Plants Dying Under Led Light?

[trianglekitty]

I recently upgraded my betta to a 10 gallon tank. He has a number of plants in sand substrate. The tank is a Marineland that has a 'day and night' led light set.

Some of his plants that did fine in his old 5 tank under just a standard low watt bulb are now starting to yellow. I have all low tech, low light plants that are supposed to be good for beginners. Is it something about the led lights that could be causing this issue? I'm rather hoping not, as it would mean I would have to replace the hood.

Any thoughts would be great!

 

[minnnt]

Do you know what the plants are? It may just be a bit of melt as they adjust to their new setup.

 

[trianglekitty]

Do you know what the plants are? It may just be a bit of melt as they adjust to their new setup.

The ones that seem to be in the most trouble are two broad leaf anubias.

 

[minnnt]

Really? That's usually pretty easy going and grows under 99% of water conditions. What have you got it tied to?

 

[SO19Firearms]

Are you feeding them anything? If not - At face value it could be said Barry (I'll call him Barry) now has to fertilise a (new) 10 gallon tank instead of an (old) 5 gallon one (at least halving his poop to plant ratio), also there's a possibility the LED lights are more powerful causing an increase in the plants 'metabolism' coupled with the lack of nutrients?

It's a thought anyway. And I'm glad I don't have to pay per bracket()......

HTH

 

[trianglekitty]

Really? That's usually pretty easy going and grows under 99% of water conditions. What have you got it tied to?

Lava rock for both. I also have a coconut cave that has java moss and some kind of spiky plant on top- the LFS didn't know what the plant was. That's starting to yellow a little too.

 

[trianglekitty]

Are you feeding them anything? If not - At face value it could be said Barry (I'll call him Barry) now has to fertilise a (new) 10 gallon tank instead of an (old) 5 gallon one (at least halving his poop to plant ratio), also there's a possibility the LED lights are more powerful causing an increase in the plants 'metabolism' coupled with the lack of nutrients?

It's a thought anyway. And I'm glad I don't have to pay per bracket()......

HTH

For some reason the name Barry made me laugh- his name is actually Bontaleer. Barry is a lot easier to say.

This actually seems like a good theory to me- I haven't been feeding the plants at all. I picked this selection so I wouldn't need to, but you're right that there wouldn't be as much waste. In the future I'm adding black neons to the tank, but I'm also adding trumpet snails to vacuum things up.

Any suggestions for a fertilizer that won't bother snails or other invertebrates? I'm doing a project with scuds and shrimp for this tank.

 

[SO19Firearms]

To replace the poop you'll want a complete* fert (probably sticking more or less to the instructions if you don't want to add CO2)

Where are you? - eBay - Aquarium Plant Food is as good a place as any.

You could have a go at making your own too if you fancy it - The Planted Tank - All-in-One Fertiliser


*Complete meaning contains Nitrate and Phosphate in this case...not just a trace mix

 

[three-fingers]

WHat is the actual light unit? Can you find a link? A lot of LED lights in sold with starter tanks really don't have a good enough PAR (photosynthetically available radiation) rating to grow plants.

Generally the good LED's for growing plants are the ones that are far more expensive than their florescent equivalent.

 

[trianglekitty]

WHat is the actual light unit? Can you find a link? A lot of LED lights in sold with starter tanks really don't have a good enough PAR (photosynthetically available radiation) rating to grow plants.

Generally the good LED's for growing plants are the ones that are far more expensive than their florescent equivalent.

http/www.marineland.com/uploadedFiles/Marineland/Products/SAST%20LED%20Aquarium%20Kits.pdf



The tank is the 10 gallon- I wasn't sure which specs were most relevant. I'm willing enough to replace the light if I have to (why not- this is the hobby that just keeps costing money), but I'm assuming I'd have to get another hood to, as this hood has a strip where the LED panel sits.

 

[three-fingers]

If I'm reading that spec sheet correctly, you only have a total of 2.6W of low-quality (for plants that is, poor PAR rating) LED, as this is an entry level kit.

So unfortunately, yes, you will have to get a new hood and lights, or modify the current one if you want to grow plants.

I would reccomend a single T5 flourescant tube if you can fit this in your hood. Get the cheapest T5 starter unit from an LFS, and a cheap 6500k T5 tube from a DIY/lighting store .

 

[trianglekitty]

If I'm reading that spec sheet correctly, you only have a total of 2.6W of low-quality (for plants that is, poor PAR rating) LED, as this is an entry level kit.

So unfortunately, yes, you will have to get a new hood and lights, or modify the current one if you want to grow plants.

I would reccomend a single T5 flourescant tube if you can fit this in your hood. Get the cheapest T5 starter unit from an LFS, and a cheap 6500k T5 tube from a DIY/lighting store .

Grrrr. I can see that the light isn't as bright as say, my 20 gallon, or even as bright as the 5 gallon. I don't see a way I can modify the hood- it has this little cut out section where the led unit sits. A normal bulb wouldn't work with it.

Off to shop for a new hood- I really needed a new one anyway to fit my secondary hang on tank, so this just gives me another push to get around to doing it.

Question though,keeping in mind I'm still pretty new to planted tanks- what is the T5 starter unit? Is that a hood, a bulb, or a tank set?

 

[corinne]

I have a heavily planted 20gal tank with the Marineland doublebright LED lights and my plants love it. It's cheaper in the long run when compared to T5s.

 

[three-fingers]

The Marineland Doublebright appears to have 9w of LED, but is more expensive and probably less PAR than a 24W T5 tube. Long term cheaper though, as you said.

A starter unit (also get called ballasts) is the electrical bit necessary to start up a florescent tube, usually built into hoods, but you can also get them separately to retro-fit extra light tubes in hoods

 

[trianglekitty]

The Marineland Doublebright appears to have 9w of LED, but is more expensive and probably less PAR than a 24W T5 tube. Long term cheaper though, as you said.

A starter unit (also get called ballasts) is the electrical bit necessary to start up a florescent tube, usually built into hoods, but you can also get them separately to retro-fit extra light tubes in hoods

With the double brights, I still need to replace my hood so it would fit.

For the future- I guess it's better to purchase each portion of the tank separate instead of buying a kit, huh? The kit seems cheaper, but I already replaced the cheapy heater that it came with (since there wasn't even a setting for the temp...you have to set the dial, see how warm the water gets, then make adjustments.) Now I have to replace the hood and light...definitely not a good investment.