Requesting Help W/ Newly Planted Tank

[dsiegel13]

Greetings.

I decided to make the leap and put live plants in my 10 gal(US) tank and ditch the ugly plastic ones that had previously resided in there. I have 3 Amazon Swords, 2 Wisterias, 2 Mondo Grass and 3 Anubius plants in there at the moment. Problem is that the only plants that seem to be growing/thriving are the Wisteria. My grass and swords are browning out and deteriorating and I am not sure what the Anubius are doing, they look okay, but their roots are growing up instead of into the gravel. Bottom of the tank is covered completely in 3-4" of ordinary aquarium gravel, nothing fancy.

Fish dig the new plant environment to hide and swim around, they haven't been nipping the plants and I don't see any bite marks on the leaves.

Completely new to the planted tank, so I was thinking that I would replace with a hardy grass and some Java Moss (I have Platy babies on the way). I am looking for low maintenance, hardy plants that can grow in my little tank.

Currently using a LED light, with 24 white lights (not sure the wattage or specs) usually keep it on for 12 hr stretches and my H2O quality is pretty good (pH - 6.2, Nitrates - 10, Nitrites - 1, Ammonia - 0, Hardness - 75, Chlorine - 0, Alkalinity - 0). Trying to get my pH back up to 7.0 at the moment, think the plants are dragging it down (are they?).

Any thoughts or advice is appreciated.

Included to pictures that show the browning of my swords and the basic set up as of today
(the big plants in the back are plastic, needed some height for top swimmers)

 

[stu40]

couple of quick things.Nitrite 1? You want to get that down ASAP (water change).How have you planted the Anubias? Having trouble making it out.Ideally it needs to be tied to rock/wood so that it's not buried.

 

[dsiegel13]

Nitrite was 10 earlier in the week, so I was happy with 1, H2O change scheduled for tomorrow morning.

The Anubias are siting on top of the gravel, I read not to completely cover the plant or it will rot out, its not buried, kind of sitting there on the bottom. Will get a rock and tie them down, should I use cotton thread or fishing wire or glue?

 

[stu40]

i used cotton on mine.Cut it off after couple of months.Never tried glue, but i know some have.
Nitrite was 10. You are cycled?

 

[dsiegel13]

I was completely cycled, then boom! last week my tank flips after a 25% h2o change, nitrites spike pH drops. Weird.

Fish seem okay, was a little worried about some with red gills but that has almost gone away.

Appreciate the advice, should I switch plants to lower maintenance grass and moss?

 

[ATK!!!]

12 hours of light is rather long and may be causing your plants to need more nutrients, hence the browness. If you lower it by at least a few hours then the plants may do better. That is unless you want to use a fertilser which would be preferable.

 

[dsiegel13]

So I tied my Anubias down to a rock and I tried to be gentle w/ it, guess I was too gentle, woke up this morning and the Anubias was floating about an inch or so off the rock. Just flopping around in the current.

So how tight is too tight, don't want to snap the roots in half, but would like to settle these plants.

 

[StandbySetting]

Super glue them on and it'll save you a lot of trouble, it is fish safe.

 

[dsiegel13]

Super Glue? Okay will give it a shot.

Do I glue the rhizome directly to the rock or should I just glue a couple of the roots (not by the tips to the rock? I know it sounds and looks like a dumb question, but I want to make sure I do it right... wife was teasing me all morning about the floating anubias, said it was trying to escape my tank

thanks for the advice

 

[Geoff-]

you need to check if that LED light is a) producing enough light (wattage) and b) producing the right spectrum of light. plants don't use green light at all, that's why it gets reflected and we perceive the leaves as green. all other wavelengths are absorbed but red and blue light is the most important for growth. that's also why a normal fluoro is useless - if you've ever taken a photo with a digital camera and seen the green colour cast you will understand why a normal fluoro is no good for plants.

if your LED light isn't producing enough red and blue colour then it could be why your plants are suffering.

 

[StandbySetting]

Glue the roots to the rock so the Rhizome is just resting on it, it doesn't matter which part of the root you glue.

 

[dsiegel13]

Okay, have the anubias strapped down to some rocks. Placed one plant per rock, figure that way they have room to grow and not compete for light.

Hopefully it works.

My lfs finally came through with Java Moss, does anyone know if I can attach it to my fake rock decoration? It is a replica balinese lantern but looks like a stone pagoda and a mossy covering would look pretty groovy. Read that I can build a hairnet to hold it down, just with the odd shape, didn't know if it would attach. (picture of pagoda above in original post)

 

[dsiegel13]

you need to check if that LED light is a) producing enough light (wattage) and b) producing the right spectrum of light.

From the companies website, I can only figure out that each LED is only producing .11 watts per, for a total of only 2.64 watts total when the fixture is on. Is that a lot, a little, not enough, too much, or dump that flashlight and buy a real aquarium light level?

What is optimal lighting? Have Amazon swords, wisteria, and anubias... plus adding java moss tonight.

Can't get an answer on the spectrum produced by the lights either, website says white light, but can't get a more specific answer...running the 24 LED light that comes w/ the Marineland 10gal Half Moon Kit.

Thanks.

Update: Finally got thru to the guys at Marineland, they told me that the light I have is not meant for plant growth...great. Any suggestions on a replacement light are highly appreciated. Tank is in half moon shape so conventional tank hood setups are out, tank is 21.5" L x 13.5" W x 20" H. Right now there is a clear plastic lid on the tank that is cut to allow filter, light stand, and power cord for heater/pumps to get thru. Probably going to have to place the light directly on the plastic lid or if the light has legs that can hold on to the curved sides of the tank that would be better for heat purposes. Please help, like my plants and don't want to see them die, and be forced back to the ugly plastic ones.

 

[dsiegel13]

So now my Amazon swords are dying...I was under the impression that these plants are hardier than hardy.

I thought I have everything going well for the plants to survive, but the leaves keep browning out and dying.

Please help.

My specs are:

Tank: 10 gal (US)
Lights: 12W btw 2 bulbs, 1 white 10,000K bulb and 1 Actinic blue bulb
Amt. of Lights: keep on for about 6-8 hrs daily
Water Quality
pH: 7.0
Nitrate: 40
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
KH: 80
GH: 75
Dosing: Seachem Flourish (1x weekly)
Livestock: Platies, Mollies, Tiger Barbs
Other Plants: Anubias, Wisteria, Java Moss, 2 pieces of drift wood

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Amazon swords are hardy, but they are also heavy feeders and require a lot of nutrients

You
May be better with some larger cryptocoryne species