Plant Troubles

I brought new plants for the tank as I have recently changed the whole layout of the tank. When I put the plants in about a week ago, they were mainly healthy (maybe 1 slightly bad leaf which I cut off but nothing noticeable). However, now I have the problem of plants falling apart, leaves are coming off the actual plant . I have noticed 3 main problems, they are either:
1. Coming off, the actual leaf doesn't seem too bad as the majority are coming off at stem level.
2. Dying. They are going brown and falling apart.
3. Parts of the plant pigments are missing. While the majority of the leaf is there I would say around 1/10th of the leaf isn't actually green, bits of it are see through. Indicating that the plant is on it's way out as this is slowly spreading down the leaf.

I was going to get plant supplements and add them in this weekend when I do a water change. Any advice would be greatful. Oh and before I forget I have a T8 bulb which is a daylite bulb. The timer is set for 5 hours on, 2 hours off and 5 hours back on as previously my plants were burning up a little bit under the constent light so I had to alter the timer.

pic's? That would help a lot. Tank size, light wattage and anything at all your adding to the aquarium?

I will try and upload some pictures in a few minutes, but it's being slightly awkward and refusing them
Tank size is 120liters.
Light wattage is 30w.
And I'm not adding anything to the aquarium.

I will have to upload files in the morning as I have to compress them all to upload. Will get them on as quick as possible.

What plants they are would help too

coldcazzie said:

What plants they are would help too

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Thats why I asked for pics , well your lighting is low light so maybe your plants require more but I doubt it, if you dont know what they are then you may have some non aquatics. Are any badly over shadowed by other plants? Do you dose anything? Have you tested your water? Do you do regular water changes and what stock do you have? Oh and in any planted tank you dont need anymore than 8 hours light max.

Would reducing the light help or is 5 on, 2 off, 5 on ok?
I am currently not dosing anything.
And I did a water test at the lfs and they said the water is perfect, I am scheduled for a water change this weekend.

Fish are:

• 6 Denison Barbs
• 6 Pristella
• 5 Cory
• 2 Cherry Barbs (last 2)
• 1 Neon (last 1)
• 1 Zebra Otter (last 1)
• 1 Plec
• 1 Krib Cichlid
• And a load of snails which I keep taking out, but they just keep reappearing.

I have made sure that all plants are not being overshadowed, however there are maybe a few leaves which aren't getting their full protential of light so I am moving them round a little bit to make sure they always have some form of light.

Plants are:

• Alternanthera Cardinalis
• Alternanthera Rosaefolia
• Cryptocoryne Wendtil Brown
• Echinodorus Bleheri
• Hemiographis Colorata
• Hemioraphics Exotica
• Cryptocoryne Wentii
• Cryptocoryne X Willisii
• And 1 plant I'm not 100% sure on the name but I might be able to find a link still.

As you can see the pigment in the top part of the leaf is starting to go. It is mainly on that plant alone but although it is on a few leaves it doesn't seem to be spreading.

This leaf has gone a light shade of green, it should be quite dark and seems to have a weird green spot on it as the leaf was orginially a slightly darker shade of green compared to that. When I checked the plants today I noticed that the green spot has grown a bit, could this be part of the leaf dying or a disease? The leaf should look like this


Sorry I having to upload these in several posts, It keeps saying the files are too big

I have also noticed that more and more leafs are appearing at the top of the tank near the filter enterance which I have to keep removing. Would it be an idea to just pull off all the damaged leafs? Although the tank might look slightly empty it could help some of the plants recover.

If you upload your pictures to a site like Photobucket or ImageShack you can link them into your post meaning you can have infinite pictures without having to resize

Duz said:

[*]Hemiographis Colorata
[*]Hemioraphics Exotica

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These two plant species are non-aquatic. That's is why those are giving you problems now.

How long has the tank been setup? Reduce the photoperiod to about 6 hours with no gaps.

Liz

I second that

also that top pic is a sword, and i'm hazard a guess that it's been in the tank less thank 6 weeks?

That to me looks like its getting used to it's submersed growth. Most swords are grown emersed, so it takes time for the to used to their new environment. You need to cut the effect part of, cut it directly at the bottom near the crown.

Ok thanks, well the tank itself has been set up for about 3 and 3/4 years roughly. I had a redsign of the layout just under 2 weeks ago and since then the plants which where doing really well in the tank haven't been doing as great.

As for the:
[*]Hemiographis Colorata
[*]Hemiographis Exotica
The Exotica isn't doing too bad other than loosing 2 leaves and the Colorata is the 1 which is having slightly problems.

The plants which are struggerling are:

• Echinodorus Bleheri - pictured, is loosing it's pigment
• Hemiographis Colorata - pictured - has the green spot. But as I split this plant up into 3 different groups, 2 of the groups are doing quite well its just the 3rd group which is going a weird colour.
• Cryptocoryne Wentii - which has been in the tank for a solid 2years almost, some of the leaves are now dying.

I made a typo on the Hemiographis Colorata (this seems to be an aquatic plant from what I have found) but the Hemioraphics Colorata isn't. Change in the letters G and C. As for the Hemiographis Exotica I have no idea, the plant is just loosing a few leaves but other than that doesn't seem to bad. As for the Hemiographis Exotica should I just take it out? Or am I able to leave it until it just dies?

also that top pic is a sword, and i'm hazard a guess that it's been in the tank less thank 6 weeks?

That to me looks like its getting used to it's submersed growth. Most swords are grown emersed, so it takes time for the to used to their new environment. You need to cut the effect part of, cut it directly at the bottom near the crown.

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Its been in the tank for just under 2 weeks but its a Echinodorus Bleheri. Will cut the affected area, thanks.

the Crypt might benefit from a good trim back. This will help the crypt from time to time. The Hemigraphis Colorata is most certainly not a true aquatic plant, they are sold for things like Palladium's. It needs taking out really, as it will slowly rot, letting off ammonia and risking the chance of an algae outbreak. The sword will be as i say just getting used to its new environment. Give it a month and it should be looking better.

Ok thanks, will take the Hemiographis plants out, trim the sword and then reduce the light down to 6 hours. When will I be able to put the lighting back up as I would like to see the fish for slightly more than 6 hours? Shall I put it up after all the plants have recovered or shall I just leave it at 6 hours? Thanks everyone for all your help.