Why Are My Plants Going Brown?

[RadaR]

Maybe try separate them out a bit.
With regards to drop checker colour...it depends on the fish. Some fish cant handle higher CO2 concentrations so do best with lime green or even just green. Try taking it to "just before yellow".

 

[Rorie]

Maybe try separate them out a bit.
With regards to drop checker colour...it depends on the fish. Some fish cant handle higher CO2 concentrations so do best with lime green or even just green. Try taking it to "just before yellow".

Here is a photo to show you, and you can see the colour of the drop checker too

 

[RadaR]

I see what you mean.
The smaller ones look fine, just patience.
The larger ones though...I really would try get rid of all the brown.

 

[Rorie]

I see what you mean.
The smaller ones look fine, just patience.
The larger ones though...I really would try get rid of all the brown.

hmm, and by 'get rid of the brown' you mean pull them out? That would be all of that type of plant as they are all going brown at the bottom

Do you think the same solution is worth trying as you suggested - pump up the CO2? Or do you not think thats going to work now that you've seen them

 

[RadaR]

I see what you mean.
The smaller ones look fine, just patience.
The larger ones though...I really would try get rid of all the brown.

hmm, and by 'get rid of the brown' you mean pull them out? That would be all of that type of plant as they are all going brown at the bottom

It takes more energy to fix a damaged leaf than to grow a new one, so I would personally snip all of it down to the gravel. You can wait it out though, but I dont think the brown parts will become green again.

 

[Rorie]

Aw thats not good to hear!

So any idea of what the cause is/was?

 

[RadaR]

My only guess is that all the brown leaves were the emersed form and thus die back once underwater. The new green growth is the adapted submerged leaves. But you said you cut most the emersed leaves down when you first got the plant, so it must be a deficiency. It's CO2 or nutrients , one or the other, or even both. So, maybe dose a little bit more and slightly increase CO2. You have the option of cutting back but that's up to you.

 

[Rorie]

!!!!!!!!!!

I have worked it out!!!! They are not dead....its algae!

I rubbed my finger across one of them and loads of brown much came off, which allowed a nice green to shine through!

So, my CO2 levels are as high as they can go....what can i do to get rid of algae? I am going to be adding 10 Ottos in a few days (i love them!) but obviously can't rely on them to clear my whole tank. Also, they wont get inside each strand of grass....or will they?

Thanks

 

[RadaR]

Nice one!
The Ottos will certainly have good bash. Brown diatoms usually appear when there is too much light in relation the amount of nutrients you are dosing. As a result, plants leach ammonia and the ammonia+light brings diatoms

 

[Rorie]

Nice one!
The Ottos will certainly have good bash. Brown diatoms usually appear when there is too much light in relation the amount of nutrients you are dosing. As a result, plants leach ammonia and the ammonia+light brings diatoms

Thats exactly what i have. but strangle i do not have excessive light (two T5 48" tubes 2 foot above my substrate for 360L tanks!). You say in relation to the nutrients.....does that mean i can increase the amount of nutrients i am putting in?

That was going to be my next post....can i OD on nutrients? THe EI method means i only put in 16ml or 36ml of solution....which just seems to vanish so the theory of "i cant see it, so it doesnt exist" kicks in and i question its effectiveness. Should i up the quantity?

 

[RadaR]

The algae would suggest lack of nutrients.
Put it this way, algae shows up when we expierence poor plant growth. So, it's telling you that your plants are missing something. Your confident in your CO2 levels, so it must be nutrients.
Depends what you mean by overdose. Ofcourse we can add more than the plants actually need, that's one of the main principles of EI. We dose a bit more just to be certaint that the plants recieve enough. Even though the nutrients are in excess, we still dont get algae because we're not giving algae the conditions it needs to bloom. The spores are looking for ammonia+light, not NO3 and PO4. There's bound to be a toxicity limit (to fish and shrimp) on what we dose however we havent encountered it yet. You'd have to dose ridiculous amounts of dry salts, (100s and 100s of grams) in a short amount of time to experience adverse efects on the inhabitants. Like I said, none of us hobbyists have encountered deaths due to nutrients. CO2 and liquid carbon is the cause of most deaths in a planted tank.

 

[Rorie]

The algae would suggest lack of nutrients.
Put it this way, algae shows up when we expierence poor plant growth. So, it's telling you that your plants are missing something. Your confident in your CO2 levels, so it must be nutrients.
Depends what you mean by overdose. Ofcourse we can add more than the plants actually need, that's one of the main principles of EI. We dose a bit more just to be certaint that the plants recieve enough. Even though the nutrients are in excess, we still dont get algae because we're not giving algae the conditions it needs to bloom. The spores are looking for ammonia+light, not NO3 and PO4. There's bound to be a toxicity limit (to fish and shrimp) on what we dose however we havent encountered it yet. You'd have to dose ridiculous amounts of dry salts, (100s and 100s of grams) in a short amount of time to experience adverse efects on the inhabitants. Like I said, none of us hobbyists have encountered deaths due to nutrients. CO2 and liquid carbon is the cause of most deaths in a planted tank.

Ok, so my EI is already overdosing...i forgot that.... so do you think i should add some more each day?

 

[RadaR]

The algae would suggest lack of nutrients.
Put it this way, algae shows up when we expierence poor plant growth. So, it's telling you that your plants are missing something. Your confident in your CO2 levels, so it must be nutrients.
Depends what you mean by overdose. Ofcourse we can add more than the plants actually need, that's one of the main principles of EI. We dose a bit more just to be certaint that the plants recieve enough. Even though the nutrients are in excess, we still dont get algae because we're not giving algae the conditions it needs to bloom. The spores are looking for ammonia+light, not NO3 and PO4. There's bound to be a toxicity limit (to fish and shrimp) on what we dose however we havent encountered it yet. You'd have to dose ridiculous amounts of dry salts, (100s and 100s of grams) in a short amount of time to experience adverse efects on the inhabitants. Like I said, none of us hobbyists have encountered deaths due to nutrients. CO2 and liquid carbon is the cause of most deaths in a planted tank.

Ok, so my EI is already overdosing...i forgot that.... so do you think i should add some more each day?

Yes.
Make sure that there isnt any decaying organic matter in the tank. This could leach ammonia which in turn causes diatoms. Also make sure your filters dont have lots of detritus in them.