My plants are melting...

[BagelDog]

This is my first time posting in the Planted Aquarium forum, so let me know if this is a commonly discussed topic.

My plants seem to be slowly dissolving. When I pull out the rotten leaves from my tank they practically fall apart in my hand. If the "rotting" manages to get to the roots the removed roots have a sulfur like smell.

Any suggestions to what this might be?

My water parameters are Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 10-15.
I'm running the stock 15watt bulb that came with my 29 gallon All Glass Aquarium and a Marineland Emperor 280 hob filter.

[Riiz]

Either the plants you have cannot tolerate the extremely low amount of light or your plants are non-aquatic and are dying from being submerged.

Do you know what plant species you have or have pictures of them?

[captaincaveman9]

Want to show us a pic of the tank, and give a list of the plants and any ferts used?

[247Plants]

That isnt enough light to grow much. You should look into at least doubling the amount you have now.

That being said. What is the name of the plants and what else is in the tank?

[BagelDog]

I believe the type of plants I have are Kyoto grass and White Ribbon. These were purchased from Petco in those little tubes with gel in the bottom. They are sold as aquatic plants and when has Petco ever lied to us. :)

I have a good bit of lace rock and a black sand substrate that is fairly well matured (about a year old) in the tank as well.
I have had plants in this tank for some time now but have just increased the numbers of them for a more lush look. The old plants, the same varieties, haven't had any issues at all other than a bout with algae.

As for the tank inhabitants:
Two firemouth cichlids
Five dwarf neon rainbow fish
One bristle nose pleco
Three clown loaches
Three kuhli loaches

I have just started using a freshwater fertilizer. I can't remember the name of the product but it is made by the same people who make the AquaClear filtration system.

[timwag2001]

your plants are non aquatic. sorry.

[BagelDog]

Ouch... Oh well. I'll buy from Aquaria Central next time.
Is there anyone in specific that would be a good source for plants. Aquatic plants that is. Ha ha.

[timwag2001]

just ask around. everyone has a little of something

anything specific you're looking for?

[SMinNC]

Check the Classifieds, here on AC. > > http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15

Lots of people selling plants grown in their tanks.


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EDIT: Oooops reading too fast.

I'd just make sure they have a few posts. At least they're probably contributing something to the forum, if they're posting. And not just here to sell something. ; )

[timwag2001]

that and check their feedback too.

[BagelDog]

Thanks for the advice. I'll check around this site and make sure to double check their feedback.

I have a 20 gallon tall that I wanted to try to build an "Amazon Blackwater" biotope. The type of plants used can be close facsimiles to what is found in the wild. I plan on adding plants and some interesting looking drift wood and getting as close as I can but I'm not terribly stuck on small details. I've already strayed from a true biotope by having black sand as the substrate of this tank. Think of it as a Blackwater tank with some artistic liberites taken.

Any suggestions as far as plant choices with my current lighting would be very appreciated. I would definitely replace my stock lighting bulb for another more plant beneficial one. I currently have extra Coralife 10,000K and 20,000k bulbs for this size tank. Let me know which one is optimal.

[BagelDog]

Is anybody able to identify what happened to my plants? Maybe someone could confirm that they truly aren't aquatic plants?

[timwag2001]

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=11

check this site out.

[BagelDog]

Thanks Timwag2001.
I'm looking at the site right now. Do you happen to know of any low light plants that might might look good in that blackwater tank I was talking about? I was reading the description for some of the Vals and it sounded like the lower light tanks would restrict growth in a good way.

Have you ever seen anyone selling drift wood online? If not, I'm sure I could find a piece that works well in my tank. I'm unsure if the type of dead wood used plays a large part of compatibility in aquariums. Can I use anything I find?

[FrostyNYC]

Generally, you can use any wood in your tank as long as its completely dry and its not full of oils (example: never use pine in your tank). The big issue is that most woods will float practically forever, so your best bet is buying driftwood sold for aquarium use. Local pet stores around you probably have a decent selection if you do some driving, and it'll save you on shipping costs.

Vals are pretty hardy and don't need intense lighting. You could also go with a couple swordplants.

