I have a 5 gallon tank for one of my bettas which I planted pretty heavily with anacharis, java fern, rotala indica, corkscrew vals and cabomba. I have two mini pc bulbs, 10 watts each. My substrate is medium grade silica sand and my filter is a small Hagen Stingray. No need for heat as the temp stays at around 78-80 on its own.
The rotala and the cabomba seem to do okay, and the anacharis is kind of hit and miss.
But the vals and the java fern keep rotting and melting away consistently. The anacharis is both healthy in some places but falling apart in others. The cabomba seems to be doing worse lately, and there is just a mess of rotting plant detritus all over the place that I can't seem to make a dent in no matter how much I vacuum when I do water changes.
Hair algae has made a recent appearance, but it's very minor and only seen when closely examined. All of my tanks get a bit of hair algae, as Philadelphia water is loaded with phosphates.
But the hair algae is inconsequential; in fact it's quite difficult to tell what is hair algae and what is rotting plant debris. I'm at my wits end here, as I have five other planted tanks and none of them have ever showed such odd signs of who knows what.
All parameters are good. No ammonia or nitrite, hardly any nitrates. pH at 6.8. Residents are one male betta, two corys and an oto.
I also want to mention that all of the plants in this tank have kin in other tanks. That is, much of it is from cuttings or split from bunches purchased where other stems from the bunch went into other tanks. So that eliminates the possibility that I bought crappy plant stock.
My gf asked if maybe the sand we used in this tank was somehow not good for it. But it's plain old 100% silica, medium grain. Tested it with acid and vinegar and it came off as inert. Plus the java fern is melting and turning brown, and that's not even planted in the substrate whereas the rotala is...and the rotala is the only plant that isn't showing serious problems.
Gah!!!
The rotala and the cabomba seem to do okay, and the anacharis is kind of hit and miss.
But the vals and the java fern keep rotting and melting away consistently. The anacharis is both healthy in some places but falling apart in others. The cabomba seems to be doing worse lately, and there is just a mess of rotting plant detritus all over the place that I can't seem to make a dent in no matter how much I vacuum when I do water changes.
Hair algae has made a recent appearance, but it's very minor and only seen when closely examined. All of my tanks get a bit of hair algae, as Philadelphia water is loaded with phosphates.
But the hair algae is inconsequential; in fact it's quite difficult to tell what is hair algae and what is rotting plant debris. I'm at my wits end here, as I have five other planted tanks and none of them have ever showed such odd signs of who knows what.
All parameters are good. No ammonia or nitrite, hardly any nitrates. pH at 6.8. Residents are one male betta, two corys and an oto.
I also want to mention that all of the plants in this tank have kin in other tanks. That is, much of it is from cuttings or split from bunches purchased where other stems from the bunch went into other tanks. So that eliminates the possibility that I bought crappy plant stock.
My gf asked if maybe the sand we used in this tank was somehow not good for it. But it's plain old 100% silica, medium grain. Tested it with acid and vinegar and it came off as inert. Plus the java fern is melting and turning brown, and that's not even planted in the substrate whereas the rotala is...and the rotala is the only plant that isn't showing serious problems.
Gah!!!
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