What could be eating my plant?

[kty]

Hi there. Need a bit of advice.
I am in the process of setting up a new tank. It's been going about 2 months now. Last week everything looked fine. I bought 6 guppies and one loach ( I think it's a hillstream) a few days later one of my guppies gave birth and I have left the fry to fend for themselves in my plants. My problem is that the plant they are hiding in is slowly disappearing. Could it be the fry feeding or something else.

 

[NickAu]

loach ( I think it's a hillstream)

If it is a hill stream loach your tank is totally unsuitable for it sorry to say,

Please read this and it will give you some idea of the type of setup they need
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/73-gallon-vietnamese-hillstream-tank.443806/page-2#post-3760492

 

[kty]

If it is a hill stream loach your tank is totally unsuitable for it sorry to say,

Please read this and it will give you some idea of the type of setup they need
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/73-gallon-vietnamese-hillstream-tank.443806/page-2#post-3760492

Thank you for that. I haven't seen my loach for a few days unfortunately. I'm a little cross at the man in the fish shop that sold him to me as he knew what set up in have. I won't be asking him for advice again. Still unsure about my plant though. Xx

 

[NickAu]

Thank you for that. I haven't seen my loach for a few days unfortunately.

Check around the filter outlet, They tend to hide there because the water moves a bit faster.

Sorry no idea on the plants but someone will know.

 

[kty]

Check around the filter outlet, They tend to hide there because the water moves a bit faster.

Sorry no idea on the plants but someone will know.

Thank you.

 

[flchamp89]

Its transitioning to immersed growth

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[kty]

Its transitioning to immersed growth

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Errrm. Is that a good thing then. Sorry if that sounds a bit thick lol.

 

[flchamp89]

Normal thing. You should get new growth soon

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[kty]

Normal thing. You should get new growth soon

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OH Good thank you. X

 

[Byron]

I am afraid I see more of a problem with the plant. Ludwigia is a stem plant, and the loss of leaves to the extent in the photo is a light/nutrient issue. There is also a couple of other plants just in the edges of the photo, look like a crypt or sword maybe? There are signs of the same issue on those.

It would help to know your lighting data, be specific: type, watts, Kelvin, etc. Also the tank size (volume and dimensions). Second, are you adding any plant fertilizers, and if yes, which and how much/often?

I agree that the Hillstream Loach is not going to fare well. This fish must have cooler water (room temp max) and a good current. It is not a community tank fish because of its specific requirements which most other tropicals do not share. If at all possible, I would return it to the store. Alternatively, you could perhaps re-jig the tank to provide what it needs; the guppies would survive that, though not ideal.

Byron.

 

[kty]

I am afraid I see more of a problem with the plant. Ludwigia is a stem plant, and the loss of leaves to the extent in the photo is a light/nutrient issue. There is also a couple of other plants just in the edges of the photo, look like a crypt or sword maybe? There are signs of the same issue on those.

It would help to know your lighting data, be specific: type, watts, Kelvin, etc. Also the tank size (volume and dimensions). Second, are you adding any plant fertilizers, and if yes, which and how much/often?

I agree that the Hillstream Loach is not going to fare well. This fish must have cooler water (room temp max) and a good current. It is not a community tank fish because of its specific requirements which most other tropicals do not share. If at all possible, I would return it to the store. Alternatively, you could perhaps re-jig the tank to provide what it needs; the guppies would survive that, though not ideal.

Byron.

Thank you for your reply. I will do my best but I inherited the tank from my mother on law who used to keep marine. It has a normal strip light but I'm not sure of wattage . And two other lights which I found instructions for which says they are an Aquaray solid state lighting system 500 duo lamp unit. Input 100-240 vac 50 - 60 HZ 1.0A. Output 1-19.5 VDC 0.7A
I also have a little blue light which you can see in the picture. My tank is 36" by 15" by 18" which I think I'd 140 Ltr . The lights are on longer than I thought (my mother in law must have been fiddling. ) they come on at 8am and go off at 9pm which I presume is far too long. I have plant substrate under the Gravel but the Gravel is quite deep so I put testa plantamin in as per instructions on the bottle (last done on the 13th) the bottle says once a month. I also have the tetra co2 depot system which I press morning and night while the lights are on.
I can't find my poor loach so I think I might have lost him. The guppies are doing really well and the fry are brave little things growing fast. Hope this helps. The lighting info means nothing to me lol.

 

[Byron]

OK, the lighting is the issue. Marine tanks have very cool light; "cool" means a white that is high in the blue wavelengths but minimal in the red wavelengths. "Warm" light would be the opposite, high in the red and minimal in the blue. Marine tanks do well because this replicates the light entering the ocean. Freshwater tanks, especially those with plants, need something very different.

I dug around and suspect this is what you have:
http://www.aquarayusa.com/miniLED500.html
As I surmised, it is marine light.

Plants grow by photosynthesizing, and photosynthesis is driven by light intensity. Red and blue are needed for photosynthesis, and primarily red of the two. Red is very minimal here, so the first thing is to change the lighting. I don't know if you can replace the LED's, or if a different unit is needed. There are other options than LED. I'm not much up on LED, I have tried various units a few times without success, but other members may have more to offer. If you are in the UK, you may have very different lighting from what we have in NA too.

I would discontinue the CO2 as it willdo nothing without better lighting.

Byron.

 

[kty]

OK, the lighting is the issue. Marine tanks have very cool light; "cool" means a white that is high in the blue wavelengths but minimal in the red wavelengths. "Warm" light would be the opposite, high in the red and minimal in the blue. Marine tanks do well because this replicates the light entering the ocean. Freshwater tanks, especially those with plants, need something very different.

I dug around and suspect this is what you have:
http://www.aquarayusa.com/miniLED500.html
As I surmised, it is marine light.

Plants grow by photosynthesizing, and photosynthesis is driven by light intensity. Red and blue are needed for photosynthesis, and primarily red of the two. Red is very minimal here, so the first thing is to change the lighting. I don't know if you can replace the LED's, or if a different unit is needed. There are other options than LED. I'm not much up on LED, I have tried various units a few times without success, but other members may have more to offer. If you are in the UK, you may have very different lighting from what we have in NA too.

I would discontinue the CO2 as it willdo nothing without better lighting.

Byron.

Thanks for that Byron. I'll look into new lighting at asap. Thanks again. Xx

 

[kty]

Thanks for that Byron. I'll look into new lighting at asap. Thanks again. Xx

I've found the following strip light on amazon. Do you think it will do to use that and get rid of the Aquaray set up.
Arcadia - Original Tropical (25W 750mm 26mm)

 

[Byron]

I've found the following strip light on amazon. Do you think it will do to use that and get rid of the Aquaray set up.
Arcadia - Original Tropical (25W 750mm 26mm)

That is a T8 fluorescent tube. You would need a fixture that will take T8 tubes first (and I wouldn't recommend this one anyway, but there are others). Your present light is a LED (or so I assume from the earlier link).