# Melting swords



## Wiccandove (May 19, 2012)

Hi All
Along with my new/used 110 freshwater setup I was given 2 huge swords. Everything is up and running in the tank now, water parameters are good and there are 2 large angels in the tank as well (also given to me with the setup - suprise!) The leaves on the swords seem to be melting - is this normal? The substrate is the same used substrate they were in before, also I've transferred the filter media from the old filter to the new one. I changed out the t5 bulbs to be freshwater appropriate and just dosed the tank this morning with some "leaf zone" that was given to me as well.

Should I trim the melting leaves off the plant? There are quite a few. Thanks


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## Professor Monkey (Jan 8, 2015)

Melting is normal for many species whenever the plant is uprooted or the water/light parameters change.

You can go ahead and trim them now if you like. Swords are typically hardy and since leaves don't repair once damaged they are going to need to be removed eventually.
However, if there is still lots of green on the leaves and the stems are still strong then you could leave them for now; they might still be photosynthesizing and producing energy for new growth.

Just wondering, what was wrong with the T5 bulbs? Was the colour temperature in the spectrum for reefs?


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## Wiccandove (May 19, 2012)

Yes, the hood had only blue bulbs in it when I got it. I replaced them with one "Giesmann aquaristic powerchrome tropic" bulb and one "Giesmann aquaristic super flora" so those are the only bulbs running atm. 

The hood has room for 2 more bulbs but I'm not positive they work. There is an additional coralife fixture that holds only 2 t5 bulbs that has nothing in it. The tank is 30 inches deep. I'm not growing anything too demanding (swords, monte carlo, anubias) Do you think this is enough light? Or do you suggest I add more/different bulbs?


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Swords develop bulbs at the base of the plant in the middle of the roots. If you remove this, the plant will usually start a new growth spurt. The bulb can be planted and will form one or several new plants. This may or may not have anything to do with your situation, but is always worth a look. The lighting may or may not be enough for optimal growth, as a 30" deep tank is difficult to light all the way to the bottom.


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