Plants Are Dying Already

[Rynofasho]

So I just changed from gravel to sand substrate. I only had one plant prior, an anubias, and it was doing really well with 1WPG T5 lighting and nothing additional (it was rooted in the gravel with rhizome exposed).

I made the change from gravel to sand and I planted the tank this weekend, and added many more anubias, some java ferns, crypts, and pennywort. Almost all the plants are looking crappy, even my anubias I had for awhile which previously was actually growing new leaves and looking great. It, along with others, now have leaves that are starting to almost disintegrate and become see through.

As I said, I have 1WPG of T5 lighting in a 36 US gallon tank. I planted root tabs for the Vals and Crypts, and the Anubias now are all on bogwood. I also dosed some Flourish initially (Friday) and some Flourish Excel every other day. Why are even my Anubias crapping out on me? The one was tough as nails and now is not fairing well. The lighting has not changed, so it has to be something nutrient related, but before I didn't even dose the tank at all. I just had gravel that was too thick so plenty of nitrates, no matter how hard I vacuumed.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[moochy13]

possibly your gravel was housing lots of tasty food for your plant, your new sand doesnt have this yet. just thinking out loud.....

 

[waterdrop]

Some plants don't like change. Crypts in particular will melt and lose all their leaves when they are moved or have roots disturbed or encounter Excel the first time. Non-CO2, low-light situations are also a little tougher to get going in my opinion, though they will indeed work. My own approach is to dose Excel daily at full recommended dose and then to be sure I've got an EI dose of other nutrients going (in my case on a small daily basis.)

Do you know what your pH, GH and KH are? There are some people who have mineral content below the minimum that a lot of plants like.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Rynofasho]

pH is high (8.0+), and I don't know the exact numbers, but my water is plenty hard. I had residue on my tank lid after about two weeks just from the water drops on there, and I can't get the crap off my glass shower doors hardly!

I knew the Crypts would be tough, but I'm surprised at the Anubias reacting like this. I've read a bit about EI, but quite frankly I don't know if I can be bothered to buy a ton of different supplements for plant growth. I figured Flourish and Flourish Excel would be enough.

Would it be wise to use Flourish more frequently than twice a week - perhaps start giving half the recommended dose but give it every other day?

As an aside, I have also noticed a fair amount of white bubbles at the top of my tank after planting and changing substrates. It looks similar to what a Bettas bubble best would look like. This happened the morning after I fed a cucumber to the plecs. Not sure what would cause the white bubbles either.