Problems getting plants to survive

W

wdwmagic

AC Members
Sep 25, 2005
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England
Hi there,

I'm having some problems that I hope some of you may be able to advise me on.

I am having problems getting any plants to grow and survive in the tank. They tend to be OK initially once put in the tank, but a few weeks later, they begin to rot at the base, and then snap off. Other plants have leaves that just detiorate into holes, or curl up. Another typical sympton I see is stem plants growing upwards, losing all the leaves at the bottom, and then ultimately the top leaves just curl off and die, or the stem snaps.

It's a 290 litre tank, lit with 4 T5 tubes (with reflectors) for 12 hours per day, external Eheim canister filter, 27 degrees water temp, and around 10 mid-size fish. I regularly add in Tetra Plantamin liquid fertilser, and do regular water changes every 2 weeks.

I have included a photo to show the kind of problems I am seeing.

Thanks for any tips or advice.

plantsP1040621.jpg
 
What is the wattage on those T5 bulbs? Depending on the wattage, you may need CO2.

It looks like you're having at least potassium deficiency. Tetra Plantamin contains traces and covers the micro nutrients but it doesn't contain any macro nutrient (nitrogen, phosphate, potassium), plants need both to grow. Look for additional fertilizers like Seachem's Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium.

Reduce the light period to 8-10 hrs instead of 12, you won't see much of a benefit leaving it on the extra 2 hrs.
 
Have you tested your water for No3, Po4, gh, etc.?

You certainly have a deficiency of some sort, but you have to test your water to find out what may be missing.

Do you have Co2?
 
I agree with phanmc. Sounds and looks like a macro problem more than a lack of C02.
We will be of better help when you let us know your wattage.
I may be wrong but I believe 290 ltrs. translates to approx. 75 gal.U.S.?
BTW, are you sure all of your plants are submersible? Some of them look like terrestrial plants.

Len
 
Aquabum said:
Have you tested your water for No3, Po4, gh, etc.?

You certainly have a deficiency of some sort, but you have to test your water to find out what may be missing.

Do you have Co2?
Click to expand...

I havnt done any tests yet, I will get onto that.

I dont have any Co2 running.

Thanks
 
djlen said:
I agree with phanmc. Sounds and looks like a macro problem more than a lack of C02.
We will be of better help when you let us know your wattage.
I may be wrong but I believe 290 ltrs. translates to approx. 75 gal.U.S.?
BTW, are you sure all of your plants are submersible? Some of them look like terrestrial plants.

Len
Click to expand...

Yes it's around 75 Gal US.

That is a very good question about the plants being submersible. They were bought from a local fish store, but none of them had any species name, so I cannot verify anything about them. I would not be entirely surprised if some of them turned out to not be proper submersible plants.

Thanks for all your help.
 
do you know what spectrum the lights are? they should be around 6000-7000k color temp to be the best for plants as well.

and i agree, you need CO2 and macro ferts.
 
Plants will accept any Kelvin rating between 2000K and 10,000K with no problem or detriment to growth. The difference is in the human eye and how the individual views the tank at a particular rating. The lower end is more yellow-green, the upper end more blue. Most people accept the 6500K range as closest to 'daylight' and are pleased with that color rating.

I'm assuming that you don't live in America because of your reference to metric measurements. Here many of us use this site to order dry nutrients:
http://www.gregwatson.com/DryAquaticFertilizers.asp
Unfortunately, I don't think that Greg ships overseas. You could ask to be sure however.
If not, I would look for a similar site in the U.K. or wherever you live and order
KNO3, KH2PO4 and K2SO4 for your 3 macros. First test your tap water for N and P to be sure that you're not getting a lot of either out of the tap. Many of the Brits I converse with get a ton of P, in particular in their watter supply. No sense in ordering anything that you have at hand. Then order the nutrients that are not coming from the tap to balance and along with your trace mix you should be fine.

IMO, the need for CO2 in your tank is marginal, depending a good deal on your plant mass. No question, CO2 injection will help a great deal in any wattage, and the lighter the mass the more helpful it becomes.
Check the literature for the suitability of your present plants in a submersed environment, because I'm not convinced all of them are.
How about posting some more pics.....an over all shot of the tank would be more helpful, and some full length shot of some of the individual plants.

Len
 
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