What Am I Doing Wrong

[00mitomk]

hey guys and girls

what am i doing wrong ... i will start from the beginning

ok so got tank 96l came with an 8w bulb replaced with 2 25w bulbs got some wood and some plants

grew nicely and then gone abit wild and had to cut them back and now they are dying/ rotting this is 4 weeks in to the adding of co2 so i thought maybe nutrients wer low so i invested in some tablets to add into water and it hasnt helped they are going brown and kinder look like they are rotting

please help

the tank looked great .......now.... looks a mess this is really putting me off fish keeping purely because i get it how i want it and then it goes crap

meh

miles ( bad mood ) lol

 

[zig]

Well whats wrong is that you have a 20 gallon tank running 2.5 watts per gallon with no CO2 and no proper fertiliser to speak of for a month, thats whats wrong

Anyway i suggest you read some of the pinned articles in this section of the forum, have a look at the lighting article, the CO2 carbon dioxide article and the Estimate index article on how to fertilise a highlight tank properly, that should get you started on the right road.

 

[DarkEntity]

Could be damaged plants at the root, gas pockets in the substrate, fish eating the plants, bad water...way too much light and not enough C02 + plant food....erm...thats just off the top of my head

 

[nry]

The CO2 has been in for 4 weeks if I read your post correctly, but you only started to add fertiliser recently.

What plants do you have? How did you prepare them for planting, and what is your new fertilising routine?

 

[00mitomk]

ive bought crpyto tablets which ive put in near the roots also i do have c02 and i was using fertilizer the one which came with the nutrafin setup but when that run out i used these cypto tabllets

the plants i know their names are java ferns x 2 the rest im not sure

miles

 

[nry]

Can you post us any images? It may be that you have some non-aquatic plants hence they are now dying off? Other than that, the tablets are mainly for cryptocorne plants ( I think thngs like Amazon Swords?). Using them as a fertiliser for a whole aquarium is probably not doing much for the non-crypto plants, maybe worth considering some more liquid fertiliser instead of or aswell as the tablets.

 

[00mitomk]

what liquid fertilizer would you recommend and yer the pic's are not worth it very blurry best description is going very yellow and very brittle not much life in them its really annoying

miles

 

[Underwurlde]

Yes boys & girls I'm copying & pasting agian in a vein attempt to make me look more knowledgeable...

Signs of deficiencies:
Mineral deficiencies are very similar as the minerals play many roles that make the symptoms quite similar. Magnesium, nitrogen, phosphate, potassium for example are mobile nutrients and calcium, iron are immobile. Mobile nutrients can be moved within the plant to avoid a shortage while a deficiency in immobile nutrients has an instant effect on the plant.

Symptoms & Cause
Old leaves turn yellowish/ red = Nitrogen deficiency
Leaf loss and small dead areas = Phosphate deficiency
Black / brown leaves, plants die = Excess phosphates
Yellow spots on old leaves and yellowish margins on younger leaves = Potassium deficiency
Yellowish margins on young leaves with deformations = Calcium deficiency
Yellow spots on old leaves while veins stay green = Magnesium deficiency
Young leaves turn yellow = Sulphur deficiency
Yellowing leaves starting from the tip then become transparent = Iron deficiency
Yellow spots between the veins, margins and tips = Zinc deficiency
Plant stays small slow or now growth white deposits on leaves (calcium) = CO2 deficiency
Fish gasp for air on surface = Excess CO2
Sluggish fish no plant growth = Oxygen deficiency
Plants stop growing / black roots = Substrate problem

Additional considerations:
Carbon Dioxide (CO2): A possible source for a CO2 deficiency can be a well aerated tank. Airstones or high surface turbidity can diffuse the CO2. Excess CO2 can be a result of poor lighting (the better the lighting the easier, the CO2 uptake of the plants), or an over fertilization of CO2.

Substrate Problems:
The substrate is either to loose or compacted. If agitated gas bubbles can be detected on the surface. This is also an indication that the substrate is old and in need of replacement.

Water Temperature:
Plants will stop growing and die off if the water is too cold. Higher temperatures will result in smaller leaves and larger gaps between these leaves.

Lighting:
Light is essential for photosynthesis. Not enough wattage or aging bulbs will stunt the plant growth. Plants look weak with small pale green leaves. Plants closer to the light will be less affected.

--------------

I like you are having similar problems. This planted aquarium fishkeeping lark is turnimg out to be one great big nightmare lesson in BioChemistry!

Andy

 

[00mitomk]

cheers for info i think it is defiantly fertilizers that is my problem

which ones to use is the new question

miles

 

[nry]

Seachem Flourish is often recommended. I plan to get some myself when my current Tetra Plantamin runs out..I may even get some before that as I'm not convinced about the Tetra stuff.

 

[Underwurlde]

Liquid fertilizers are much of a muchness IMHO. They all provide trace elements aka micro-nutrients.
At a wild guess I'd say your plants may be lacking macro-nutrients (NPK). Anyway this is all explained in the EI pin...

Andy

 

[00mitomk]

wicked im going to go and order some florish excel now and get it going

thanks alot everyone

miles

 

[Underwurlde]

Notice the difference in what I said in my last post between Micro-nutrients (what you get from liquid ferts) and Macro-nutrients that you get from dosing with N,P & K - read the EI post....

Just adding liquid ferts may not be the answer!

Andy

 

[TigerIssey]

You have CO2 running, don't bother with flourish excel, just get the normal flourish.
Flourish excel is used to add carbon to an aquarium that is not running CO2.

 

[00mitomk]

ye i was thinking that cheers for confirming tigerissey im going to order soem now

miles