# Do I have enough light for pygmy chain sword?



## Wö£fëñxXx (Dec 2, 2003)

Mishy said:


> With a 36w PC and 15w NO on my 18 gallon tank, would I have enough light?


Yes 8)


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## Mishy (Apr 3, 2004)

YES!!!!!!  :lol:


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## malkore (Nov 3, 2003)

As for your cabomba, have you tried removing a couple inches from the bottom and replanting? You could have a bad bottom end that can't root...because yes it should root, almost too easily. Last cabomba i threw away had a root ball the size of my fist.


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## pixelcrayon (Mar 24, 2004)

hey mishy. be patient though. it usually takes several weeks before the chain swords get going. ive had my tank set up for 6 weeks now and they only started to get going. i agree, theyre fantastic.

in my scenerio, i trimmed any branches sticking out from the plant. im assuming these are flowers or seed pods that develop from growing them emersed. by doing this, it seemed to take faster in my tank. i have another plant that only started to spread after the flower/seed pod died off. does anyone know if by cutting these branches help the plant grow submerged better or faster?


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## Mishy (Apr 3, 2004)

Thanks All,

pixelcrayon, thanks for your advice. There are some flower pods on my chain swords. I knew that these were from being grown emersed but never thought that cutting it off would help....where are my sissors. All the leaves are starting to die off....but that must just be the emersed leaf form. I heard that those will die off before any submerged growth will really start. There is one little green runner starting with a tiny little green leaf. I love it!

malkore, cutting the bottom and replanting is a great idea. I'm going to wait untill my order from dr. foster and smith comes in. I ordered a pair of thin tweezers that should help a lot. I'm having some trouble planting the bacopa I got too. I don't want to damage the stems.

Hey, when did this site change it's layout? or is it just me?

Mishy


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## pixelcrayon (Mar 24, 2004)

Mishy said:


> All the leaves are starting to die off....but that must just be the emersed leaf form. I heard that those will die off before any submerged growth will really start. There is one little green runner starting with a tiny little green leaf. I love it!


youll be surprise to see that the submerged plant will look slightly different from what it looks now. mine are vivid green and runners everywhere!!

also about the leaves dying...in my case i only lost some leaves before more leaves came up. i dont want you assuming everything is okay if the plant isnt doing so well. make sure youre seeing growth in the transition as well. also ive read that grassy plants LOVE iron.


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## corigan (Feb 22, 2004)

Thanks for the advice pixel, I just bought 2 narrow leaf chains yesterday and had left the seed pod on them. Going to go cut em off once my photoperiod starts.

Matt


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## Aquaman (Dec 16, 2003)

I have some pygmy chain sword and it takes quite a while to get going. First it has to change from emersed growth to submerged and then it starts sending out runners. Could be a couple months before you start to see them really spread out. It helps to put some pieces of root tabs under the main clumps. Like other swords they like a rich substrate.


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## pixelcrayon (Mar 24, 2004)

Aquaman said:


> I have some pygmy chain sword and it takes quite a while to get going. First it has to change from emersed growth to submerged and then it starts sending out runners. Could be a couple months before you start to see them really spread out. It helps to put some pieces of root tabs under the main clumps. Like other swords they like a rich substrate.


hey aquaman. just wanted to know if you've cut some runners off your swords and replanted them. i was wondering if this helps them grow faster? will the new plants send out runners too? mine are sending runners everywhere and wanted to start "spreading" them around the foreground.


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## Aquaman (Dec 16, 2003)

Pixelcrayon, I did replant some of the runners by trimming them first, but since this is not my ground cover I kinda keep them in clumps like little bushes. If i were to let them I think they would send runners all over the place. Even though my tank is a 90, they are a little tall for the foreground in my opinion.


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## Shakey (Dec 7, 2003)

I am currious, since you mentioned the leaves dying off when you got yours. I purchased one about a week and a half ago. Overnight half the leaves went from a perfect green to completely brown. The leaves that remain dont look good.

I fear the plant pH shocked... all the fish stores near me are on city water, while I am on liquid rock well water and our pH differs from these by almost 2 points 
LFS's upper 6's mine mid to upper 8's.

I got ~2.5 watts/gal (guestmate overdriven NO's) and DIY CO2... Currious if I might have any chance of having this guy come back?


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## pixelcrayon (Mar 24, 2004)

Shakey said:


> I am currious, since you mentioned the leaves dying off when you got yours. I purchased one about a week and a half ago. Overnight half the leaves went from a perfect green to completely brown. The leaves that remain dont look good.
> 
> I fear the plant pH shocked... all the fish stores near me are on city water, while I am on liquid rock well water and our pH differs from these by almost 2 points
> LFS's upper 6's mine mid to upper 8's.
> ...


overnight?? im not to fimilar with pH shock. but the plant leaves do turn brownish eventually before new bright green leaves emerge.

if your pH is around 8?? what kind of fish do you have in there? what is your Kh?


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## corigan (Feb 22, 2004)

Most Likely the plant was grown emmersed. I know everything I buy from this one local store is grown emmersed. I just put a a couple narrow leaf micro chain swords in my aquarium that were obviously grown emmersed and now they are doing the same thing. I doubt it has anything to do with ph shock. I would let the plant be and be patient. Most likely it is just let the emmersed form melt/die off and is changing into it's submerged form. I've had this happen with quite a few plants that were grown emmersed.

Matt


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## Mishy (Apr 3, 2004)

Shakey,
I got my chain sword about a week ago and I'm going through the exact same thing you are. My water is ph8 and kh 20, and I have about 2.8 wpg and DIY Co2. All the leaves in a few day's time started turning brown and dying off...however there is new growth starting. The leaves are much shorter and very low to the ground and compact. It's also starting to send out runners with little plants. So leave your plants where they are as long as there is enough light. I'm sure they will come around. Several people have said to put root tabs underneath them since they are heavy root feeders. I think I'll do that once I finish moving all the other plants around. I hope this helps.:wink: 

Mishy


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## Shakey (Dec 7, 2003)

pixelcrayon said:


> overnight?? im not to fimilar with pH shock. but the plant leaves do turn brownish eventually before new bright green leaves emerge.
> 
> if your pH is around 8?? what kind of fish do you have in there? what is your Kh?


The pH is 8.6 this time of year the tap will work it way to 8.4 by the end of the summer then work its way back to 8.6 again. I haven't checked kH in a while but its was about 350 ppm and someone told me thats ~17 degrees.

Fish: I got a good mix of fish from livebarers mollies ans swords to tetra and and angels. Yes I am aware that I will not be able to breed the tetra and angels but I never planned on doing that. But the fish are aclimatated and doing fine as are my other plants.

Mishy: I wish I had the signs of regrowth but none yet, also I have half of a jobes palm and fern plant stick under the plant way deep in the gravel.

I got my fingers crossed but theres not much left to keep praying for


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## Shakey (Dec 7, 2003)

I figured I would toss in an update... I was down to less then 8 leaves left from the melt when I first got it. Yesterday when I turned on the lights there was 6 new leaves, better still Today those leaves have doubled in size !!

I thought it was a goner for sure... Its stillin rough shape right now, but at least now there is hope !


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