Why Is My Plant's Leaf Deteriorating?

[ZephyrStarPlaties]

This is the same plant that has the weird brown algae I posted a picture of. The leaf is slowly detiorating. Ammonia is zero, I haven't checked anything else. Could high nitrate or nitrite be causing it?

 

[JoeGuzzo]

are you sure it deteriorating?

i have plant leaves that look pretty similar to that idk what plant that is but i have a red flame sword and my leaves look like that due to my fish eating them

its weird you'll see them like peck at them and even when you do see them eating the plant you never see them make it look like that just everytime you look at it with a break in between it gets worse and worse

if it is the fish eating them you have nothing to worry about other than the fact that obviously you will have to get a new plant eventually and by eventually i mean it is going to be a long time before you really have no plant left

 

[SO19Firearms]

If it's a new plant the leaf could be dying back back from when it was grown out of water.
If it's already established it's a lack of co2 or fluctuating co2. (If you don't add co2 a lack is due to high lighting)

Either way - remove it and treat the overall cause, it won't get better.

IMO

 

[ZephyrStarPlaties]

If it's a new plant the leaf could be dying back back from when it was grown out of water.
If it's already established it's a lack of co2 or fluctuating co2. (If you don't add co2 a lack is due to high lighting)

Either way - remove it and treat the overall cause, it won't get better.

IMO

That's too bad I'll just get some plants that don't need added co2. Do you think these ones are well enough to return to the store? That's the only bad leaf.

 

[ian]

all plants need C02, some just need more. The light in you tank drives the need for C02, and i agree with Firearms, this is either a old leaf melting or a need for C02 in your tank.

 

[SO19Firearms]

Again though as Ian has said all plants need co2 and it's light that drives that need, so you could go the other way and drop your light so this becomes the limiting factor to growth/decay and replaces the need for co2....but nobody ever wants to do that

But the facts are with high light you need your CO2 and nutrients higher still (Liebig's law of minimum)

 

[coldcazzie]

In this case I suspect the problem lies in the plant not being a true aquatic plant, rather than anything else. The leaf is rotting, and will be contributing to your algae problem. Take these plants out of your tank and put them on your window ledge and they'll do great. Plants with variegated leaves aren't aquatic I'm afraid. Pretty, yes. Tank suitable, no. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

 

[ZephyrStarPlaties]

In this case I suspect the problem lies in the plant not being a true aquatic plant, rather than anything else. The leaf is rotting, and will be contributing to your algae problem. Take these plants out of your tank and put them on your window ledge and they'll do great. Plants with variegated leaves aren't aquatic I'm afraid. Pretty, yes. Tank suitable, no. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

Really? Why do fish stores even bother selling it then? Oh well, at least it won't die

 

[coldcazzie]

They sell them because they're pretty. same as a lot of things in fishkeeping. Why do they sell common plecs that get 2 foot long to people with 30l tanks? Why do they sell silver sharks? Why sell clown loaches? Why tell people you can put African cichlids in a community tank, or that plecs eat poop? Because either they don't know any better or they care more about the sale than the correct info. Occupational hazard I'm afraid best to always do your own research before buying, regardless of what purchase it is.

 

[SO19Firearms]

Plants with variegated leaves aren't aquatic I'm afraid. Pretty, yes. Tank suitable, no. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news

I didn't spot that
I was looking at the reflection and presumed it was a sword

Really? Why do fish stores even bother selling it then?

They're generally on the same plant lists because most plants are grown with just the roots in water in the far east. Their catalogues often do show them as terrarium though - When the UK importers generate consolidated lists they get lumped together and it's these that the fish shop get to choose from.
It's still rare to find a fish shop that knows about plants...