

 

[Sgooosh]

When I mentioned water perimeters, I meant where the water comes from, not the supplier adding stuff.
River water perimeters can change over seasons,
and I am assuming possibly other places as well.

i see, our water is definitely from a river, so that is the most likely scenario.

If you have duckweed on the surface and you remove it all (or a lot of it) suddenly, the plant could be bleaching/ burning due to the extra light. This would be more of an issue in warm weather where the sun is stronger than in cooler weather.

The other option is you have an unusual variety of sword plant that comes from higher altitudes and likes cooler water.

hmm, I don't think it is bleaching, because the filter pushes all the duckweed to the side of the tank with the sword , and even if i remove half of it the duckweed still covers it.

That might be the case, however this has happened with swords from 2 different suppliers...



Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Fishfunn]

My Amazon swords would die off like that or be stunted using plain tap water. Amazons like acid and soft water with strong 6500k lighting. When I went to using RO water in my tanks, good plant substrate, and good lighting is when my swords grow fast and big and even flower.

 

[Sir Guppy]

I didn’t know Amazon Swords can flower!

 

[Colin_T]

I didn’t know Amazon Swords can flower!

When they are mature they produce a flower spike that can be up to 6 feet long but is usually a lot shorter (2-3 feet). If the plant is growing out of water it produces white flowers along the flower stalk. The flowers are about 4 inches apart. If the plant is underwater, it produces baby plants along the flower stalk and you get little baby swordplants that should be left on the stem until they have a decent root system. You can weight the baby plants down onto the gravel (or in pots with gravel) and let them grow into that. Then after a few months you cut the main flower stalk on either side of the plants and you have new plants.