Why It Died Within A Week

[charlton]

Hello all this is my first post in this section cos i've been in the newbie section but i've got a question about some plants !! My tank has been cycling for about 2 weeks now and i added a cambonda and some reeds about a week ago, can you give me some info of where i'm going wrong cos the cabonda has died and the reeds look to be on its last legs. The cabonda was quite close to an air stone that i was told might of been the problem but the reeds are over the other side of the tank. i was told these are both easy to grow so where am i going wrong ? its a 96l tank with sand, an airstone and a few bits of bogwood.

cheers in advance

charlton

 

[rdd1952]

Cabomba requires a decent amount of light so that could be your problem. As for the reeds, what do they look like? A lot of places sell plants for aquariums but they aren't truly aquatic plants. As a general rule, any plants with varigated leaves, won't live underwater.

 

[charlton]

Cabomba requires a decent amount of light so that could be your problem. As for the reeds, what do they look like? A lot of places sell plants for aquariums but they aren't truly aquatic plants. As a general rule, any plants with varigated leaves, won't live underwater.

i hope i haven't received poor info from my lfs cos they did say it would be ok in my setup (and they seem quite genuine) ! I've got a jewel rekord 96 which has a 20 w bulb in it, should this be powerful enough or do i need something more powerful ? My lfs said i should have the light on for about 10 hrs a day, does this sound about right ?

cheers

charlton

 

[Colin_T]

Cabomba is notoriously hard to grow, try Ambulia instead. It looks similar but is a lot easier to keep. I have to disagree with the statement about variegated plants not growing underwater. There is a variegated form of Hygrophilla polysperma that does great submersed. However, most other variegated plants are useless under water. A quick way to find out if the plants you have are true aquatics is to lift them out of water. True aquatic plants will be unable to hold their leaves up and will collapse when removed from water. Marsh plants will be able to support themselves when removed from the water. There are exceptions to this including the Hygrophillas and swordplants that will grow completely underwater but have tough stems and can support their own weight when removed form the tank.
Check the PH of the water and make sure it isn’t too low and as mentioned make sure you have some light on the tank.
Good plants to try include ambulia, any hygrophilla species, vallis, elodia, hydrilla and swordplants.

 

[rdd1952]

I maybe wasn't clear about varigated plants. As mentioned, there are some that will grow under water but most of them won't. Interesting about the plants collapsing when removed from water. I'd never heard that before but it certainly applies to the plants I've had.