Major Plant Problems

[zoeb2912]

hi I am new to the planted side.

my plants are not doing great at all.

I'm not really sure what's going on and how to resolve it.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

2 t8 tropical plant tubes
was dosing excel but have run out and cannot find it anywhere.
lighting changes daily, generally on about 7.30am and then off about 11.30pm.
about 40% water change twice weekly.

e harbii
lobelia cardinalis, looking really nice!
polygonum sp. sao paulo
echindorus bleheri
fissidens
bolbitis
riccardia greaffei
hydrocotyle tripurtita
trident java fern
madagascar moss
dwarf water lettuce
vallis
anubias, looking ok.
amazon sword

 

[jojouk]

Your lighting period is very long, I have mine on max for 8 hours.

Also, are you dosing fertiliser for the plants? You need to really to get decent growth.

That would be my suggestion, ferts and shorter lighting period

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I'm new to this too but i think it's because you stopped dosing liquid carbon. You plants are now feeling depleted of co2 and this is allowing algae to thrive.
Flourish excel is available from many online retailers, do a google shopping search.
Your lights are on for waay too long. Dial them back to 6 hours a day until you get the algae under control, then you can start slowly increasing it to 8 hours a day. Timers are very cheap, something like £2 from say wilkinsons or b&q.

 

[zoeb2912]

hi thanks for the replies. i will update properly in a bit.

im just about to do a water change and wondered if i should cut off all the dead looking leaves? and what about the melted crypt?

thanks

 

[stu40]

Hi
any ideas what the wattage of you're bulbs are, plus volume of tank ?
Manual removal of algae is always a good thing.
Melted Crypts nearly always bounce back, probably melted when you stopped with the carbon.

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Fluctuating or low CO2 and long periods of lighting will ensure algae's survival. Try and cut down the lighting periods to no longer than 8 hours for a few days and dose carbon (I used Flourish Excel but any liquid carbon product will work) every 2 or 3 days. This will solve your problems! Pale sections between the leaves could indicate an iron deficiency (re: picture number one and two). The iron deficiency might need confirmation from a more experienced aquatic plant-keeper.

 

[zoeb2912]

Your lighting period is very long, I have mine on max for 8 hours.

Also, are you dosing fertiliser for the plants? You need to really to get decent growth.


That would be my suggestion, ferts and shorter lighting period

im not dosing anything atm.

I'm new to this too but i think it's because you stopped dosing liquid carbon. You plants are now feeling depleted of co2 and this is allowing algae to thrive.
Flourish excel is available from many online retailers, do a google shopping search.
Your lights are on for waay too long. Dial them back to 6 hours a day until you get the algae under control, then you can start slowly increasing it to 8 hours a day. Timers are very cheap, something like £2 from say wilkinsons or b&q.

most of the plants are new, i only had the vallis while dosing carbon.
will turn the lights to 6 hours.

Hi
any ideas what the wattage of you're bulbs are, plus volume of tank ?
Manual removal of algae is always a good thing.
Melted Crypts nearly always bounce back, probably melted when you stopped with the carbon.

2 30w t8s, tropical daylight. 180l.

Fluctuating or low CO2 and long periods of lighting will ensure algae's survival. Try and cut down the lighting periods to no longer than 8 hours for a few days and dose carbon (I used Flourish Excel but any liquid carbon product will work) every 2 or 3 days. This will solve your problems! Pale sections between the leaves could indicate an iron deficiency (re: picture number one and two). The iron deficiency might need confirmation from a more experienced aquatic plant-keeper.

have just bought some AE Design Aqua Carbon 250m, any ideas what ferts to use?

thanks everyone

 

[zoeb2912]

some better pics.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yeah you've got a lot going on there

It's hard but personally I would go through and cut off all dead and dying leaves. If they have started to show melt at all, odds are they are going to go all the way. Those leaves are only growing sites for algae right now and are polluting your tank. You may not have much left in the end but they should mostly grow back.

Getting back going with the carbon and ferts will help. I use TPN+ for my fertiliser.

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Your lighting period is very long, I have mine on max for 8 hours.

Also, are you dosing fertiliser for the plants? You need to really to get decent growth.


That would be my suggestion, ferts and shorter lighting period

im not dosing anything atm.

I'm new to this too but i think it's because you stopped dosing liquid carbon. You plants are now feeling depleted of co2 and this is allowing algae to thrive.
Flourish excel is available from many online retailers, do a google shopping search.
Your lights are on for waay too long. Dial them back to 6 hours a day until you get the algae under control, then you can start slowly increasing it to 8 hours a day. Timers are very cheap, something like £2 from say wilkinsons or b&q.

most of the plants are new, i only had the vallis while dosing carbon.
will turn the lights to 6 hours.

Hi
any ideas what the wattage of you're bulbs are, plus volume of tank ?
Manual removal of algae is always a good thing.
Melted Crypts nearly always bounce back, probably melted when you stopped with the carbon.

2 30w t8s, tropical daylight. 180l.

Fluctuating or low CO2 and long periods of lighting will ensure algae's survival. Try and cut down the lighting periods to no longer than 8 hours for a few days and dose carbon (I used Flourish Excel but any liquid carbon product will work) every 2 or 3 days. This will solve your problems! Pale sections between the leaves could indicate an iron deficiency (re: picture number one and two). The iron deficiency might need confirmation from a more experienced aquatic plant-keeper.

have just bought some AE Design Aqua Carbon 250m, any ideas what ferts to use?

thanks everyone

Every 2 to 3 days I dose 3ml liquid carbon (Flourish Excel), 5ml trace elements (Flourish Trace), 3ml potassium, 2ml phosphate and 1ml iron. I have quite a complex low-tech setup but I'm making it work for me you might be OK to use my dosage parameters if you scale it up/down to suit your tank; my dosage is for approximately 120 litres of water (including displacement). Root tablets placed as necessary.

Once every 10 days (1st of the month, then the 11th, 21st and then the 1st of the following month etc etc) I will do a big water change - approx 50% - to reset my fertilizer values in the water and make sure nothing is out of balance and bring my pH back up to par.

Most low tech set ups I've done except this one have just had the liquid carbon and trace elements with the odd root tablet here and there! I've never had much joy with API leaf zone or the Charterhouse Aquatics own-brand but I've always had good results from Seachem products, Tropica Plant Nutrition Plus and Aqua Essentials All three of which do a very good trace element mix in my opinion.

 

[hensonc4098]

As jojouk said, you want to cut your lighting right back to about 7 hours per day - the amount of light that is going into the tank at the moment is too much for the plants and it causing algae problems. To regulate the hours the light is on, use a time clock - you can get one from asda for about £2