New To The Hobby-plant Issues !

[Ozzy Ozborne]

I have been running my new tank for 6 weeks now-fish in cycle and water tests are now perfect / ideal using the Tetra liquid tests.
The problem I have is now with the plants I have in,and would like some help please.
I have a sand substrate in a 180 litre Juwell tank,and feed Vitakraft Flora-Sin -e as directed on the bottle.
The plants I have are:

1 green cabona which is growing ok at the top but keeps rotting at the base.it keeps throwing off a lot of roots.

1 red / green alternanthera reineckki which looks like it is rotting away

1 amazon swordplant that is growing a brown colour on its leaves

1 anubias barteri -same problem as the swordplant

i have also a couple of small front plants -not sure of their names,but the leaves look like they are being covered in a soot black mould colour.Its growing new green leaves but after a while they also turn black?

If any body can help give me advice it would be great.

I have 2x25 watt lights with reflectors by the way which are on 12 hours per day.

Thanks

 

[Ficious]

well i myself am new to the plant world. i must have goten lucky though, never had the problems like youre having...most of your plants arent doing too well and that can be discouraging! how much do you dose your ferts and how often? hopefuly you added a good amount of the plant substrate and they are well rooted. (actualy i just realized you dont have any plant substrate) which is fine because one of mine is just sand substrate. i think you might wana add some soil type substrate or add root tabs. root tabs would be the easiest way of doing it. if you dont have any shrimp (pry a myth that it hurts shrimp) but kinda go crazy on the ferts. 2-3 ml per day? see if that works then keep tweaking it a little bit until you see results.

i would also keep in mind a DIY Co2 system. consists of two 2 ltr bottles and some sylicon tubing. sry i couldnt be of more help but those are some of the basics of why your tank might not be running right

 

[Carter]

juwell tanks... right... lets get down to the business end shall we?

juwell tanks are fantastic. They look good, and are usually of high quality... except for the way that they do it.

In a lot of cases, Juwell tanks require you to get Juwell everything. So if you want to get a new light for it, your going to have to get a Juwell light, and not you standard lighting length...

However, that being said, they are generally good at what they do.

now by the sounds of it, your tank is lacking light. The tops are growing and the bottom is rotting is a trade mark example of either, not enough water flow, or... in more common cases, not enough light getting to the bottom of the plants.. it is expected in many planted tanks, however, if you are seeing that the majority of the plant is "rotting away" well you may want to look into you lighting system and asking if it is up to the job that you want it to be doing.

What lights do you have by the way? T8 or T5?

Browning or yellowing of leaves is another indication of low iron levels or lack of nutrients. A good flora substrate usually counters this... or more fish.. but watch those nitrate levels and ammonia levels when you add more fish..

i hope this helps;.

 

[Ozzy Ozborne]

thanks for the feedback..................
I have no idea re the lights I only know they are 2 x 25 watt and I have just put reflectors on.
What are T5 and T8?

In terms of the substrate if I add some root tablets do I have to add anything else to the sand?


I have the filter water flow pipe pointed upwards......should this be pointed lower to help the water flow?

I feed with Vitakraft Flora-Sin..........is this ok?


Thanks

 

[Carter]

Lighting is very important in planted tanks. There are different ways that you can achieve what you want to achieve regarding lights.

T5 lighting systems are a high intensity light... usually of a higher wattage and a higher intensity... preferred for more planted tanks.

T8 lighting systems are of a lower intensity light. They are the most common type of tubes and are clearly defined by the width. The T8 tubes are most commonly thicker, however, that does not mean that they give off a large amount of light...

In the HO T5 versions, they have a higher light output per unit length than T8 tubes and , if the correct electronic ballasts are used, a higher ratio of light output per watt of energy consumed.

the difference is, that T5 are thin tubes, but a higher intensity, and the T8 are a thicker tubes and a lower intensity. Now that is not to say that you can not have a planted tank off only t5 tubes, no sir... the only thing that it does mean is that you are going to have a lower wattage per gallon ratio. In a planted tank, you want close to 3 or 4 watts per gallon...

Tablets are great. They add nutrients and what have you directly to the plants, however, they are not long lasting and need frequent updating every 3 - 4 months...

The filter flow pipe, well, try facing it more down towards the base of the plants, but not directly at them, more along the back wall, but you may see a change in water quality and plant conditions.

Vitakraft Flora-Sin.. i'm not quite sure with that one... on the side of the bottle it should have what it has in it... if you could read that off to me, i might be able to see... but i am sure that it is fine...

 

[Truck]

Lighting is very important in planted tanks. There are different ways that you can achieve what you want to achieve regarding lights.

T5 lighting systems are a high intensity light... usually of a higher wattage and a higher intensity... preferred for more planted tanks.

T8 lighting systems are of a lower intensity light. They are the most common type of tubes and are clearly defined by the width. The T8 tubes are most commonly thicker, however, that does not mean that they give off a large amount of light...

In the HO T5 versions, they have a higher light output per unit length than T8 tubes and , if the correct electronic ballasts are used, a higher ratio of light output per watt of energy consumed.

the difference is, that T5 are thin tubes, but a higher intensity, and the T8 are a thicker tubes and a lower intensity. Now that is not to say that you can not have a planted tank off only t5 tubes, no sir... the only thing that it does mean is that you are going to have a lower wattage per gallon ratio. In a planted tank, you want close to 3 or 4 watts per gallon...

Tablets are great. They add nutrients and what have you directly to the plants, however, they are not long lasting and need frequent updating every 3 - 4 months...

The filter flow pipe, well, try facing it more down towards the base of the plants, but not directly at them, more along the back wall, but you may see a change in water quality and plant conditions.

Vitakraft Flora-Sin.. i'm not quite sure with that one... on the side of the bottle it should have what it has in it... if you could read that off to me, i might be able to see... but i am sure that it is fine...

3-4WPG!!!!! 2wpg will have anything growing, even hair grass!

its a world wide myth that the more light the better, but that is not the case. 2wpg will have anything growing. you have 50 watts of T8 and are at 1wpg perfect for a low light planted tank.

steer clear of red plants as they need more light to photosynthesise hence the red colour (lacking chlorofil)

and in a low light tank you dont need CO2 and in some cases you dont need ferts, but both will help.

there is no correct amount of light in a planted tank, it all comes down to what species you keep.

 

[Carter]

hey... 3-4 watts is what i have, so it is what i suggest.. works for me hehehehe...