Help With Plants

[Spikey1007]

Hey all, i had some real plants in my tank. Well 1 died the one is pic 3 , due to rotting. But one other one was clinging on and slowly getting eaten by the fish. It wasn't putting any new growth out to i decided to take the stalks out, but they had no roots so i lobbed them out. I really liked the plant though and want another.

I only just started putting CO2 into the tank so maybe they might live now. Never used any ferts i thought the ammonia compunds in the water will do that?

The green plant in the middle is gone ages ago more pics below, its the red plant which i want to know about is it aqautic should i get another?

rotting

a better ID pic.

The two plants were not planted into the substrate i bet thats my worst mistake, so if i get another one should it live if i plant into substrate? Is there anyway to keep it there if it lacks roots?

Also i have a filter which cycles water through a jet, i cannot turn this off. It doesn't make the water move that much so i should lose too much CO2?

 

[aaronnorth]

red plants require lots of light, CO2 & nutrients, so it would be easier to remove it.

ammonia provides only Nitrogen to the plants. You are missing phosphate, potassium and all trace elements. I would buy a fert such as tropica plant nutrition+ or seachem flourish which will provide everything for the plants. Available at Aqua Essentials or The green machine.

The last plant looks like an amazon sword, these are usually grow emmersed, so when you plant them they rot and produce new, submerged leaves. Thjis can take up to 2 months depending on how fast they grow. Same with a lot of the other plants too.

How are you injecting CO2?
What size tank is it?
What wattage, and diameter is the light (T8, T5 etc)?

Thanks

 

[Spikey1007]

red plants require lots of light, CO2 & nutrients, so it would be easier to remove it.

ammonia provides only Nitrogen to the plants. You are missing phosphate, potassium and all trace elements. I would buy a fert such as tropica plant nutrition+ or seachem flourish which will provide everything for the plants. Available at Aqua Essentials or The green machine.

The last plant looks like an amazon sword, these are usually grow emmersed, so when you plant them they rot and produce new, submerged leaves. Thjis can take up to 2 months depending on how fast they grow. Same with a lot of the other plants too.

How are you injecting CO2?
What size tank is it?
What wattage, and diameter is the light (T8, T5 etc)?

Thanks

Thanks, yeah. I did add that info but some how it was erased. Also to note that Red plant turned green. Maybe from lack of light but maybe it had too much light. As a biologist plants turn them self red in times of too much light. But hey im a newbie to this so you're probably right!

Tank is 60 Litre. Using the bulb which i got whith the tank which is about 6 years old a Growlight bulb apparently. Using an 18 watt driver. Bulb is 18"(450mm) long. Diametre is 16mm. CO2 injection is from sugar and yeaster fermentation reaction. With a glass diffuser.

I read the rule is 2 watts per gallon, but further reading people say thats about medium light so i work my WPG to be 1.3 which is low. So Aaron as you grow aqwatic plants im guessing you can recommned me. something.

Also about my filter which cycles the water through jets at the top. It puts loads of bubbles (big and tiny) into the water so i have stopped using the air pump all together now. I might turn it back on when the tank is nice again just to show off lol.

Im happy to invest in new gear, this ballast is new. But the bulb is old. The current bulb is about the length of the hood so i can't get much longer bulb. Although the light is not that bright. The plants get direct sunlight. for about 8 hours.

 

[aaronnorth]

Thanks, yeah. I did add that info but some how it was erased. Also to note that Red plant turned green. Maybe from lack of light but maybe it had too much light. As a biologist plants turn them self red in times of too much light. But hey im a newbie to this so you're probably right!

true, but the red plant looks like an alternanthera sp (2nd pic) which i have never seen turn green before. And the one in the first pic looks to be a rotala sp which do turn green sometimes. Which one do you have left?

I would get a new light, as it will not be as efficient after 6yrs of use! Cheap tubes are available at lampspecs. And colour refernces are available here: http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/lighting.htm

2WPG is reccomended if you are wanting to grow high light/ more demanding species. Is this what you are wanting? because you can have a low light, succesful tank. Also with 2wpg you will need a better CO2 system.

A small ripple across the surface will be fine, i wouldnt use the airpump otherwise it will be cancelling out te CO2 you are injectng with the fermentation kit.

I would reccomend you to buy a new tube, tropica plant nutrition+ (dose this daily at 2ml), plants:
Anubias sp
microsorum sp ("narrow" is a good specie to buy)
java moss
cryptocorynes
hygrophillia polysperma

They will be fine under your current lighting.
Also, there is a product called easylife easycarbo or seachem excel which is a liquid source of carbon. It might be useful to buy some of this, as it will be very cost effective on your tank. Dosing this alongside with the fermentation kit will provide the plants with all the carbon they need.

So that covers light, CO2, nutrients.
All is available at Aqua Essentials.
HTH, Aaron