plants getting eaten by something

[Sgooosh]

hello, in my 75g my hygrophila polysperma and rotala rotundiflora are getting their leaves eaten by something.
i assume it could be:
pest snails not getting fed enough
adding new Harlequin rasboras

which one could It be? there are little holes in the leaves

 

[Rocky998]

hello, in my 75g my hygrophila polysperma and rotala rotundiflora are getting their leaves eaten by something.
i assume it could be:
pest snails not getting fed enough
adding new Harlequin rasboras

which one could It be? there are little holes in the leaves

Or they are just rotting from something in the tank. Java ferns are very prone to it and I would assume other plants can get holes as well. Pest snails like ramshorn and pond/bladder snails dont eat live plants

 

[Sgooosh]

Or they are just rotting from something in the tank. Java ferns are very prone to it and I would assume other plants can get holes as well. Pest snails like ramshorn and pond/bladder snails dont eat live plants

that might just be waht is happening. how do i treat it?

 

[Rocky998]

that might just be waht is happening. how do i treat it?

For java ferns its potassium... For your plant, I have no fricking clue LOL.

 

[Rocky998]

But could you show pictures of the plants? It would offer more information on what it could be and how to treat it

 

[Back in the fold]

There's a lot of people on this forum who have wet green thumbs and could probably make a plastic plant come to life but I am very definitely not one of them. I gave up on plants like rotala and hygrophila years ago because they always did like you describe and eventually withered away to nothing. If I was to take a wild guess I would say your plants are fizzling out. Snails work on plants fast but not that fast and the Rasboras are innocent in this matter.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Plants, like our fish do need certain parameters and nutrients. As noted tiny holes are often a sign of potassium deficiency.However, you may actually need more than that for your plants. There a several varieties of rotala, some are easy to care for lower light and other are advanced and need high light, added CO2 and a regular level of a few specific nutrients as well as the more general ferts.

Hygro Poly is almost a weed and in places is banned as invasive. It should be fairly easy to grow. Tropica says:

Hygrophila polysperma from South-East Asia is one of the hardiest aquarium plants available. Stems becomes 25-40 cm and 4-8 cm wide.
It is particularly good for beginners because it grows in almost all conditions. It normally grows so fast that it is important to prevent it crowding out other plants. The shoots must be pinched out regularly. Leaves lying on the surface form small new plants.
Hygrophila polysperma varies considerably in leaf shape and colour, depending to some extent on the light supplied.

I have a couple of Hygro varieties. They started out as one spring in a bag of live shrimp for them to latch onto in transit. You can even train Hygro poly to grow horizonally as a foreground plant.

Small holes are often a sign of poassium deficieny as pointed out above. Lightly stocked tanks with easy to grow plants often need some fert. help.

I am a fan of the tropica products and have been using them for a long time.

Premium Nutrition has all the required micro nutrients and is recommended for all plant aquariums. Specialised Nutrition further has macro nutrients and is suitable for aquariums with many plants. Both are liquid fertilisers that are dispensed directly into the water on a regular basis.

The Specialized fert, is also good for lightly stocked planted tanks. There are many other fertilizer options available besides Tropica.

 

[Sgooosh]

Alright, good thing I have my handy Seachem flourish liquid potash.

But could you show pictures of the plants? It would offer more information on what it could be and how to treat it

yes

There's a lot of people on this forum who have wet green thumbs and could probably make a plastic plant come to life but I am very definitely not one of them. I gave up on plants like rotala and hygrophila years ago because they always did like you describe and eventually withered away to nothing. If I was to take a wild guess I would say your plants are fizzling out. Snails work on plants fast but not that fast and the Rasboras are innocent in this matter.

thanks. the funny thing is the plants grow faster than they wither away so they look like palm trees

 

[Sgooosh]

Sorry fir the super late response

 

[Colin_T]

Have you got a coverglass on the tank?
If yes, that is why the water lettuce is rotting. They do best i tanks with an open top and lots of air flow around them.

 

[Mikeyboy123]

I have same problem in my tank with h polysperma. I had assumed it was the freshwater limpets doing it. No other plants are showing any signs of any deficiency, although I did used to have Java fern which I gave up on due to it turning brown. I’ll soon be transferring everything from my nano to a new tank and will be doing a potassium permanganate dip to rid of the limpets. If the hygro is still developing holes then I’ll have to consider what else it could be.

 

[Mikeyboy123]

I have same problem in my tank with h polysperma. I had assumed it was the freshwater limpets doing it. No other plants are showing any signs of any deficiency, although I did used to have Java fern which I gave up on due to it turning brown. I’ll soon be transferring everything from my nano to a new tank and will be doing a potassium permanganate dip to rid of the limpets. If the hygro is still developing holes then I’ll have to consider what else it could be.

I have also long suspected it might be my cherry shrimp making the holes but had read somewhere that there is no way that cherry shrimp would eat live plant leaves. I’m still suspicious of them though. I’m not going to be putting my shrimp in the new tank straight away, so I’ll see how the hygro goes with no shrimp and no limpets and with my usual fert dose - tnc lite.

 

[Sgooosh]

Have you got a coverglass on the tank?
If yes, that is why the water lettuce is rotting. They do best i tanks with an open top and lots of air flow around them.

it's always half-open, i will adjust the lettuces to the open part

I have also long suspected it might be my cherry shrimp making the holes but had read somewhere that there is no way that cherry shrimp would eat live plant leaves. I’m still suspicious of them though. I’m not going to be putting my shrimp in the new tank straight away, so I’ll see how the hygro goes with no shrimp and no limpets and with my usual fert dose - tnc lite.

i have one neocaridinia but he is in his own enclosure (the fish might eat him) he was a hitchhiker

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I have also long suspected it might be my cherry shrimp making the holes but had read somewhere that there is no way that cherry shrimp would eat live plant leaves. I’m still suspicious of them though. I’m not going to be putting my shrimp in the new tank straight away, so I’ll see how the hygro goes with no shrimp and no limpets and with my usual fert dose - tnc lite.

Cherry shrimp don't eat live plants. They've scavenger omnivores, eat algae and biofilm from plants, will eat dead fish etc, and will pick at dead leaves, but they don't nom on live plants the way mystery/apple snails do.

I've had a cherry shrimp colony in my planted tanks for years now without issue.

 

[StevenF]

You have a nutrient deficiency but it probably isn't potassium. IF it was potassium. Potasssium as well as nitrogen, phosphate, magnesium chlorine and molybdenum are mobile nutrients. A deficiency in these nutrients causes the older leaves would die off first. leaving the top looking healthy but the with the lower stems missing alll leaves. I don't sea that in your pictures. If it is there it isn't very significant.

That means it might be Calcium, sulfur, iron, manganese, zinc and copper. Iron and zinc leaves very definitive pattern in leaves and I don't see that. Calcium however can cause the tip of the leaf to die. like in your floaters. Check your GH general harness. fertilizers are generally not a significant source of calcium If it is calcium you might need to use a GH booster.