Plants Not Doing Well

[BeezerGeezer]

The tank is pretty heavily planted and I have a mixture of plants, broad leafed, valis, cabomba, a reed type thing, and none of them are doing well. They arrive looking good and gradually over the space of a few weeks they turn yellow then brown and I ditch them and start again. It's a 30" tank, 18" deep, with two 24" T5 tubes, one for plants one for fish, with reflectors and the lights are on for around 8-10 hrs a day. I have a couple of inches of 'Flora base' and an inch of sand where the plants are sited and I was dosing with Colombo Flora grow liquid fertiliser once a week. I've stopped that now though because of algae.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do to improve the situation? Or perhaps I am doing something wrong?

 

[MegaZerino]

have you got co2?

 

[BeezerGeezer]

No I haven't. Do you think it's necessary for my set up? I have considered it but didn't think it was warranted in my case.

 

[MegaZerino]

i didnt have an issue when my tank was just swords crypts and vallis, but with more advanced plants, especially in a heavily planted tank it is needed a lot more, im going to start dosing liquid co2 because i have an algae problem so you could too and still dose your ferts.

 

[ian]

what lighting do you have Beezer?

also, most plants are grown out of water, and when we submerge them, they go through a change. This can often lead to melting and browning.

Got any pics?

 

[BeezerGeezer]

I'm just looking at Warehouse aquatics. They have some interesting options for CO2. The Aquagro hobby set looks like it's worth a punt. £40 for a full set of gear, albeit plastic fittings, but if it works out they could be upgraded. £10 for an in tank CO2 level indicator kit. If it doesn't cure my problems there's always ebay .

 

[BeezerGeezer]

Ian, I have two 24" T5 tubes. A Plant pro and a Tropical pro, both with reflectors, both new at the beginning of April. There are some pics of my tank here,

http/www.fishforums.net/uploads//monthly_05_2012/post-96606-0-26889500-1337979542.jpg

Right now I have taken out the cabomba to the left of the pic and immediately to the right of the wood and replaced it with a broadleafed variety so there is less stuff floating around and less 'litter' in the foliage. The reedy grassy stuff in the front left has been replaced with more of the same, but it doesn't last and the roots seem to rot. They certainly smell bad when I pull it out.

 

[ian]

That reed stuff looks like mondo grass, which isn't an aquatic plant. What is the wattage of the bulbs and how big is the tank?

 

[KittyKat]

Edit: removed already mentioned comments.

What is the pH?

 

[BeezerGeezer]

Hi KK, pH is between 6.8 and 7.

If the mondo grass is non aquatic then that would explain the stinky roots. See, I'm learning stuff already

Just ordered the AquaGro hobby set.

 

[Andy Vox]

My 10 penny worth:
You have too much light for the tank, unless you intend to add daily fert and co2. Your effectively in the high light category.
Your light period is too long.
By stopping fertiliser you will have fallen into the trap that most people fall into. Ferts don't cause algae, by removing the ferts the algae will bloom more.

If you want to try out pressurised co2 I'd suggest using a fire extinguisher with a regulator, all can be purchased for under £60 if you Shop around on eBay. Then it costs £10 to fill it up and would last ages on a 2kg bottle. Plus you wouldn't need to upgrade again further down the line even if you get a bigger tank.

I'd suggest reducing the light period to no more than 6 hours. If you can turn the fish light off and leave just the plant bulb on and raise the height of the light from the water if possible. Move filter outlets down so there is very little or no surface agitation. Dose ferts twice weekly and do water changes every other day. Change water then add ferts. That will clear most of it up, dependant on the algae you have scrape any off you can and give everything a good scrub. Dosing heavily with a liquid carbon would help too or co2 if you can get some pressurised co2 system.

Ian's right that Mango grass is none aquatic it'll never grow, I tried and failed with co2 daily ferts and high light.
Some of the plants will melt once in our aquariums because of the change from growing out of water to in water but will adapt and grow new leaves.

How much filtration do you have, how old is the tank?
Algae has always plagued me in low flow areas, in a heavily planted tank you need all the leaves to look like they are blowing in the wind.

 

[BeezerGeezer]

Tubes are 24W. They are actually 22", just looked them up. Tank is 30"x15"x18", if memory serves. A tadd over 100l.

Filtration is a 200l/h unit, lights are attached to underside of hood so can't be raised without removing hood altogether. Light period reduction can be managed, filter outlet is about 1" below the surface, gives quite a bit of movement but more in the water than on it, if you get my drift.
Tank was started middle of March, all new kit apart from the glass.

The algae isn't a big problem in the tank, really just a light uncoloured film inside the glass. It's more of an issue in the filter, pipes and spray bar. I've had to strip and clean the impeller and all the pipes with a pull through brush twice in 3 months. Just removed the spray bar altogether this w/e.