Needing Some Questions Answered

[CheekyCheeze]

Hey Guys,

I have just started an aquarium and I have added some plants. Most of my plants seem to be doing ok...
I have a problem with my 2 Amazon Swords. The Leaves do not look to healthy.
The Leaves are showing symptoms of:

Holes showing in the leaves.
Yellow and brown spots.
The tips of the leaves going brown and almost rotting away.

I have just started my aquarium and I am unsure if This is caused by the water quality, or if the plants need to take root or something.
I looked at the pruning article which is pinned but I don't want to remove the damaged leaves because most of the leaves are damaged...
I bought some "Plant Food" from my Local Aquarium today and It contains trace elements and such.

I hope you guys can help me out.

CheekyCheeze

 

[SuperColey1]

Can you give us your:

Tank Volume
Lighting Wattage
Lighting Type (T5/T8 etc)
Brand of lights
Do you have reflectors
Photoperiod Length
Substrate Type
Make of fertiliser.

The first thing that springs to mind is that holes in the leaves is a potassium defficiency!!
The second if not potassium defficiency is that maybe the echinodorus (amazon) is not receiving enough light.

Andy

 

[aaronnorth]

amazon swords usually lose there leaves as they are grown emerged but they soon recover, cut off the dead/dying leaves, thats what happened to mine anyway.

 

[CheekyCheeze]

Can you give us your:

Tank Volume
Lighting Wattage
Lighting Type (T5/T8 etc)
Brand of lights
Do you have reflectors
Photoperiod Length
Substrate Type
Make of fertiliser.

The first thing that springs to mind is that holes in the leaves is a potassium defficiency!!
The second if not potassium defficiency is that maybe the echinodorus (amazon) is not receiving enough light.

Andy

My Tank Volume is about 240 Litres (63 Gallons)
I have three 30Watt Coral Blue Lights.
The Lighting type is T8.
The brand is some foreign country, so I cannot tell you that.
I do have reflectors.
My photoperiod is a little over 12 hours.
My substrate type is just the standard Natural Gravel Stuff.
And if by the make of Fertilizer you mean the Plant Food I bought. It is by a brand called "Aristopet". Hetre is what It says that it contains "Contains: N, P, K(2.6-,0,-5.0) Chealates of Iron, Copper, Manganese, Boron and Zinc"

I am sure There isnt a problem with light. I thaught It might even be a problem with having too much light.

Thanks for your help!

 

[SuperColey1]

Coralife is an american brand. By blue do you mean actinic lamps (blue light)?. If so these are no good for plants. They are marine lights. You need daylight or pink lights. between 4000K and 7500K. A mix of 1pink with 2 daylight or vice versa would give the best colour. Therefore your lights may be a problem. The wattage is OK just the lamp (tube) type

12 hours is the maximum photoperiod you should use on a planted tank although there are no hard & fast rules. The plants will only use the light they need for the day which can be as low as 4 hours for some and more for others. After all the plants have had enough for the day then the light starts to be used for algae.

I tend to use 10 and most aquascapers will use between 8 and 10 although there are always exceptions.

Your fertiliser has no phosphate in it which may be the main problem. Phosphate is though by the old school to be the cause of algae and many old school use resins or other methods to remove it. The modern way of thinking is that nutrients do not cause algae. ammonia does and when plants start to suffer they release ammonia, therefore if they aren't getting any phosphate then they stop growing and release ammonia.

What country are you in?

If America then the Seachem range would be a better option. Try Doctors Foster & Smith website.

If in the UK then Tropica Plant Nutrition+ (there is a plus and a non plus version.) If you just want to use the one fert then you need the plus and it is available from aquaessentials.co.uk

Andy