Plants Not Doing Too Well!

[clen666]

hi,

I'm new to fish keeping therefore also to aquatic plants, so I hope someone can help me out!

I have amazon swords and their leaves look very thin, there are even small holes in many of the leaves. I also have vallis which have the same problems.

I have cabomba caroliniana and while the tops look healthy, the lower parts of the plant look brown, almost dirty looking. This is happening with another plant too, I think it is hygrophila difformis.

I have a sand substrate, which varies between approx 1" and 2". I also use tpn+ liquid, but would root ferts be best for the swords?

Any help would be great, thanx, G

Ment to add tank is 54L (2ft long) and the light is 15W arcadia freshwater t8 (I think!)

 

[Mr Bliss]

Yeah, both Amazon swords and Vallisnerias like to take up nutrients through their roots. To be able to effectively capture nutrients from the water column, they'd need the nutrients to diffuse into the substrate and stay there, which in turn would require a substrate with some cation exchange capacity (substrates with peat or clay in them, for example, or vermiculite or cat litter). Sand has none. The substrate might also be a bit too thin, restricting the total volume accessible to the roots. So you might have all the nutrients they need in the water, but they just can't absorb them fast enough.

The above is supported by the fact that your stem plants (many of which don't care about the substrate much or at all) are growing fine. So root tabs are definitely the way forward here, in my opinion. Just add root tabs to your current fert regime, or, if you have plenty of fish in the tank, you could switch from TPN+ to TPN and root tabs I think.

Are the Cabomba and Hygrophila growing very densely? Could be just the upper leaves shading the lower ones, which leads to the lower leaves doing poorly and eventually falling off.

 

[aaronnorth]

with the stems, plant a group of 2 or 3 a few cm apart from each other so light can get to the bottom.

how much TPN+ are you dosing & when?

 

[clen666]

Hi, thanx for the replies

Only dosing 1ml a day. I have read some people dose up to 7ml a day but that was on larger tanks than mine, and as mine is just a low tech set up I figured dosing much more wouldnt have much effect, am I right in thinking that?
Are there any root ferts you'd recommend?


What are your opinions on the freshwater bulb? I would like more light but there isnt room under the hood
Would you recommend any other bulbs that make the most of their low wattage (15W) and are good for plants?

Thanx again, G

 

[aaronnorth]

if you have T8, then go for some T6 tubes, they fit in T8 ballasts but output 40% more light.

I dose 10ml a day on my 60l!

i have never used root tabs but iwould imagine there wouldnt be much difference between them, unless going fo the better brands like API & Tropica.

 

[clen666]

10ml a day? That must cost a fortune!

Do you know any good sites for T6 bulbs, just I cant seem to find the size that I'd need?

I've attached a pic of my tank, its a work in progress - I am new to this remember! But any comments or suggestions are welcome

 

[Mr Bliss]

That's a nice looking tank. I really like the piece of bogwood.

 

[aaronnorth]

yes i know, i am going to start making my own TPN+

Get T6 from here: http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?...mp;cPath=12_207

 

[clen666]

That's a nice looking tank. I really like the piece of bogwood.

Thanx, sorry its poor quality its just from my phone, plus it will only allow me to upload files of 100k, is this because I am a newbie or something?

The swords are in the corners at the back, thats why I need them to grow so you can actually see them! I also need to get a black background to hide those ugly wires

 

[clen666]

yes i know, i am going to start making my own TPN+

Get T6 from here: [URL="http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?...mp;cPath=12_207"]http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?...mp;cPath=12_207[/URL]

thanx aaron, i'll look into those when I need to renew my bulb. how much tpn+ do you think would be best to dose, considering its low tech?

 

[aaronnorth]

start off at 3ml daily, then adjust according to your plants.

 

[clen666]

start off at 3ml daily, then adjust according to your plants.

ok thanx. would you recommend adding any other supplements, such as a source of iron or anything else? or does TPN+ contain all thats needed?

 

[aaronnorth]

TPN+ contains everything.