Losing The Battle

[jonny]

Guys,

Can you advise me.

I set up a new planted tank 4 weeks ago. I used a layer of tetra complete and about 3-4 inches of sand as my base. Since then i have been having problems. i know the tank is stil cycling but should this effect the plants?
I have approx 2.2WPG of light and i have just started adding flourish every other day (5ml).
Some of the plants are fine apart from a touch of BBA which i am fighting with flourish excel but the rest are just dying off. The problem i have is that i can not tell you what the plants are just that they were, according to the lable, suitable for all lighting conditions.

Over the past 2 weeks i have started to notice the sand turning black in patches and i thought it was just algae but i have since noticed that it seems to be the roots of some of the plants. They seem to be rotting away and breaking down into a black mess. Removing the offending plants seems to cofirm this as the sand is all black beneath. I spent £15 on three pots of Utrcularia graminifolia but after three days it is black underneath and dying!!

Also the tank STINKS. It smells like a foul drain.

I have just done a 75% water change to clean out all the plants that do not seem to be doing so well and vac up any debris. Do you think this is why the water smells. rotting plants?

The Ammonnia does not seem to be falling at all either, could this all be related?

During the past few weeks the Nitrite peaked and is now at zero but the Ammonnia is constant at 3ppm or above.

Fish load is 1 x Bristlenose and three guppies.


Right now i cannot afford to buy a decent co2 system so i am hoping any help you can give me will me without this.


Many thanks in advance.

Jon

 

[Dave Spencer]

I have no experience with UG, but it could be that it doesn`t like the Flourish Excel. I have read that Vallis (tall grass like plant) certainly doesn`t do well with it.

What size is your tank? It could be that at 2.2WPG, you will need pressurised CO2, or DIY at least.

I can`t say why your tank is smelling so bad. The only thing I am aware of that could do this Hydrogen Sulphide, which is possible in a sandy substrate that is not being maintained well enough. MTS are good for this, as are plenty of healthy plant roots.

Have a good stir around of the substrate, trying not to mix it with the Tetra Complete (complete means you don`t need anything on top of it), to get any gas pockets out of there. Check for any signs of BGA while you are at it.

You will need to replant with some fast growers at first, but a stable supply of Carbon via CO2 will be vital if your tank is fairly big. A healthy mass of fast growing plants will see off any Ammonia and nitrite issues in no time, and help to maintain a healthy substrate.

A picture of the amount and type of plants you have would be a great help.

Cheers, Dave.

 

[Themuleous]

Sounds like you got some major problems, that smell makes me think there was something in the gravel when you added it. That smell is a classic sign of anoxic conditions, which gives off sulphur dioxide, that eggy smell.

A pic of the tank if you're able always helps in situations like this, but I would add that 3-4" of gravel is way to much, 2" including the tetra substrate is more than enough. That could be the problem.

Sam

 

[SuperColey1]

It does say on the TetraComplete guidlines that come with the tub to put a layer of gravel or sand on top, so I guess its not so complete (I also have this under my playsand)

Andy