Cabomba Dying

[photoj]

So i've had my aquarium up and running since mid-November. One of the first plants i bought was a cabomba. Now it seems to be dying. Turning brown at the outer areas then they break off and the next section turns brown. I have a 30 gal tank with one light that says Eclipse F18TD Natural Day light but i don't see anything about watts. The light is on from 11am until 11pm. Also i'm using Seachem Flourish tabs (gravel bed supplement for the planted aquarium) Any thoughts? Here is a pic of the plant.

Cheers
Photoj

 

[photoj]

Anyone?

 

[Truck]

dose the water table with flourish too, it sounds like a nutrient deficiency

 

[Colin_T]

it looks a little pale for Cabomba, which would indicate low levels of nutrients. Many plants do better when they are fed several times a week rather than once a week. Also are you sure it's Cabomba?

 

[SuperColey1]

Like Colin I think it looks a bit fine leaved for Cabomba. F18 is telling you that you have 18W over a 30USG tank which with reflectors would be 0.6WPG. Do you have reflectors?

What is the fishload/stocking? I wouldn't think dosing would make much difference really if there aren't many plants, there are fish under that low light!!

AC

 

[aaronnorth]

looks more like limnophillia sessiliflora (ambulia) to me. Cabomba leaves are not as fine as in the picture.

 

[photoj]

LFS said it was Cabomba but I think you are right and it is a ambulia. I was given the tank so am still learning all this stuff. What do reflectors look like? the light is housed above the tank in a all white enclosure. I'm guessing there isn't enough light for the size of the tank? How much light do I need? What size tube? For fish i have 5 black tetras 5 black phantom tetras 2 red platys 1 wagtail platy 2 parrot platys and a clown pleco.
Here is another picture of the plant.

Thanks for the help.

Cheers
Photoj

 

[susankat]

limnophillia sessiliflora (ambulia) Needs more light and nutrients to look its best.

 

[Colin_T]

If the globe is housed in a white unit then that is probably the reflector. Reflectors are simply devices made to cover the top & sides of the light globe and direct the light back down into the tank. Many fluoro light units are built into a reflector.

You could try leaving the light on for a bit longer each day and see if that helps. Plants like Cabomba and Ambulia will actually close up their top leaves when they have had sufficient light. The top leaves will also go a pale red colour if they are given enough light.
As for how much light you need depends on how tall the tank is and how much fertiliser you want to add. If you don't want to go to extremes then don't add another light just yet. Just run your current light for up to 16 hours per day and see what happens. Add some more fertiliser to the tank water and see if it makes any difference.
You should remove the carbon from your filter uplifts because it will absorb the fertiliser out of the water. Although the cartridges aren't that big but it might be contributing to the problem.

 

[photoj]

Thanks for the help. My tank isn't running with a carbon filter and i will keep the light on for a longer period of time. The tank is 46cm high and i also have 2 hygos and some type of sword. I want to make sure the the plants will do well.

 

[Colin_T]

the little case on the outlet of the filter uplift tube has carbon in. Carbon is the black granulated substance.

 

[photoj]

That was an older pic when i had an undergravel filter on it. I've taken that out. I bought a new light today. the one that was in there was probably over 2 years old. I picked up a K 18,000 Power-Glo 20w bulb. Do i need more light than that? I was looking at one of these.
All-Glass Fluorescent Twin Tube Strip Light- 30"

 

[Colin_T]

The 18,000K globe might be too blue and make the water look blue. A 10,000K globe will provide a better coloured light.
I would take the new globe back and swap it for something with a lower Kelvin (K) rating. Any globe that has a Kelvin rating between 5,000 & 10,000K would be suitable, with 10,000K being my personal choice.

A single 20watt globe, (regardless of the Kelvin rating) will probably be inadequate due to the height of the tank (46cm). A couple of globes would be better or you could look at getting Hi Output (HO) T5 fluorescent globes. They will need a HO T5 light unit but will provide more light per globe.

The twin light unit in the link would give you more light than a single unit and that might help.