Water Wisteria Losing Leaves

[JohnDyer]

I have a 56 gallon tank, and this is my first time with planted aquariums. I started off with several different plants, but they all died off early on. Now, 6 months later, I am left with 1 bamboo plant and a huge amount of water wisteria. I'm using API plant fertilizer as directed by my LFS, but only at 1/4 of the normal dosage.

The wisteria is growing like a weed, and the top of each plant is a nice, bright green. However, the bottom 1/3 or so on each plant loses many leaves. They turn a darker green, thin out, and eventually just fall off. I've been letting it be so far, since the plants still grow well, and it doesn't affect the stems of the plants. I've been pretty diligent on removing dead leaves, but I've read recently that dead leaves still damage water quality. My water tests generally look good, nitrates are usually towards the higher end, but ammonia and nitrites are still 0. I only use the basic fluorescent tank light, but the tank is positioned to have 2-6 hours of natural sunlight depending on the season.

Also, I've lost several fish recently, and having no idea where to start, decided to check my bases. 2

I also have a bit of algae, but I've heard small amounts of green algae on the glass is fine.

Any ideas why my plants are losing leaves? Is there any more information I should provide?

Thanks!

 

[kylealastairlove]

i had the same problem with wisteria, i had a bunch once and after a week or so in my tank the leaves started to rot from the bottom upwards until there were barely any on the stem. in the end i just got rid of the plant. from what i heard its not at all a demanding plant. i guess maybe if you have all your wisteria planted closely together im thinking maybe the top leaves on the plant are blocking any light from getting to the bottom leaves on the plant which are therefore dying off ?

 

[JohnDyer]

I've read around a bit more, and I think that's what many people said, as well as trace element deficiencies. I'd rather buy new plants than spend a ton of money on nutrients Apparently they can re-root extremely well, so I'll try cutting off the leafless spots and replant.

Any other advice?

 

[kylealastairlove]

yeah i heard a lot of people saying that too, i agree id much rather get new plants than struggling to find out what kind of deficiency it has and trying to give it the correct and proper nutrients,
apart from that yeah give that a go and hopefully the leaves will grow out again, and just make sure that there is enough light getting to the bottom part of this plant if you want to see it at its best good luck

 

[JohnDyer]

I went to google this problem again, and found my own thread! So I might as well post here.

I've been trimming the plant quite often, keeping them fully leaved. They were fine for a month, but a week ago they started losing leaves like crazy again. I probably scoop out 2-3 handfuls every day, and my hands are BIG. The plants are still growing like crazy. I stopped using the ferts around the time of the original post. There is a bit of dark-greenish algae on the leaves, but I'm not sure how to get rid of it. I might just end up throwing it all out and switching to something a little slower-growing.

What can I do about the algae? What other plants can grow without fertilizer, CO2, or sand substrate?

 

[kylealastairlove]

hmmm i also found a lot of leaves from my wisteria floating aboout too, i gave it another go and had a bit more success. but now i have given up with it as it keeps going weird so im now temporarily using it as a floating plant lol to get rid of the algae you can cut down the lighting period of your tank i am getting a slight algae build up, at the minute im keeping my lights on for 5-6 hours instead of 8 because i want the algae to dissapear, try not to overfeed fish too as that can cause algae build up too

i have a low tech set up with plants that dont need a lot of requirements other than to be planted and then left flourish
some easy and nice plants are
cryptocoryne- lots of different types most are easy to grow, i love crypts
java fern-should be attatched to wood or rock not planted else they will die off
vallisneria
cabomba
anubias should also be attatched to wood or rock
rotala (green)
amazon swords
java moss

they are just a few of very many you could grow without ferts or Co2