ludwigia Repen

[AquaBarb]

Hi Everyone,

Planted some ludwigia Repen 5 days ago and every night im getting floating leafs on the water surface. (All seem healthy colouring and stems are still green)

Is this normal at first? Or is this a lighting or other issue maybe?

 

[Colin_T]

pictures please

 

[Annemarie]

I have the same problem(ish). It might be your lighting (I think that’s my issue) but I what other commenters will probably want to know is your tank size, fertilizers, lighting, substrate, etc...

If you have a low light setup like I think I do, then I’d recommend you maybe look into getting a better light. I have no clue what options there are and I do know that Ludwigia Repens likes good lighting, but maybe someone else can give you some suggestions? Good luck with your plant! I hope we both manage to figure out how to save our repens before they go bald!

 

[AquaBarb]

pictures please

 

[AquaBarb]

Thank you Annemarie

 

[Colin_T]

What do you mean getting floating leaves on the surface?
Are the leaves actually coming off the stem and floating about, or are the plant stems coming out of the gravel and the stem (with leaves attached) is floating?

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The plants look ok but has lost a few leaves from the lower part of the stem. That could be caused by the plants being grown out of water before you got them and they are now shedding the terrestrial leaves before they grow aquatic leaves. Or the leaves could be damaged and are being shed from that or due to stress.

Normally if you get a lot of stems in a pot of plants, you plant them separately to cover a bigger area.

 

[AquaBarb]

What do you mean getting floating leaves on the surface?
Are the leaves actually coming off the stem and floating about, or are the plant stems coming out of the gravel and the stem (with leaves attached) is floating?

-------------------
The plants look ok but has lost a few leaves from the lower part of the stem. That could be caused by the plants being grown out of water before you got them and they are now shedding the terrestrial leaves before they grow aquatic leaves. Or the leaves could be damaged and are being shed from that or due to stress.

Normally if you get a lot of stems in a pot of plants, you plant them separately to cover a bigger area.

Stems are still rooted in the substrate, im just getting the leaves coming off and floating about. Should i just leave them for now and see if it stops or try separate them out a little?

All has been fine up until this week. Had 1 of my other stem plants go brown and mushy at the bottom of the stems. not sure if plants arent getting enough or too much of something.

 

[Colin_T]

I would separate them now. Check the bottom of the stems for soft brown bits. This is rotting caused by bad handling. If the stem gets squashed or damaged it rots. When you plant them in the substrate, move some gravel away and push your finger into the substrate. Put the plant stem in behind your finger, remove finger and then fill in around the stem. That should reduce the damage to the stems.

If any of the plants have a rotten base, use a sharp pair of scissors to cut the rotten bit off and replant them.

If the Ludwigia is dropping leaves, it is stressed from being put in the tank. Make sure it has good light and a bit of aquarium plant fertiliser and hopefully it should recover.

 

[Moony42]

I concur with you Collin. This is natural with Ludwigia repen. It doesn't matter. However I might be wrong. Not many take on fish keeping and rescuing as a part time service.

 

[AquaBarb]

I would separate them now. Check the bottom of the stems for soft brown bits. This is rotting caused by bad handling. If the stem gets squashed or damaged it rots. When you plant them in the substrate, move some gravel away and push your finger into the substrate. Put the plant stem in behind your finger, remove finger and then fill in around the stem. That should reduce the damage to the stems.

If any of the plants have a rotten base, use a sharp pair of scissors to cut the rotten bit off and replant them.

If the Ludwigia is dropping leaves, it is stressed from being put in the tank. Make sure it has good light and a bit of aquarium plant fertiliser and hopefully it should recover.

Ok thank you, i put some fertiliser in this morning to try and help.

I did have each stem planted own its own to start with so i dont mind reverting back to that. I do take my time when placing them in substrate and i have sand so its a soft entry aswell

I might look into my lighting if it doesnt fix the problem.