Plant Problem!

[Snick]

I have recently bought a bunch of plants, from aponogetons, hornworts, cryptocortnes, swords, and jungle vallisneria... AND THEY ARE DYING! at first i thought that is may be the lack of oxygen, but since i added the parrot cichlid, the 2 corys and the 3 mollies that is out of the question... then i thought it may be the light; sunlight is berely present at the area of the aquarium, but i though that the artificial lightning it gets should work just as well... am i right? (i have 2 CORALIFE 10 watt flouresent bulbs... in a 10 gal) am i doing something wrong? PLZ HELP!

 

[huntnikk]

I have recently bought a bunch of plants, from aponogetons, hornworts, cryptocortnes, swords, and jungle vallisneria... AND THEY ARE DYING! at first i thought that is may be the lack of oxygen, but since i added the parrot cichlid, the 2 corys and the 3 mollies that is out of the question... then i thought it may be the light; sunlight is berely present at the area of the aquarium, but i though that the artificial lightning it gets should work just as well... am i right? (i have 2 CORALIFE 10 watt flouresent bulbs... in a 10 gal) am i doing something wrong? PLZ HELP!

How many plants do you have total... and these are in a 10 gallon tank correct? How many hours a day of light do they get?
Can you provide any pictures?

 

[ncjharris]

may be the lack of oxygen

Plants don't need oxygen to survive, per se, they respire with CO2.

i have 2 CORALIFE 10 watt flouresent bulbs

How old are the bulbs? They 'expire' in terms of usefullness after 6-9 months, although they still provide light.
How long have they been set up in your tank? Takes a while for new plants to adjust to new evironments, just like fish.
What are you water stats? A strong pH swing can be bad for plants too.

Other things to consider,

what type of substrate do you have, and how deep is it?
What type of heating?
Are you using any plant suplements/fertilizers?

HTH

 

[Snick]

ok, to answer all of your questions;

a) The bubls are 2 months old, pretty new.
B) The plants have been there for 2 weeks.
c) I have a 100 watt heater set at 24 celcius.
d) My PH is pretty high- 7.8
e) My substrate is of 1.5 inches, silica sand. (commonly known as sandblasting sand)
f) i am NOT using any fertilizers.
g) i have 6 plants in total.
h) it IS a 10 gal
i) they get about 10 hours of light a day.
j) my signature has an updated image of my overall tank.

Hope this helps! I really need to know whats going on.

 

[Alex_]

hey, i had the same problem awhile back

what i did was replace fert substence and bought a fert liqid

with cured mine also if your leafs are slowly dying turning brown

it is probly a iron defisentce which the fert with help

your PH of 7.6 really wonteffect any basic plants

hope its not to late

-Alex

 

[Dubby]

At 2W/gallon you have enough light. I think your problem is not enough nutrients. Try adding some liquid fertiliser. Have your plants rooted well? You could also try adding root tabs and this should help the swords.

I'm not familiar with the habits of the parrot cichlid and whether it could be destroying the plants.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Any idea on your CO2 levels ? (or your PH and KH readings)

I had problems with plants in my 130L tank even after trying liquid fert and root tabs,
then I was advised to chec the CO2 levels.

Originally the tank had a naturally high PH reading of 7.8 combined with a high KH
reading gave me a CO2 level that was way too low (8-10 ppm).

I added a Hagen/DIY CO2 system my CO2 levels went up to about 20ppm and the plants
started looking better than they did in the shop.
Within 5 days they looked greener and stronger than before and I started noticing O2 bubbles
being given off from the plant due to the increased photosynthesis.

I didnt really notice any huge increase in algae (as some people do) but maybe my 3 otocinclus
were just enjoying a few more meals !

The increased CO2 and slightly lower PH caused no problems with any of my fish ... quite the
opposite !

I fully agree with the posts about lighting and nutirent levels, but with low CO2 plant growth is
going to be tough. The water chemistry in a 10G tank will probably be harder to maintain than
in a larger tank ........ good luck, lets see the pics once you get it sorted !

Mr G

 

[Marcos]

I had recently loaded my tank with real plants and got rid of the plastic ones (a bit more mess but worth it). They didn't seem to be growing at all so I changed my tube for a new one specifically designed for photosynthesis and plant growth and they sure are growing now!

 

[Snick]

ok im going to add some nutrients and see what happens, i dont think the CO2 os the problem... there are plently of fish, dont think its that.... ill update and state the status in a little while.