What's this on my plant .... times two

[mrsjoannh13]

This is my first planted tank. It's a 20 gallon currently going through a fishless cycle. It's been set up for about 3 weeks. I've got a Twinstar S600 light at 55% for 7 hours daily and dosing with Easy Green fertilizer at half dose and Aquarium Co-op root tabs around the stem plants. Substrate is sand.

I kept the plants in a bucket of water for about a week once they arrived before I could get around to planting them. So they had a bit of a rough start before they went into the tank.

On the amazon swords, I'm seeing some brown leaves. I can't figure out if it's some sort of algae or nutrient deficiency or it needs more light? I know sand is not the ideal substrate so I have quite a few root tabs around them. Any ideas on the cause for the brown leaves? I'm hoping it's not the start of some sort of algae.

The second photo is a java fern. I'm seeing a little black dot on the back of a leaf. Is this the plant propagating? Or something more sinister?

Thanks!

 

[eatyourpeas]

Your Java fern has a baby!

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Your Java fern has a baby!

SHUT UP!!!! I mean not literally.. In a good way. That's incredible!

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Looks like diatoms to me.

The best way to remove them is with a soft bristled tooth brush.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Looks like diatoms to me.

Just on the amazon sword, right?

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Just on the amazon sword, right?

Yes.

Can’t really tell on the Java Fern. Java Ferns grow from left to right, unlike vals or swords. Will you please upload another, more clear photo of the Java Fern?

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Will you please upload another, more clear photo of the Java Fern?

Okay not sure if this is much better but about as good as my photography skills allow. The black dot is on the bottom of the leaf that is bent over horizontally in the mid left of the photo.

 

[eatyourpeas]

Black dots like the one on the bottom right can point to iron deficiency. I added a bit of Leaf Zone to get the plants over the hump during the start, but now that the tanks are established they are able to get nutrients from the waste. I know LZ is not a favorite, but it worked for me. The little horizontal leaf/root towards the left looks like the baby JF, and the black area is the root clump.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Black dots like the one on the bottom right can point to iron deficiency. I added a bit of Leaf Zone to get the plants over the hump during the start, but now that the tanks are established they are able to get nutrients from the waste. I know LZ is not a favorite, but it worked for me. The little horizontal leaf/root towards the left looks like the baby JF, and the black area is the root clump.

Ahhh good to know - thank you. I think there is an Easy Iron supplement I can add to the Easy Green. I might try that since I've had really good luck with Aquarium Co-op products so far. Thanks for the input!

 

[Utar]

Diatom algae, sand substrates are silicon-based and you have silicon-based diatom algae. This type of algae feeds off the silicon. The good news is in your case it has not gotten really bad yet. Your tank is new and the nutrients have yet to balance out. Clean it as best your can, for now, be sure, and vacuum the substrate, and hopefully, after a while, the algae will start to diminish after your new aquarium balances out. I had this same type of algae and turning off the lights didn't help at all. I blacked out the tank for several days with a blanket and still didn't make a dent in this type of algae. But just in case I am wrong, cut back on your lighting times for a few days and see what happens. Back off on feeding your fish a bet at a time. Try and figure out what is causing the unbalance in your aquarium that is helping the algae.

Youtube has lots of videos dealing with algae in aquariums.

 

[mrsjoannh13]

Okay so the brown stuff on the amazon sword leaves did wipe off fairly easily with a soft toothbrush. I ordered some Easy Iron for the java ferns so hopefully that will take care of the brown spots on the front of the leaves and I'll keep an eye on what we think is a baby fern on the back!

 

[eatyourpeas]

I sometimes encourage diatoms in my tank in order to feed the ostracods. If you get ostracods, they'll quite happily chomp on those little crystals.

 

[Colin_T]

The sword plant has a nutrient deficiency, you shouldn't be able to see the veins like that.

The black on the Java Fern could be rotting from damage, fungus or a virus. If it gets worse and spreads over the leaves, cut the leaf off at the base and get rid of the infected leaves.