Plants Dying Help Please

[RenC]

So I recently purchased some stem cuttings to grow in my tank. I have pebble gravel in there and I placed root tabs under each plant. I have Flourish fertilizer and liquid CO2 that I dose twice a week. My light is on for 10 hours because it’s a florescent light. I’ve noticed the part of the stem in the gravel is just rotting instead of growing roots. Why is this and can anyone help me?

 

[Utar]

So I recently purchased some stem cuttings to grow in my tank. I have pebble gravel in there and I placed root tabs under each plant. I have Flourish fertilizer and liquid CO2 that I dose twice a week. My light is on for 10 hours because it’s a florescent light. I’ve noticed the part of the stem in the gravel is just rotting instead of growing roots. Why is this and can anyone help me?

What type of stem plant are you trying to grow? Plants are a funny thing when it comes to growing them in aquariums, especially since most of us are not aquatic botanist.

I have found out after reading many a thread and my own experience that while some types of aquatic plants will grow and thrive in one aquarium it fails in another and vice versa. For me it has all been a matter of trial and error as to which plants grow well from me, and I have gone through several species figuring that out.

The only way in my opinion is to try and provide the best fertilizer and in my experience Thrive can't be beat. The right intensity of light and duration of light on and off. Your water chemistry plays and important part. When a plant fails for me I try something else, Amazon Swords (You can get several different types of Amazon Swords, some get large others stay small) have been my best grower, anubias has also been good for me, but for some reason ferns never survived.

 

[RenC]

What type of stem plant are you trying to grow? Plants are a funny thing when it comes to growing them in aquariums, especially since most of us are not aquatic botanist.

I have found out after reading many a thread and my own experience that while some types of aquatic plants will grow and thrive in one aquarium it fails in another and vice versa. For me it has all been a matter of trial and error as to which plants grow well from me, and I have gone through several species figuring that out.

The only way in my opinion is to try and provide the best fertilizer and in my experience Thrive can't be beat. The right intensity of light and duration of light on and off. Your water chemistry plays and important part. When a plant fails for me I try something else, Amazon Swords (You can get several different types of Amazon Swords, some get large others stay small) have been my best grower, anubias has also been good for me, but for some reason ferns never survived.

I have pinnitifida, water wisteria, rotala, and mermaid weed. I wanted these rather than swords or Anubias just because they fit the theme of my tank more. It’s interesting because I have some plants thriving and others keep getting stem rot where they’re planted. I’ve looked at light and decided medium light is best which is why I leave it on for 10 hours instead of 8. The only thing I can think of is since they were grown out of state and shipped to mine that the water hardness is too much for them here.

 

[Utar]

Your probably right about the difference in water hardness, but that are lots of plants that might fit into theme for your aquarium. Since you asked about stem plants have you tried temple plants.

 

[RenC]

Your probably right about the difference in water hardness, but that are lots of plants that might fit into theme for your aquarium. Since you asked about stem plants have you tried temple plants.

I didn’t even realize that I bought a red temple plant the other day! That one was local and is doing quite well!

 

[Utar]

I didn’t even realize that I bought a red temple plant the other day! That one was local and is doing quite well!

Then stick with it and buy more....lol....

 

[FFGuest6357]

I’m not an aquatic plant expert by any means, but from what I’ve been reading, plants, much like fish can easily get stressed from changing water conditions, ie: a new tank to live in.

stem plants may have a hard time coping, and if the roots or base close to the roots may have a hard time adjusting and seem to melt away. One thing I have done with my ludwigia, is I pulled it from the gravel, trimmed back the melting stem and left it floating at the top. It’s already starting to sprout new roots at the bottom most leaf nodes.

Even my wisteria which is having most of its old growth melt, is starting to aggressively form new roots that are growing above and towards the gravel.

so if there is a lot of die-back, it’s not necessarily the plants dying, but adjusting. Look for new growth and try floating the stem plants as they may begin rooting as the plants adjusts.

 

[itiwhetu]

Most aquarium plants are grown Terrestrially and then sold for the aquarium trade. Depending on which ones they are will determine their ability to adapt to the submerged life of an aquarium. Just leave the stems in your tank and wait, most of the time you will end up with aquatic leaves.

 

[Colin_T]

Pictures of the plants?
What sort of light unit and globe?
How many watts is the globe?
What is the Kelvin (K) rating on the globe?
What are the tank dimensions?

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Don't use liquid carbon dioxide (CO2), it's not necessary.

Use a complete aquarium iron based plant fertiliser with trace elements.
Use an iron (Fe) test kit to monitor iron levels and keep them at 1ppm.

Lots of plants sold for aquariums are garden plants that die when put under water.