Plants don't look alive

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Sunny.C

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australia sydney
Hey guys some of my plants are looking pretty good :rolleyes:
Some aren't looking very good, they look half alive and some have little brown dots on them and also some have black holes which is cause by little snails that i found in the tank. Is this bad??? what should i do? :/
 
hmm maybe you should give us more info so that we could trace the problem :)

what do you use to light your tank :) it might be inadequate to keep the plants alive and healthy

are you fertilizing ?? (it might not be needed sometimes but who knows)

there are a lot of factors that could be causing your plants to become weak

heres a little chart that you could take a peep at :)

http://www.aquabotanic.com/diagnose.htm

hope this helps
 
My tanks is a 34g, the lights i use is in the pic :)
Yes i am using fertilizer on a weekly base and all my plants are low level light.
How thick should my gravel be?
 

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Sunny.C said:
How thick should my gravel be?
There should be 2"-3" of nutrient supplemented substrate, eg plant substrates or gravel with laterite. If you're using gravel it should be less than or equal to 2mm diameter per granule so that roots hold better. With low levels of light, the occasional dose maybe neccessary as opposed to every week as tap-water may have enough nutrients already.
 
So basically your advise to me is to many double the dose of fertilizer???
From once a week to maybe twice a week?
 
I think its the fact that ur light cant reach the bottom part of the plants and maybe can also cause by lag of iron. These happen to me before as well. But after I move some of my taller and require strong light plants to my pure 20g tank set up next to the window problem is solve along with the new fer I buy for them :).
 
Are they even true aquatic plants you have?

You havnt mentioned their names? So...what are they? :)
 
1.Hygrophila polysperma
2.Ambulias
3.vallis
4.Banana lilly
5.Chain sword
Should i make my gravel higher???
Is it good for a litte sunlight to hit the tank??? or will this effect the fish? :sad:
 
Hygrophilias, which is what im pretty certain those are, recquire high lighting to flourish and root fertilisers i find, are beneficial. So id stay put to the recomended dosage of fertilisers, but recomend creating or buying a light reflector. :D

I wouldnt worry about raising the substrate level as i really dont think this is your problem. Especially as hygro's grow like mad any where once given the right conditions! :)

I believe it also does well in neutral to slightly acidic water. It is sometimes best to make sure the plant you buy can survive in your water. IE dont buy plants that need a pH 0f 8+ if u have a pH of 6-7! :nod:
 
Ok from your post i take it as it's more of a poor lighting problem. They don't supply any reflectors for my tank, can i make it custom maybe like put a mirror glass on top of my tubes?? whats the best stuff to use as reflectors?
-_-
 
There are alot of possiblities. Id suggest you surf the net and look at different peoples projects. Its a bit difficult to explain everything you would need to know over posts. Heres a good site:
http://www.kingvinnie.com/aquaria/diy/links_page.asp?cat=27
Also try here in the Hardware/DIY sections cause im not sure what we have in the way of DIY reflector threads. Might pay to look though! :)
 
hygrophilia polysperma, which that looks like, has no special needs at all. You can grow it in plain sand, no ferts or anything. It's a really hardy plant.

Grows too fast for my liking though.
 
Sunny.C said:
Hey guys some of my plants are looking pretty good :rolleyes:
Some aren't looking very good, they look half alive and some have little brown dots on them and also some have black holes which is cause by little snails that i found in the tank. Is this bad??? what should i do? :/
[snapback]827107[/snapback]​

The little holes are more likely to be ptassium deficiency - I have the sam e problem am now dosing with ferts!

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm
 

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