Are my plants dead?

[fishtime!]

I forget the name of these plants, but they are long and kind of stringy and I have them planted in my substrate (maybe that's the problem). They were green/whiteish when I got them but now are brown - are they dead? Usually my snails take care of dead plants pretty fast so I assumed these were still alive but they just look so sad.

Thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

How long have you had the plants for?

If the leaves are soft and mushy they are dying. If the leaves and stem are firm, they aren't dying.

Some plants produce copper coloured leaves under certain conditions (usually bright light and lots of iron fertiliser).
Have you changed anything with the tank recently?

 

[The Aquarium Home]

In my experience, if a stem plant rots from the bottom up, it's a lighting issue - not nutrients. It might be the same for you since the other stem plant (looks like a ludwigia or bacopa species) only has leaves towards the top and the rest looks like it's been stripped. What light are you running on your tank and for how long?