Hi nrisen, welcome to PTF;
I would cut the stem about a centimeter away from the root ball or rhizome of the plant, of leaves you do not like, and do not attempt to pull the stems out. however you must not cut them all for the plant to recover as it still needs some exposed leaf surface for photosynthesis to feed and energize the remaining recovering plant. also cut off any really soggy and slimy roots that seem obviously rotted to you. the plant will look pretty sad, but will recover nicely in a few Months. make sure you keep the part of the root where the stems come out resting on the gravel, not under it. to ensure the best recovery, try to get some Seachem Plant Tabs fertilizer and put one under the root ball of every one or two plants once you insert them in your gravel.
as for hanging too much light; remember the light is one component for plant growth, the others being fertilizers and Co2. so the more light you provide, the more ferts and Co2 the plants will require to benefit from those lights. if you are not supplementing ferts or Co2 then stay conservative with your lights for now. once you start using additional ferts and Co2 regularly, then you can see if more light will benefit your plants further. next time you ask about light be sure to provide the gallon size of your tank so we can better determine the watts per gallon your lighting can provide. take the total wattage and divide it by the number of gallons your tank is rated. assuming you are not using ferts or Co2, if your calculation result is less than 1.5wpg you may have too little light for plants, and if it's over 4.0wpg you may have too much light and end up growing more algae than plants. those were general guidelines, as many peoples results do vary.
I would cut the stem about a centimeter away from the root ball or rhizome of the plant, of leaves you do not like, and do not attempt to pull the stems out. however you must not cut them all for the plant to recover as it still needs some exposed leaf surface for photosynthesis to feed and energize the remaining recovering plant. also cut off any really soggy and slimy roots that seem obviously rotted to you. the plant will look pretty sad, but will recover nicely in a few Months. make sure you keep the part of the root where the stems come out resting on the gravel, not under it. to ensure the best recovery, try to get some Seachem Plant Tabs fertilizer and put one under the root ball of every one or two plants once you insert them in your gravel.
as for hanging too much light; remember the light is one component for plant growth, the others being fertilizers and Co2. so the more light you provide, the more ferts and Co2 the plants will require to benefit from those lights. if you are not supplementing ferts or Co2 then stay conservative with your lights for now. once you start using additional ferts and Co2 regularly, then you can see if more light will benefit your plants further. next time you ask about light be sure to provide the gallon size of your tank so we can better determine the watts per gallon your lighting can provide. take the total wattage and divide it by the number of gallons your tank is rated. assuming you are not using ferts or Co2, if your calculation result is less than 1.5wpg you may have too little light for plants, and if it's over 4.0wpg you may have too much light and end up growing more algae than plants. those were general guidelines, as many peoples results do vary.
