plants dying

[James7]

FYI, when you write in capitals you are implying others are stupid for getting it wrong, also you stated nitrates at the same time as my post, they all came through at the same time so my response was not to your most recent one.

Are you suggesting that melafix seeded your filter, because that’s how it reads? I hope you don’t have any labryinth fish or corydoras because it can be deadly to them.

 

[Wills]

Dwarf hairgrass is an aquatic plant, I have it in my tank as a carpeting plant. It does best in a tank with a nutrient rich substrate like aquarium soil, daily liquid fertiliser, medium to high lighting and Co2. Under these conditions I have been able to grow it from a couple of tufts to an approx 60x30cm carpet.

It does sound like you have some issues going on in your tank, a reading of 1 with nitrite is not comparable to 0-20 nitrate so I am not sure if you are confused by the test kits or just dont want to tell us whats really going on. But if you have recently added fish, made changes to your filtration and have dead or decaying plant matter in the tank you are probably going to be seeing iffy readings so I would recommned removing the dead plants and trying to do regular water changes, maybe a few a week to try and get things under control.

Wills

 

[Sgooosh]

FYI, when you write in capitals you are implying others are stupid for getting it wrong, also you stated nitrates at the same time as my post, they all came through at the same time so my response was not to your most recent one.

Are you suggesting that melafix seeded your filter, because that’s how it reads? I hope you don’t have any labryinth fish or corydoras because it can be deadly to them.

no i only have livebearer, and no i used melafix to treat my fish.

 

[Sgooosh]

Dwarf hairgrass is an aquatic plant, I have it in my tank as a carpeting plant. It does best in a tank with a nutrient rich substrate like aquarium soil, daily liquid fertiliser, medium to high lighting and Co2. Under these conditions I have been able to grow it from a couple of tufts to an approx 60x30cm carpet.

It does sound like you have some issues going on in your tank, a reading of 1 with nitrite is not comparable to 0-20 nitrate so I am not sure if you are confused by the test kits or just dont want to tell us whats really going on. But if you have recently added fish, made changes to your filtration and have dead or decaying plant matter in the tank you are probably going to be seeing iffy readings so I would recommned removing the dead plants and trying to do regular water changes, maybe a few a week to try and get things under control.

Wills

the nitrite one was a mistake lol. i will get some ferts in a while then. do root tabs work?

 

[Wills]

the nitrite one was a mistake lol. i will get some ferts in a while then. do root tabs work?

If the hairgrass has started to fade it is very hard to come back. You would be better with an other grass type plant like Helanthium Tennelum, Sagittaria Subulata or Littorella Uniflora. I've just added some Littorella to my tank and it looks really good, quite tall needle like leaves.

Wills

 

[Sgooosh]

If the hairgrass has started to fade it is very hard to come back. You would be better with an other grass type plant like Helanthium Tennelum, Sagittaria Subulata or Littorella Uniflora. I've just added some Littorella to my tank and it looks really good, quite tall needle like leaves.

Wills

what about like baby tears or monte

 

[James7]

Dwarf baby tears need high light and CO2, but most carpeting plants have the same requirements.

You will be better with a substrate like fluval stratum than root tabs for carpeting, you will need a lot of root tabs!

I recall that there is a type of rotalla that carpets. Or grows horizontally instead of vertically when given a lot of light

 

[StevenF]

Back to the plants: duckweed likes a lot of light and no water agitation. They melt if close to filter current.

I have seen duckweed a fully shaded pond doing very well. I have seen it completely cover my tank right up to the spray bar of my filter. I have also seen it survives for weeks fully submerged in my tank tangled insubservface plants and did not melt. A nutrient deficiency did kill it off in my tank once. I then improved my fertilization and reintroduced it in the tank. After that it wouldn't die no mater how much water agitation I had or how much or how litttle light I gave it.