20,000k lighting won't grow plants. Even the 10,000k is a little too blue for plants, but I happen to like 10k lighting, so I'd go with that. My current lighting is a combination of 6500k and 10,000k. You didn't mention what the wattage on the new bulbs is. You'll need at least 1wpg, and better yet 1.5wpg, for adequate plant growth. Are the bulbs T5 or T7?

[timwag2001]

i don't know about any of plants origins. sorry. i don't know what would be good amazon plants

[BagelDog]

No problem.

I'm very new to planted tanks. I have so many questions to ask but feel guilty filling up the forums with a million questions that I'm sure have been answered a thousand times before.

Oh well, I'm everyone's problem now. :)

[timwag2001]

that's how we all learn. people around here are awesome. this is the 3rd aquarium forum i've used and is by far my favorite. everyone here is more than willing to help.

[BagelDog]

Hey Frosty,
I completely missed your post. Thanks for the info on drift wood. They are 15watt bulbs. I'll be honest, I have no idea if they are T5 or T7 bulbs. Whatever fits in a standard All Glass Aquarium Deluxe Hood.

It's a fifteen watt bulb on a twenty gallon tank. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that my lighting is inadequate.

By the way, I live in Montana so LPS are few and far between. Selection is thin out here.

[SMinNC]

Have you ever seen anyone selling drift wood online?

Mg has some, here > > > http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197639

[dundadundun]

how to figure out whether t-5, t-8, t-12, etc.:

with the "t" bulbs the number after the t refers to the thickness. most of us know that. what some of us don't know is that number also means eighths of an inch. so a t-5 will be around 5/8" thick where a t-12 will be around 1 1/2" thick.

mg, manzanitadude, and i think spunjin are all selling driftwood right now. i get mine from my local river. that way i don't have to strip the bark, dry it, age it etc. i just bring it home, hose/brush it off, and boil it in a turkey fryer. the boiling gets rid of any nasties and sinks most peices in about or less than 6 hours usually. it's also FREE that way.

oh, and those plants in the tubes with the gel are a big problem. not only do most places refuse to stop selling them, but when i told my lfs that petco was selling non-aquatic plants as aquatics they (i guess) figured they could make a buck too cause now they carry them also... scammers. i can't believe it's legal.

as for the biotype i might just grab a couple low light plant packages from people here. once they matured and are doing well i would trade my extras to get what i was looking for. once i was satisfied that i had what i wanted then i could sell or do a raok with anything that doesn't fit my biotype. that should give you some time to figure out what works for you, in your setup, with your water and get some experience. just make sure you are getting them from people with low light tanks like msj.

[BagelDog]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

I'm interested to check out the "T" rating of my lighting at home. How does the T-rating of the bulb effect it's intensity, etc.? Will I want to purchase higher wattage bulbs to achieve a higher watts per gallon or is that a matter of adding more bulbs to increase wattage?

[BagelDog]

I looked into the lighting systems that come with AGA tanks. They seem to be using a T-8 style bulb.

Is there any benefit from the larger sized bulbs? Higher wattage perhaps?

[dundadundun]

the spectral curve seems to be more important than what size when it comes to t-5 and t-8 bulbs although t-5 is more efficient. also watts per gallon is just a rough estimate that helps people communicate/understand... not a golden rule. those that really know better seem to use a par meter or a par meter in conjunction with a mathematical formula that includes the listed spectral curve of a particular bulb. what they want to know is the lumens output in relation to the blue end of the spectrum (light useable by/available to the plants).

one rule of thumb that's true to form with any flourescent bulbs is given the same wattage the thinner bulbs will produce more light. i personally use what's available that i can afford. i am running 4 t-8 bulbs and 2 ge 6500k daylight cfl bulbs on my 2 tanks. works fine for me.

[stratusfearrr]

thats a really low amount of light for plants. i'd reccomend upping the amount of light, and trying some seachem liquid ferts. i use the seachem flourish excel (organic carbon for the planted aquarium) and seachem flourish (comprehensive plant supplement for the planted aquaruim), and it keeps my plants growing well.

the combination of low light and no ferts is prob whats killing ur plants.

also, they may not even be aquatic plants, which could explain it.