holes?

[zephyr]

in my 60G tank, there are a few stalks of "blue willow" (name from LFS) and when i looked closer, i noticed miniture holes on in the leaves. maximum size of hole so far, that i have seen, 1mm.
what is wrong with my leaves?
are the plants dying?
p.s ill try to get some photos as soon as possible

thank you

 

[Lateral Line]

I've never heard of any aquarium plant called "Blue Willow", but so frequently, common names are either regional or made up on the spot. We do need those pics.

 

[paulioo]

Sounds to me like it could be a Potassium deficiency. Is there any yellow leaves?

 

[Sime]

when my swords got this i managed to get some fertilizer with added iron in it. that helped a lot.

 

[zephyr]

sorry i havent been online lately, but i cant get a hold of my friends digital camera. i can take photos of the plants with my phone, but will not b able to c the detail of the leaves.

paulioo Posted Sep 1 2005, 08:39 AM
Sounds to me like it could be a Potassium deficiency. Is there any yellow leaves?

yes, the leaves have turned out much more yellow since i started this post and getting much worse as the days go by

but anyways,here is the pic of the "blue willow" i had taken with my nokia 6670(sorry for dullness of tank, sorta in a renovation)

 

[Lateral Line]

Those do look like willow twigs don't they. How rigid are the stem? Does the plant flop into a heap if you take it out of the water or is the "stem" strong enough to hold it "open".

I'm thinking these are exactly that, some kind of willow clippings and thus not an aquatic plant at all. No suprise therefore that submerged, it quickly drowns, dies and starts to rot.

What would worry me somewhat is that willows contain a number of semi toxic alkyloids, including, of course, aspirin, which may have a negative impact on the tank.

 

[zephyr]

Those do look like willow twigs don't they. How rigid are the stem? Does the plant flop into a heap if you take it out of the water or is the "stem" strong enough to hold it "open".

I'm thinking these are exactly that, some kind of willow clippings and thus not an aquatic plant at all. No suprise therefore that submerged, it quickly drowns, dies and starts to rot.

What would worry me somewhat is that willows contain a number of semi toxic alkyloids, including, of course, aspirin, which may have a negative impact on the tank.

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They arent too rigid as compared to when i first bought them. I have had the plants for at least 4months (from memory). But yes they do tend to "flop" and even a light current from my small powerhead and filter pushes the leaves about.
(flexibility of the plant is present in the image from my previous post)

Also if what you say is true, what is some of the negative impacts on my tank ?

Edit: here the photo of my tank when i firstly bought the plant (located right in the middle)

 

[Lateral Line]

If they were rigid, then my suspicions are even stronger. I suspect you have some secies of willow clippings, not a true aquatic plant. Very few true aquatic plants have rigid stems, they use the water to support themselves, they flop into a heap out of water.

Of course, willows are found in swampy wet areas, so it is perhaps not suprising that they have lasted a while, but I doubt they survive underwater indefinitely.

What the negative impacts could be is difficult to quantify. Most willow species contain medically active alkyloids in them. Aspirin is one such. If they have been in there a long time and you are changing your water regulaly, I suppose any dangerous stuff will have gone, or at least be substantially reduced by now. Many alkyloids are not overly water soluable.

Whatever, I suspect if they are yellowing and getting holes in their leaves, they are in the terminal phase of decline, and I'd get rid of them.