Whats Wrong With My Plants?

[sjolliff]

They look like there dying, the bottom of the plants are blue/black, iv adjusted the lights from 12 to 6 hours and been adding leafzone, also my amazon swors look poorly and some of the leafs are brown and gone clear?!

 

[three-fingers]

You appear to have planted the sea grass in bunches, which isnt allowing the lower sections of it any light or a decent flow of water, as a result it is rotting.

What are your other water stats, can you put a picture of the swords up?

 

[sjolliff]

You can just see the swords at the back behind the grass,
di i need to buy new ones?

 

[mickspark81]

Just wondered if you may have medicated your tank recently?

I only asked because when i treated my tank for ich the plants really suffered

 

[three-fingers]

You'll probably need to buy something to replace the sea grass stuff (cant remember the species name atm). But it would be better to replace it with something that has easier demands, like Hygrophilia or something .

The swords don't look too bad from the pic. Though they seem to be planted in bunches. Individual plants should be separated and planted apart from each other.

Is this tank one of the new Fluval ones with 2 xT5 lights?

Is there any fish in the tank at the moment? Because if you have no fish or only a low fish load, the plants arent going to be getting the nutrients they need, and Leaf Zone only provides trace elements.

What turnover does the tank have?

 

[sjolliff]

You'll probably need to buy something to replace the sea grass stuff (cant remember the species name atm). But it would be better to replace it with something that has easier demands, like Hygrophilia or something .

The swords don't look too bad from the pic. Though they seem to be planted in bunches. Individual plants should be separated and planted apart from each other.

Is this tank one of the new Fluval ones with 2 xT5 lights?

Is there any fish in the tank at the moment? Because if you have no fish or only a low fish load, the plants arent going to be getting the nutrients they need, and Leaf Zone only provides trace elements.

What turnover does the tank have?

Hi the swords are about 2" apart and the sea grass is about 3" apart
yeah its the roma 125 with t5 power and aqua glo
the tank is currently in a fishless cycle so no fish,
what do you mean by turnover?
thanks for your advice

 

[three-fingers]

In the pictures, the stems arent apart at all. Have you taken the lead weights off? Once they are off, you are meant to split the bunches into individual stems/plants and then plant those at least a couple of inches apart from each other.

Turnover is worked out by taking the lph of the filter and dividing it by the tanks volume. For example in my 71l planted tank I have a 480lph external, a 600lph powerhead and a 350lph heater/powerhead. So a total 1430/71 = 20.1 x an hour, that's just the rated turnover, in reality it will be much less due to filter media, optimistic manufacturer specifications and obstructions in the tank (mainly all the plants).

A rated turnover of at least 10x an hour is usually recommended for a planted tank, its not the most important thing in the world, but helps tackle algae by getting rid of dead spots where small undetectable amounts of ammonia can build up, feeding the algae. It also helps distribute CO2 if your adding it.

The ammonia could also be affecting the plants (its toxic to them too). You may as well keep on with the fishless cycle then replace plants that die at the end of it. Its not a good idea to cycle a planted tank really. Read this thread: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry2452182

 

[sjolliff]

My fluval 205 say 680LPH my tank is 125L so 680/125 = 5.4?!

i thought the lead weight stayed on? my LFS never said anything.

so reall i should take the plant apart and just have 1 stem a couple of inches apart from each other?

could i have a row of say 6 stems 2" apart?

iv thrown the sea grass away 80% of them were black and the roots were, not white like they should

 

[three-fingers]

Yep, lead weights come off, plant stems separately .

But dont bother getting more plants until the cycles done. Even though the plants will end up using the ammonia from the fish in the end anyway, negating the need for a cycle. You have started now, may as well continue. If you get more plants now the ammonia could harm them, and they will possibly skew the results of the cycle.

If you could bump up turnover using a powehead, will help reduce algae especially in the early stages of the tanks life.

You'll have to have a medium-to high fish load to feed the plants properly too .

If you decide to stop the cycle, get lots of easy plants, add another powerhead to bump up turnover and add some hardy fish like danios. If you choose suitable plants for the setup, they will use up the ammonia from he fish.

 

[sjolliff]

Cheers you been a great help, what about if i changed to the tetratec ex1200 turnover works out at 9.6?
ill sort the plants 2 moz, i will only need one bunch now once iv split them lol,

so could i have 6 stems 2" apart in a row?

 

[three-fingers]

9.6 would be much better, but why not keep the 205 too and have 15 x rated turnover? More mechanical filtration that way too, even clearer water.

Or the cheapest option (that would give a better result), buy a decent powerful poweread/circulation pump. A Hydor Koralia would be perfect. Even go for a Tunze Nanostream if you feel like spending the money. A bigger filter isnt needed.

And yes, that planting arrangement sounds fine.

 

[sjolliff]

Right so the filter is fine,
just looked at the Tunze, does it just blast air out?, plus can you over filtrate as it 4500LPH
How do power heads work?

 

[three-fingers]

The Hydor Koralias and Tunze Nanostream circulation pumps put out a wider flow of water, they create a lot of water movement just as if it was a filter outlet, but not in the form of a very powerful narrow stream of water as if it was a conventional powerhead.

They come in different sizes, the smallest Tunze Nanostream does is that 4500lph one, but its better value for money, excellent build quality, shifts more lph for the money and has a much lower power consumption for the lph. You shoulent have problems with too much flow as long as you were to position it right.

A Hydor Koralia 1 would be a simpler cheaper option. A Koralia Nano would do the job, but once you have it installed you'll probably see it does such a good job that you wish you spent the extra few £ for the bigger model .

Even a regular powerhead would do the job well if youd find it easier just going to the lfs and buying one.

 

[sjolliff]

Ill go and have a look today
cheers

 

[sjolliff]

this is how it looks now