Why Are My Plants Going Brown?

[Rorie]

I am new to planted aquariums.

My moss went brown, and now looks rubbish! I hear it can be sensitive to new aquariums and will often bounce back. However, all my plants, including my dwarf grass are now going brown! Too much/too little ferts/light/co2? How do i know?

Thanks!

 

[Carlovel1]

Iron deficiency/poor circulation?

 

[Rorie]

Iron deficiency/poor circulation?

How would i know?

I added ADA's brightly K stuff for the first week, but then it ran out, and i'm not replacing the bottle at that price haha. Any good alternatives?

 

[RadaR]

Wont be iron. Plants need macro nutrients more than micro.

We're going to need a few more details.
Tank size
Lighting (how much, what type and how long for?)
Ferts (are you not dosing anything anymore?)
CO2?
Filter flow rate
Water changes (how much and how often?)

 

[Rorie]

Wont be iron. Plants need macro nutrients more than micro.

We're going to need a few more details.
Tank size
Lighting (how much, what type and how long for?)
Ferts (are you not dosing anything anymore?)
CO2?
Filter flow rate
Water changes (how much and how often?)

360L tank
over the tank lights which are 24 inches away from substrate. Two T5 54W tubes
Ferts, well i am not 100% sure about what to dose! I was advised to leave them to settle in for a week. So during that week i only added ADA brightly k (1ml per 20L) every second day. A week has now passed (yesterday) so i added ADA step 1 yesterday
Flow, my filter will theoretically turn over 1200l/h, but i dont know how much it does in reality. I also have a 4000l/h power head in there
Water changes are once a week just now as i have no fish in yet, so am adding some ammonia most days until they arrive. I did a 90% change when its needed. But its difficult to say exactly as my water changes are not consistent yet as i have no fish!....they should of arrived today, but that is a sore topic just now!!!

 

[RadaR]

Well you shouldnt be doing a fishless cycle on a planted. See here why.

360L tank
over the tank lights which are 24 inches away from substrate. Two T5 54W tubes

Hhhmm, that's still quite a bit of light. You could reduce this by raising it up further. Less light means the plants demand less from you.

Ferts, well i am not 100% sure about what to dose! I was advised to leave them to settle in for a week.

I dont know why people advise this. In order for plants to grow they need resources. How can they do that if you are not dosing anything?(especially with that lighting). In order for plants to "settle" they need resources.

Your flow seems good. You just have to make sure it's being used efficiently so that the flow reaches all round the tank.

You didnt mention CO2?

How much plant biomass would you say was in the tank? Is this going to be a planted tank with fish or a fish tank with a few plants?

If you are only going to have a few plants then Id advise to increase the height of your light so that it's not so intense. As a result, the demand for CO2 and nutrients should drop, making things easier for you.

 

[Rorie]

CO2....that is like the most expensive part of my aquarium....including the aquarium haha! I have a 5(?)kg bottle of CO2 which is now fed into a reactor on the outflow of my filter, so it is being distributed through the aquarium pretty well.

As for lights, i have always been told that i am on the edge of medium light, not high! Maybe i should mention that the unit is one where the two tubes are side by side and have one big reflector, so not as ideal as both tubes having their own reflector.

How often should i be dosing with ferts then?

I realise it takes a combination of everythign, but i have no idea how to tell what i need more/less of

 

[Rorie]

Oh, and i realise a lot of people dont do fishless cycling with a planted tank.... but i chose to do it as it works best for my plans But all i need now it those plants to grow and not go brown!!

 

[RadaR]

CO2....that is like the most expensive part of my aquarium....including the aquarium haha! I have a 5(?)kg bottle of CO2 which is now fed into a reactor on the outflow of my filter, so it is being distributed through the aquarium pretty well.

Do you have a drop checker to check that? Place it round the tank to observe the dissolved CO2 concentration. You're looking for a light green colour. it will probably be more yellow toward the source.

As for lights, i have always been told that i am on the edge of medium light, not high!

I said it was quite a bit, not high.

How often should i be dosing with ferts then?

Everyday if you dose an all in one product.
If you are doing EI (most cost effective and not difficult) then you will be doing something like this -

3/4 tsp KNO3
3/16 tsp KH2PO4
1/4 tsp traces

Sunday 50% water change. Add Macros (KNO3, KH2PO4)
Monday Add Traces
Tuesday Add Macros (KNO3, KH2PO4)
Wednesday Add Traces
Thursday Add Macros (KNO3, KH2PO4)
Friday Add Traces
Saturday Rest day

 

[Rorie]

Thanks for that. What is EI? A brand name? I will start dosing my ferts every day just now then!

I have a drop checker - it has been fluctuating a lot! But i am also moving it around to make sure CO2 gets to all parts of my tank.

So, do you think its lack of ferts that could be causing them to turn brown?

 

[RadaR]

EI stands for Estimative Index. It's a dosing method used by many folks. It's what I posted at the end of my last post.

Here are a few articles.

This one and this one.

So, do you think its lack of ferts that could be causing them to turn brown?

Yes, or lack of CO2. Both are very important. By the process of elimination, you should be able to figure out which one it is. So just make sure your CO2 is constant and well distributed AND make dose enough nutrients.

When you add CO2, the plant growth rate increases dramatically, hence the large demand for nutrients. Large growth means a fast metabollic rate. In turn, this means more plant organic waste (you cant see it). You need to get rid of this organic waste, therefore tanks that inject CO2 need to have large water changes performed each week. Lots of people will tell you that this large water changes is needed to "reset" the nutrients, however this is not correct and frequently misunderstood.

 

[Rorie]

Thats great, thanks! I will look into those articals. On the other hand, how would i know if i was adding too much nutrients?! And at the same time, how would i know if i have too much light or too little?

My CO2 is just settling down - i find that i need to tweek it every 5 mins to get the bubble rate settled.... it will take some practice i guess!

Well, hopefully if i add nutrients and get the CO2 to settle down, the plants will survive....as they cost me a fortune!!

Thanks for the help

 

[RadaR]

Thats great, thanks! I will look into those articals. On the other hand, how would i know if i was adding too much nutrients?! And at the same time, how would i know if i have too much light or too little?

All should be explained in the articles.
Basically, we dose enough nutrients to suit that needs of the plants....and then dose a little bit more just to be on the safe side/to ensure there really is enough nutrients. After all, excess nutrients dont cause algae and we arent dosing anywhere near the proposed toxicity levels to fish(of which are still very unknown). So too much is better than not enough. Not enough nutrients will cause algae because the plants will suffer which results in them leaching ammonia. Ammonia + light trigger algae to bloom.

 

[Rorie]

haha, i am confused already by reading all of that first link!! I will have to read it in depth later i think!

Just to confirm, by using this method, it will replace the need for my ADA liquid ferts?

Do i need to buy a new testing kit to test the different levels in my tap water? It mentions for some things about adding more depending on the tap water

 

[RadaR]

haha, i am confused already by reading all of that first link!! I will have to read it in depth later i think!

Just to confirm, by using this method, it will replace the need for my ADA liquid ferts?

Do i need to buy a new testing kit to test the different levels in my tap water? It mentions for some things about adding more depending on the tap water

Yes it replaces the need for the ADA ferts.
No you dont need a test kit, it says you dont need them in the article somewhere.
If you werent dosing carbon, then your tap water would probably have enough nutrients (you'd check this by contacting the water board). But you are doing CO2, therefore you do have to dose nutrients because plants would soon absorb what was in the tap water.