unhealthy plants with pics...please help

[jaguar]

Could someone please tell me why my plants have brown spots, dots on their leaves?

In the first photo, you can see that the newly grown leaves are light green (healthy), but the old ones are covered with brown spots.

In the second picture, you can see the plants (dont know its name) are pink on the top (healthy), but the leaves below have either fallen off or about to.

Is this because of a lack of iron, potassium, CO2?

A little bit about my tank...
- 29 gallon
- one 65w Power Compact in the back, one 40w regular flourescent in the front (the light that comes with 55gallon tank), 10hr/day
- DIY CO2, 2 liter, air stone at the end to decrease the bubble size, then are taken in by the power head and distributed throughout the tank
- water condition: 7.4pH, 77 degree F.
- 25% water change every week or twice a week if I have time
- fertilizers I use are shown below. I added 20mL of the "leaf zone" once a week and placed the tabs once every two weeks at where the rooted plants are (half a tablet to one, depending on the plant size)
- nitrate 0
- phosphate 2 ppm or above
plants have been in tank for more than a month.
I just added some phosphate remover (synthetic ferric oxide hydroxide)

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~liugc/temp/plants3.jpg

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~liugc/temp/plants1.jpg

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~liugc/temp/plants2.jpg

[Blinky]

I'll take a stab at it, maybe other people can help fill in what I miss.
The first thing I noticed is that your NO3 is 0. I'd aim for a 10:1 ratio of NO3:PO4 ideally. I'm also wondering if your plants are missing K - brown spots in the centre of leaves can be a sign of potassium deficiency. I don't use Leaf Zone, but I believe it's a trace mix, without K. If you can get some KNO3, this will take care of both at once. I buy KNO3 in bulk at a hydroponics shop, there are also 'stump remover' products that are pure KNO3 available at garden centres :)
If your pH is 7.4 and you're using one 2L bottle of DIY CO2 on a 29g, I'd say the CO2 is low, but it's impossible to know for certain without knowing the KH. There's a chart and CO2 calculator on Chuck's planted aquaria pages (http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/) that you can use to determine CO2 ppm based on the KH and pH of your tank. Aim for somewhere between 20-30ppm.

[wojo93]

From the bottle:

Leaf Zone

Soluble Potash (K2O) . . . . 3.00%
Iron (Fe) . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.10%

Derived from: Potassium Sulfate and Iron EDTA

[Blinky]

Ah, well then I stand corrected, Leaf Zone has K in it. I've only ever seen K deficiency listed as a cause for brown holes occuring in the centre of leaves, so it could be there's either not enough, or it's another deficiency I haven't learned about yet.
I'd still try adding some KNO3, it's a good idea to have the NPK ratio ~10:1:20 and a little more K isn't detrimental TMK, so even if it's not needed it won't hurt anything, and will add the NO3 that's needed.

[Lobo.]

looks like places where snails have eaten the algie off of the leaves, and taken some of the leaf w/ it, do you have any snails?

[jaguar]

Yes, I have some snails, but only like 4 or 5 in the entire tank, and the numbers are steady.
The problem occurred before the snails are seen.

I'm a bit confused... what's Leaf Zone good for? just the iron?

[wojo93]

:help:

This aquarium has been set up for approximately 3 months

Tank: 20H
Lighting: 65 Watts compact fluorescent 50/50 - 10000K daylight/blue
15 Watts T8 fluorescent - FloraGlo 2800K
Substrate: Black gravel + 20 oz laterite in bottom 1/3
Filtration: Marineland BioWheel 125
CO2: DIY Yeast/Sugar into airstone in filter intake
Fertilization: Leaf Zone (trace Fe/K) 2 tsp weekly
Jungle 'Plant Food Tabs Plus Iron' - just added to substrate today
(K, Ca, Mg, S, B, Cl, Fe, Mn, Na traces)
Flora: java moss, lace java fern, green hygro, sunset hygro, ambulia, glossostigma, amazon sword, brown crypt
Fauna: 5 neons, 5 red phantom tetras, 2 rosy barbs, 3 otos, 2 amano shrimp, 1 cory

Ammonia: 0; Nitrate: 10ppm; Nitrite: 0; pH: 6.8; GH: 6; KH: 6; CO2: 29ppm


Recent green (hair) algae boom controlled (relatively) by decreasing light from 12 to 10 hours per day. Also added rosy barbs and amano shrimp. Some algae is still present on leaves of plants (hygros, crypts, ludwigia).

The hygros look similar to Jaguar's and have for approximately 1 month.
Bunches of Red ludwigia are begining to have issues. Red leaves died/fell off and the stems are turning brown (apparently wilting/rotting). Brown stems start from the top of the stem and work downward until the whole stem dies. Leaves have some holes and don't look particularly good. Red Ludwigia Pics (http://www.geocities.com/wojo93/classic_blue.html?1115016408355) These plants showed fantastic growth until the algae hit.

Other plants in the tank (besides the java moss/fern) show decent growth. Leaves on the amazon sword are thinning (couple are slightly opaque) which I thought was indicitive of a nutrient deficiency. Stems on hygros are starting to droop.


So I guess my question is:
I'm wondering if it's one deficiency that has caused the stunted plant growth AND the algae growth, or if it's a combination of factors.

If anyone can tell me how to post my pics, I'll gladly do so to clarify the ludwigia condition. ;)

Thanks!

[ergo sum]

Jaguar

Is there a chance that what you are seeing there is green spot algae? Sure looks like it me, but that may just be the jpg.

[jaguar]

ergo, they are all brown.

wojo93, to post pictures, you first have to upload your pictures to somewhere on the internet, then link them by clicking on the "insert image" button on the top (the yellow one) and typing in the URL.

If you are still having trouble, let us know.

[wojo93]

thanks! I'll let you know if i have any luck w/ the hygros

[wojo93]

I thought this chart was interesting.

It outlines the symptoms seen in plants with nutrient deficiencies.
Hope it helps!

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm

[IndianaSam]

Lighting: 65 Watts compact fluorescent 50/50 - 10000K daylight/blue
15 Watts T8 fluorescent - FloraGlo 2800K

Maybe you should switch out your 50/50 lighting for a 6700K PC bulb. The wrong lighting (like what you have) can cause weird algae.

[wojo93]

I actually ordered a 6700K bulb a couple days ago... Hopefully it'll be in soon.

In the meantime, I stopped filtering my water prior to adding it to the tank (the old thinking was to attempt to decrease the GH from 9 to the 6ish it was after filtration/use of the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Water Softner Pillow). I believe that this was stripping my water of any nutrients that may have been present naturally. So far it's been about a day and a half. I've seen less algae growth and the stems of the hygros are begining to turn upward again. Ludwigia still looks bad... but I'm giving it some time.

[Timmain42]

Water softners are BAD for plant tanks (I learned this the hard way). As I understand it, they precipitate out calcium and magnesium that your plants need to grow. They rock for non-planted FW tanks that are having lime-scale issues, but really, you don't need it for plant tanks.

The hard way, you ask? I mistakenly used potassium chloride (commercial water softner) as a source for potassium on my 12 gallon tank for a month. It **** near killed all my plants.

Hopefully your bulb will be in soon. You'll enjoy 6700k vs. 50/50. :)