The only thing I have seen that will actually kill it. iare nutrient deficiencies . Other than light, CO2, and nitrate duckweed also needs another 13 other nutrients to grow. If only one is missing duckweed, and in fact all plants, will die. If it is is indeed dying you need to do a water 50% change once a week and fertilize the water after the water change.

 

[Kyle E.]

So I am confused. Is hairgrass aquatic or not??

 

[Wills]

I believe it is, the Tropica website does not say it isnt, this is my tank above when I first planted it in I would guess late August and then later in December. There are plenty of examples out there of it growing in aquariums in a vigourous way, there are carpets of hairgrass in 4,5 even 6 foot tanks. I think the thing is you cant expect it (or most carpeting plants) to grow in gravel with low lighting and no ferts. I dont think Co2 is essential for it, I've seen it in tanks without Co2 and people have it thriving with good lighting and ferts.

Wills

 

[Kyle E.]

Hmm k. Thanks! Hopefully mine will grow lol. If not, I am getting dwarf sag so it might work out. Now back to the OP.

 

[Sgooosh]

Dwarf baby tears need high light and CO2, but most carpeting plants have the same requirements.

You will be better with a substrate like fluval stratum than root tabs for carpeting, you will need a lot of root tabs!

I recall that there is a type of rotalla that carpets. Or grows horizontally instead of vertically when given a lot of light

kk i will add carpet later after the ground gets fertilised.

 

[Sgooosh]

I have seen duckweed a fully shaded pond doing very well. I have seen it completely cover my tank right up to the spray bar of my filter. I have also seen it survives for weeks fully submerged in my tank tangled insubservface plants and did not melt. A nutrient deficiency did kill it off in my tank once. I then improved my fertilization and reintroduced it in the tank. After that it wouldn't die no mater how much water agitation I had or how much or how litttle light I gave it.

The only thing I have seen that will actually kill it. iare nutrient deficiencies . Other than light, CO2, and nitrate duckweed also needs another 13 other nutrients to grow. If only one is missing duckweed, and in fact all plants, will die. If it is is indeed dying you need to do a water 50% change once a week and fertilize the water after the water change.

i will add fert in the new tank thanks. the new tank didnt use any real substrate

 

[Colin_T]

So I am confused. Is hairgrass aquatic or not??

Hair grass is not a true aquatic plant, neither is Anubias.

Lots of plants are sold as aquarium plants and most are marsh plants that do really well when their roots are in water and the rest of the plant is above water. Some marsh plants will do well underwater too.

Some common marsh plants include Amazon sword plants, Hygrophila sp, Rotala sp, Ludwigia sp, Bacopa sp.

True aquatic plants include Vallis, Ambulia, Cabomba, Hornwort, Elodia, Hydrilla.

The main difference between marsh plants and true aquatic plants is the stem. True aquatics have a soft flexible stem with air bubbles in it. These bubbles help the plant float and remain buoyant in the water column.
Marsh plants have a rigid stem and these plants can remain standing upright when removed from water. Whereas true aquatic plants will fall over/ collapse when removed from water.

 

[Sgooosh]

Hair grass is not a true aquatic plant, neither is Anubias.

Lots of plants are sold as aquarium plants and most are marsh plants that do really well when their roots are in water and the rest of the plant is above water. Some marsh plants will do well underwater too.

Some common marsh plants include Amazon sword plants, Hygrophila sp, Rotala sp, Ludwigia sp, Bacopa sp.

True aquatic plants include Vallis, Ambulia, Cabomba, Hornwort, Elodia, Hydrilla.

The main difference between marsh plants and true aquatic plants is the stem. True aquatics have a soft flexible stem with air bubbles in it. These bubbles help the plant float and remain buoyant in the water column.
Marsh plants have a rigid stem and these plants can remain standing upright when removed from water. Whereas true aquatic plants will fall over/ collapse when removed from water.

can i propogate my big boy underwater anubias and make its clone go out of water?