I think my plants are dying....

[G_Sharky]

Okay guys/gals.... I have a giant hygrophillia and a couple of corkscrew vals, the corscrew are getting thinner and thinner and their leaves are not curly anymore and my giant hygro was doing good until I trim it since it's starting to overgrow, now it's losing a lot of leaves, i have to pick up dead leaves everyday.... I have a flourescent bulb with 25 Watts on a 33 Gallon, and i don't use any fertilizers... I'm just wonderin how I could save these plants from dying cause they look amazing when they were healthy.... I'm thinking of getting higher watts, but I'm not sure if higher watts bulb would be compatible with my canopy cause when I bought my tank the canopy and bulb came with it what do you guys think

 

[clutterydrawer]

I think corkscrew vals need more than your 0.75 watts per gallon

You could try getting a higher watt tube but i tried that a while ago and found out that they didnt make higher watt tube in the length of my tank *sigh*

I don't know what to suggest other than trying plants that can cope with low light.

 

[G_Sharky]

I'll go to the LFS tommorow to see if they have a higher watt bulbs if not what plants do you think i could put with very low lights

 

[mrV]

My crystal ball is very dim today, so could you give any data of your tank? (water values: pH, KH, GH, NO3-, temp.)

I'm thinking of getting higher watts, but I'm not sure if higher watts bulb would be compatible with my canopy cause when I bought my tank the canopy and bulb came with it what do you guys think

If your fluorescent controlle is designed for 25W then you can't use anything else than 25W. E.g. 30W tube is 90cm (~35,4 inches) long and 36W is 120cm (~47,2 inches) long.

 

[Discomafia]

Java fern?

 

[G_Sharky]

My crystal ball is very dim today, so could you give any data of your tank? (water values: pH, KH, GH, NO3-, temp.)

I have a slighty hard water... the last time i tested for the hardness i think the result was 70 for KH and 60 for GH and my temp is at 30 C at all times and my ph is at 7.4..... I don't use any CO2 or any fertilizers..... i wouldn't mine java ferns but wouldn't they just grow on bogwood or rocks cause i don't have either, i only have fake bog woods.... Looks like my plants are doom.....

 

[SoilGuru]

I think the main problem is low light, possibly low CO2 (gas exchange), and not enough nutrients. I had the same problem when I converted my 45 gallon to a plant tank, ultimately, I had to upgrade the lighting. First from around .75 W per gallon to 2w per gallon and just recently to 4 w per gallon.

That, and I have a CO2 system along with some nutrient solutions.

Also, what kind of substrate do you have?

 

[G_Sharky]

I have artificial gravel.....

 

[elgecko]

You need more watts per gallon.
I had 78 watts (1.95 Watts / gallon) on a 40 gallon tank and was able to grow some plants. My corkscrew vals did ok with this but not great. Two weeks ago I upgraded my lighting, which I've wanted to do for a long time. This is what I got: http/www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/F5...0/Itemdy00.aspx
I also kept a 20 watt light on as well. My total watts per gallon now is 2.9 I should be able to grow plants now that failed in the past.
If your top is glass you can always add more fixtures. If not you might have to see if a compact flourescent lighting system will fit on your top.

 

[mrV]

I think that many "guides" exaggerate amount of light.

I have 4*36W / 450 liters water (~0,97W/us gallon) and Im able to grow plants very well:

Even Tropica says that it needs light only medium. If you think you don't have enough light, you should buy another 25W fluorescent lamp too. But I think, you should be able to grow that plant with your 25W tube too.

the last time i tested for the hardness i think the result was 70 for KH and 60 for GH and my temp is at 30 C

So 3-3,5 °dH. Temp. is a little bit high for most of aquarium plants. Is there some reason that you should keep it so high? What about nitrates?

I think main reason is that, that you don't add any fertilizer and CO2 to your tank and temperature is 30 °C. With vallisneria you can put some root-tablets to fertilize them and sometimes crushed coral (near roots in bottom) has been very helpful.

 

[clutterydrawer]

I thought CO2 didnt affect growth unless high light levels were also present?


G_Sharky if you want to try some low-light plants here is a list of what I've got growing in my tank with 1WPG:

anubias barteri (my friend grows this and she doesn't even have lighting in her tank!)
cryptocoryne wendtii
cryptocoryne willisii
java fern
hygrophila corymbosa "siamensis"

You could also try java moss

 

[G_Sharky]

thanks clutterydrawer I will try these plants if I can't upgrade my lights..... The reason why i don't add fertilizers and CO2 is that I was adviced that my Discus would be sensitive to them and I pretty much vacuum my gravel really throughly everytime i do my water changes.... maybe that's the reason why my plants isn't getting enough nutrients.....