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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Brown Leaves?

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27 Mar 2007 14:22 #1 by zale (Mark carroll)
I recently bought Amazon Sword, these are the first real plants I've had in a tank. I've read up on lighting, fertilizer, etc, but haven't found anything on pruning.

The reason I ask is 3 of the leaves are brown half way down do I...

a) cut just the brown off
b) cut from the very bottom or
c) none of the above.

Thanks,


Mark

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27 Mar 2007 14:53 #2 by Didihno (Didihno)
Replied by Didihno (Didihno) on topic Re: Brown Leaves?
I don't know about amazon sword, as they just die in my water, but for most plants (in the world) remove dead leaves from the stem.

Thats what my mam says anyway!

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27 Mar 2007 17:47 #3 by tanks_alot (Denis Coghlan)
I have found that amazon swords are one of the hardest plants to get established in a tank. For instance, when I initially set up my planted tank last year, I added two swords. I had plenty of lighting and co2 but the plants literally sat there doing nothing and looked increasingly unhealthy and moth eaten.

I then added root fertz from "aqua design amano" and the swords started to take. The root ferts are meant to last about 3 months or so, but I haven't added them again since and that was 10-12 months ago and the plants are still flourishing. Recently I gave my brother a couple of swords. Again his tank have ample lighting and co2, but it was a new tank and the substrate was as clean as a whistle. The plants had massive rooting system but again they went into the clean substrate and literally no growth was recorded. He finally got around to getting some root ferts and they have started to grow.

So in a long-way-round way, what I am trying to say is that Swords will have terrible growth if not given enough root fertilization. This can be through plant substrate or root-tabs but in the end either one will do and root tabs are far less hassle.


And to answer your question about pruning! I cut the leaf at the very bottom near the stem. "Apperently" it will induce fresh growth!.

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27 Mar 2007 18:02 #4 by serratus (Drew Latimer)
Aquatic plants need pruning like any other plants, swords grow in rossetes- from the centre outwards- old leaves are on the outer part so need to be cut back to induce new growth in the inner part.. you should find the "brown leaves" are on the outer parts, cut them off n new growth should appear in the centre. Swords need iron to grow well, imo.

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28 Mar 2007 00:47 #5 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: Brown Leaves?
Swords go from growing like unwanted weeds to very difficult, especially some of the red leaved hybrids.
What species is yours? If you don't know could you please post a picture. Some will not grow in hard water, some will.

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28 Mar 2007 01:35 #6 by Peter OB (Peter O'Brien)
The only success i ever had with an Amazon Sword was funnily enough with an Undergravel Filter. It got loads of nutrients from the 4' of gravel, it got so big that a was able to split the root in half and divide it into two very large healthy plants.

When i was pulling it out to split it i had some job, it lifted the whole UG Plate with it, The roots were so thick and healthy.

And "they" say you can't grow plants with UG Filters!!!!!

Smoke me a Kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast.

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28 Mar 2007 13:57 #7 by zale (Mark carroll)
Thanks for all the comments,

here's a picture I didn't know there were a few different types.



Mark

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29 Mar 2007 01:06 #8 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: Brown Leaves?
Sorry, no picture showing

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29 Mar 2007 15:27 #9 by zale (Mark carroll)
Hope the no picture problem is sorted. I don't know why but every now and again I have to re-post my pictures? I'm using dropbox for my signature pic too and thats always ok. :?


Mark

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29 Mar 2007 15:33 #10 by tanks_alot (Denis Coghlan)
IMO I would remove the lead weight and spongy stuff ASAP. It will inhibit growth and eventually cause the root of the plant to rot. This happened to me with vallis.

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30 Mar 2007 05:50 #11 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: Brown Leaves?
That's Echinodorus bleheri you have there. One of the easiests swords to grow.
Take off the lead and sponge. By the looks of it you have more than one plant in that bundle. Clipü the roots by half and plant into substrate making sure only to put the plant(s) only as deep into the substrate that the middle (where the new leaves will grow out of) is not buried.

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30 Mar 2007 06:35 #12 by S180de (S180de)
Replied by S180de (S180de) on topic Re: Brown Leaves?
fish like Ancistrus usually would have a go at the amazon swords, causing brown leaves and holes in the leaves. but this looks different. the brown tips could be some transport damage that shows off only now.

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30 Mar 2007 09:10 #13 by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Replied by apistodiscus (apistodiscus) on topic Re: Brown Leaves?
your plants look healthy just lose the heavy metal and they should grow OK. Never mind the brown leaves. Take them off before you put your plants into the substrate.

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