Plant dieing

[Elisabeth83]

I bought some live plants when my boyfriend was making a DIY Co2 system. Well we realized we needed special lights too and right now we cant afford them so the DIY Co2 idea got put on the shelf for now.

I'm wondering if it's harmful to my fish to leave the plants in the tank? The plant I am talking about is a Java fern. I've attached it to a piece of wood but since I dont have the correct lighting or Co2 the roots arnt taking hold and are just falling off slowly. The leaves on the plant are also turning brown. It still looks ok though so if its not doing any harm I'd like to leave it in the tank for awhile longer.

If it is harmful to my fish I'll take it out and throw it away.

 

[superjalami30]

Are you adding any ferts to the tank?
A java fern should do alright in low light situations.
Its possible it just needs an all around fertilizer.

Are you using fluorescent lighting? or incandescent lighting?

As for the decaying leaves, I would remove any of the leaves that are rotting, rotten, or fallen off due to rot on the bottom of the tank.
Decaying plant matter will eventually turn to phosphurus, its not harmful per say to your fish (the phosphorus that is), but will be to your plants if you have high levels of it.
Some say high levels of phosphorus will cause algae as well, I dont think it does depending on certain circumstances, but every tank is different.

 

[IMCL85]

Just leave it inside ur tank. Javaferm dont require high lighting. Its the best plants for low lighting tank. Ur water seem to lag of fer. Add some liquid fertilizer to ur tank and ur plants should be ok. Liquid is best suit for u. As there r solid one as well. But if u add too much they will cloud the water. Read instruction before use and you should be ok.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Yeah I was sold this plant because they said it did well in low lighting. Maybe it isn't dieing then maybe I just need to add some fertilizer I just took a look at it and there are some new leaves coming from the bottom of it. I guess if it were dieing there wouldnt be new leaves coming right??

What about all the leaves that have brown on them? There are quite a few of them like that. They arn't dead but dont look too great. Will the fertilizer help them or will they end up dieing anyways?

The light is an incandescent light. Just a plain 15 watt made by phillips.

I have some of those fertilizers that are like little round balls of dirt. Should I maybe cut one in half and stick it between the roots and the wood? Or is liquid fertilizer better?