What's wrong with my plant?

[Mjmj02]

Hey. I forget what type of plant this is, but lately the new leaves have been coming in more see through and light/light red. My light is getting kind of old so I was thinking it was a need for more light?

 

[ember04]

Hi there
It is probably due to a few factors, first yes if your light is old you may want to consider a new light you should look for a light with 6000-8000K.
Some good options are the nicrew light I have linked
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0899K89TC/?tag=
or you could try the Fluval COB this is the light I use but it depends on tank size.

Another thing is nutrients in the photo I can't quite see the soil type but after time even the best soils run out of nutrients also due to the fact that the plant looks like a water column feeder it may be a nutrient issue. Try using a liquid fertiliser there are many good ones. I see you are in Hawaii I am from Europe and use Europe fertiliser brands so cant suggest one but I hear aquarium co op easy green is good

hope this helps
ember04

 

[Mjmj02]

Hi there
It is probably due to a few factors, first yes if your light is old you may want to consider a new light you should look for a light with 6000-8000K.
Some good options are the nicrew light I have linked
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0899K89TC/?tag=
or you could try the Fluval COB this is the light I use but it depends on tank size.

Another thing is nutrients in the photo I can't quite see the soil type but after time even the best soils run out of nutrients also due to the fact that the plant looks like a water column feeder it may be a nutrient issue. Try using a liquid fertiliser there are many good ones. I see you are in Hawaii I am from Europe and use Europe fertiliser brands so cant suggest one but I hear aquarium co op easy green is good

hope this helps
ember04

Thank you so much for the reply! Super appreciated because I really don’t know much about plants. The soil is a mix of fluval black stratum and fluorite black clay gravel. The flourite black I added just a month ago.
I have a 20gallon long and I too definitely think it need a new light haha. I will look into the ones you provided because they seem like good choices.
Also, I would love to try the aquarium co-op fertilizer. I will let you know any of the choices I make so I can see what works.
Also, quick question, because the depth of a 20 gallon long and a 10 gallon normal are the same, are the same amount of light wattages needed? Like if I had a 20 watt on the 10 gallon and a 20 watt on the 20 gallon long, would they both be the same strength of light for the plants because they are the same depth? I hope that made sense haha.
Thank you
Maja

 

[mcordelia]

In general, yes, but wattage with LED lights doesn't tell you much these days. The more important factors are "temperature" and PAR (but not all manufacturers publish PAR, though the good ones do).

If the depth is the same, then the light reaching the bottom will be the same. The coverage may not be the same depending on the surface area of the light (covers more of the 10g than the 20g due to the larger surface area of the 20g).

I'm not very good with plants, but I think the one you have is an amazon sword plant. I think that those plants take up nutrition from the water column more than the soil, so the previous recommendation for some easy green (another option is flourish complete, but don't use flourish excel because it can be toxic to fish).

Good luck getting your plant back to green!

 

[ember04]

how is everything going with your plants? any better?