plant yellow brown leaves.light or nutrient prob

[jdwyz]

i have a 29 gal tank with 80 watts of light.my plants have been planted for about a week and a half and are starting to display brownish yellowing around the leaves.could this be from insufficient light or nutrient deficiency.i add pmdd and have fluourite substrate.and add seachem trace elements.i run diy co2 also plants are pearling.heres some pics.

[ChilDawg]

That's approximately 2 W/gallon, which is considered low light. I think that you have a light problem unless you have some very low-light-loving plants.

[jdwyz]

and another.hell it wont take any bigger file size.you probably cant even see them

[jdwyz]

i thouhgt it was 60 but my tank has four 20 watt plant bulbs that makes 80 watts.

[ChilDawg]

Well, I guess that we need to figure out what plants you have before we make advice on lighting levels first.

[carpguy]

2 wpg is not really low. Its the high end of low or the low end of moderate and should be fine for most plants. Maybe not booming growth but certainly not dying for lack of light.

2.75 wpg is very comfortably moderate and should also be fine for most plants. Its actually .35 wpg more than I have.

What are you doing for ferts?

[Slappy*McFish]

I always considered anything below 1.5wpg to be low light...and anything 3wpg+ to be high light. But that really is misleading as the tank's depth plays a huge role in how much light the plants on the bottom are actually getting. 2wpg on lets say a 20g long and 2wpg on a 65g tall are very different, indeed.

[a_free_bird73]

What is your fertalizer and water condition in your area (I mean GH & KH).

[jdwyz]

kh and gh is 8 multiply this by 17.9 to get the ppm.ph is 6.8.plants are anacharis which is thriving.hygrophilia green.anubias nana, sword compacta,cryptocoryne ciliiata,bacopa, ludwigia repens narrow red,moneywort,cryptocorryne wendtii red,cryptocorryne wendtii green,cryptocorryne spiralis,sword rosette tropica.some of the crypts are turning alittle brown as are the anubias.actually all the plants have some brown discoloration in a few places .i have added some baking powder to increase the kh and gh as i have extremely softwater to begin with.i also added some mainstay fertilizer sticks in the substrate about a week ago.i have not add any iron i have seachman liquid iron have been hesitant about using this because of algae probs.but after all doesnt fluorite provide plenty of iron?i dont want to give $150.00 for more lighting if my current lighting is sufficient.the light bulbs are ge wide spectrum 20 watt 24 inch plant and aquarium.bought all 4 new about 4 months ago at wal mart.are any plants ive mentioned need higher light than what i have?

[carpguy]

Most crypts are good at lower light levels and are even often recommended for low light tanks. They can be sensitive to water conditions though. The usually just "melt" if their unhappy with things. Anubias are likewise not terribly demanding as far as light goes. I think you could probably grow Hygro with a flashlight.

Everybody else (swords, bacopa, ludwigia, moneywort) all like it to be a little brighter but should probably be OK at with the current light, just not great. I generally think of low a 1-2, moderate 2-3, bright 3-4, and 4+ as very bright. Just seems neat and easy, no real hard borders. Depth, color temp, reflectors, photoperiod and other variables, etc.

If you had an extra, oh say… $150 lying around I'd put it towards CO2. It'll make a big difference. DIY (http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html) is also a very practical option that will save you the initial outlay if not actual long-run dollars. I gave up on DIY and went pressurized last week.

I also gave up on PMDD and started dosing macros with Tom Barr's 50% waterchange routine and am seeing better growth -- you may be short on macros.

[jdwyz]

i am running c02 diy that is.what is dosing macros?

[carpguy]

Macros are Nitrogen, Phosphate, and Potassium or N, P, K. They are the macronutrients as opposed to the micronutrients (Iron and other minerals). I use Flourish and Flourish Iron for micros, (am about to try some Flourish tabs because I feel like I space on micros too often). I use Spectracide Stump Remover to supplement Nitrate, NuSalt for Potassium, and Fleet Enema for Phosphate (just a few drops).

PMDD recipes are generally macros minus the phosphate, and maybe a little for the GH if needed (epsom salts, etc.) I just felt like the daily drops weren't doing the trick (partially because I'd get busy and forget to dose) and switched to dosing macros at water changes following this article (http://www.aquatic-plants.org/fert/est_index/est_index1.html). Tom Barr is known in these parts as Plantbrain -- he's one of the best on the web. Another good article (http://www.sfbaaps.com/reference/barr_02_01.shtml) by him on the topic at hand.

With any luck, he'll be by in a day or two and straighten out all the misinformation the rest of us have been giving out :p

I tried DIY CO2 and had frustrating algae problems and unspectacular growth. The difference with the pressurized has been significant and I don't even have the new canister/reactor set up yet. Other folks have had great success with it and are very happy. Maybe your stumbling block is the ferts (it was my first block, CO2 the second).

It takes a while to find out what it is you're doing wrong. I've done lots wrong and am just starting to feel like I'm getting it sorted out. Trial, error, plenty of research, and the very friendly folks ot here on the boards…

And, btw, welcome to AqC :D

[mogurnda]

Well, I think we can rule out light as a problem. I have had quite decent growth with crypts and anubias with 40W NO in both a 25 tall and a 29. That's <2 watts/gat, in tall tanks. As carpguy said, they do fine in low light. Plus, it sounds like it's happening fast. That's a little worrisome, since nothing ever seems to happen fast with anubias. I have literally scrubbed them with a toothbrush, and they were completely unaffected. I really think there is a serious chemistry issue here. Or maybe just transplant shock, or the result of mistreatment before you got them.

[djlen]

jdwyz, Carpguy gave you excellent advice. If you follow it you will not be disappointed with your plants.
I would add that I grow many of the plants you mentioned in a 55 which is 23" tall. My lighting in that tank is only 80 watts and most of my plants, in that tank are doing well. I also have another 55 right below it with 160 watts in which many of the same plants you mentioned are doing spectacularly. Light does make a vast difference, but you can have success with lower light.
I do use pressurized CO2 and fertilize regularly. I also to a 40% water change weekly.
Len