What's Wrong With My Plant?

[FoscoSands]

Can anyone tell me what's happening to my plant?

Thanks

 

[ian]

looks like Diatoms (brown algae) to me, its quite common to get it on Anubias, as it so slow growing. I suspect you have to much light in your tank. What size tank, what lighting and how long has it been set up?

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

I've got it growing on my anubias too.

I have no extra lighting in my tank except natural light, so I'll be interested to read all the responses to this

 

[Dinky Stig]

As above, it's diatoms, it's caused by stagnant ammonia living in the water column, but the readings are not picked up by our test kits because they're not accurate enough, I generally advise improving flow, the frequency of water changes, and either manual removal, or spot dosing of liquid carbon, you can also half the photoperiod, but never go below 4 hours and never above 8.

 

[FoscoSands]

It's a 150lt tank... temp at 28 degrees cels or thereabouts...

It's been setup only just over a month...

The lighting i'm not too sure about as it's a hand-me-down... i do know it has a UV bulb in it and a regular fluro bulb. It was originally used to give light to a couple of turtles.

The tank is by a door so gets some normal daylight but not direct sunlight. The overhead light is on a timer and is set to 10 hours a day.

Thanks for all the speedy replies... I really like that plant and would hate to see it die.

Cheers.

 

[Dinky Stig]

It wont die Anubias are bomb proof, just reduce your lighting to 6 hours a day, and increase flow and water changes and it should go.

 

[FoscoSands]

It wont die Anubias are bomb proof, just reduce your lighting to 6 hours a day, and increase flow and water changes and it should go.

Awesome... I just changed the timer.

I did install a new filter recently, but left the old one in for a couple of weeks....

 

[ian]

its quite common to see in newly set up tanks as well. As Dinky says little build ups of ammonia around plants with no flow, and it'll bloom. I read somewhere that some people claim the silicate in new glass can atribute??

 

[FoscoSands]

its quite common to see in newly set up tanks as well. As Dinky says little build ups of ammonia around plants with no flow, and it'll bloom. I read somewhere that some people claim the silicate in new glass can atribute??

So with the reduced lighting, extra flow and increased water changes make the diatoms go away or do i need to do something with the damage that has already been done?


Oops, just reread Dinky's response... yes it will go.

Thanks heaps everyone for you input.

 

[ian]

they will go away on there own, but it wont hurt to scrub of the brown stuff with your finger and thumb. You can also remove leaves if they are damaged at all this will promote new growth. Also Ottos love the Diatoms, so it won't hurt to pop a couple in you tank.

 

[Dinky Stig]

its quite common to see in newly set up tanks as well. As Dinky says little build ups of ammonia around plants with no flow, and it'll bloom. I read somewhere that some people claim the silicate in new glass can atribute??

So with the reduced lighting, extra flow and increased water changes make the diatoms go away or do i need to do something with the damage that has already been done?

Remove as much as you can manually, and then use the above measures to prevent it from coming back, after a few months the risks of an outbreak are greatly reduced.

With regards to silicates, it was believed that they caused diatoms, but it is not believed that silicates are used by diatoms to form the outer shell of their cells, I read this on UKAPS a couple of months ago, but to be honest, I've never really had any problems with diatoms and silicates, and I have always found it to be ammonia causing it.

 

[ian]

cheers for that

 

[FoscoSands]

its quite common to see in newly set up tanks as well. As Dinky says little build ups of ammonia around plants with no flow, and it'll bloom. I read somewhere that some people claim the silicate in new glass can atribute??

So with the reduced lighting, extra flow and increased water changes make the diatoms go away or do i need to do something with the damage that has already been done?

Remove as much as you can manually, and then use the above measures to prevent it from coming back, after a few months the risks of an outbreak are greatly reduced.

With regards to silicates, it was believed that they caused diatoms, but it is not believed that silicates are used by diatoms to form the outer shell of their cells, I read this on UKAPS a couple of months ago, but to be honest, I've never really had any problems with diatoms and silicates, and I have always found it to be ammonia causing it.

How does one get rid of it manually? I did try rubbing it and scratching (gently) during the last water change...

 

[Dinky Stig]

You can use the edge of a credit card, Anubias have waxy leaves so it should come off easily.

 

[FoscoSands]

Great idea... I should leave the card in the tank too!

Thanks heaps for the advice guys... really appreciate it!