I Am A Plant Nightmare

[Rlon35]

Got my tank ready for ground cover, and additional lighting, but I started losing fish left and right. I used an antibacterial med to treat the original problem, but it was more than that. Now, I've lost my German Rams, and I had been dosing the tank with Florish excel, which I don't think was a problem, and something recommended by my former LFS. It turned out that it has Nitrate in it, so my levels must have gotten even higher, which is why the Rams were killed I assume. One by one, the Rams would stop swimming, and lay across leaves and the driftwood. It took me half a day (i.e. 8 hours of dripping) to acclimate those fish to my hard water, and I had them for about 6 months...real bummer. Maybe I wasn't changing the water as frequently as I should have, but I toned down the water changes when the tank became well planted. I just can't move beyond the intermediate level, it seems. Plants are proving to be quite a challenge. The tank looks beautiful, but what do I stock it with now? Keyholes, pearls, congos? I don't know, but I am done with sensitive fish, and Discus was just a pipe dream, truth be told.... The only thing I can brag about is the fact that I am growing some rather large snails from the small obligatory mystery type...must be the plants and hard water...loaches are thriving as well. But, for some reason, my JAVA FERNS and RED TIGER LOTUS are becoming translucent in places. Why is this? I have very very low lighting right now...is it because it is too low? Will this problem correct itself as I have 1.5 to 2 watts per gallon? I have less than 1 watt per now...sucks...lol.

 

[aaronnorth]

The translucent leaves indicate a nutrient defficiency, do you dose any fertilisers?

I didnt know that excel had NO3 in either! I thought it was just another form of C.

What levels were your NO3? Most plant ferts have them in but you can get some without.

 

[Wolfenrook]

More likely that your rams were killed because of the use of bactericide. Many of the bactericide products sold kill filter bacteria dead, sending you into a cycle once again, before you know it up go the ammonia and nitrite levels which are far more harmful than nitrate. To my knowledge Flourish Excel does not contain nitrates, you may have been misinformed.

Oh, another unpleasant occurrence I have noted in the past when using medication, especially bactericides, is that they often lead to kidney failure in the fish, leading to them developing dropsy which again usually kills them. Combined with high dosages of Excel there is a good chance that you just exceeded the ability of your fish to metabolise the toxic chemicals used in bactericide and Excel (yup, Excel is toxic at high levels).

Ade

 

[Rlon35]

yeah, Excel is just Carbon. It's the Kent Freshwater Pro Plant that has the Nitrates (that was what I was really talking about). I am simply ticked off about the anti-bacterial, as the meds I choose always say they do not disrupt the nitrogen cycle.