Ludwigia repens quick die-off

Hannys_Papa

Hannys_Papa

AC Members
Aug 31, 2005
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Upstate NY
Yes sorry - me again.

Things in my planted tank were going good for a while since i started dosing ferts.

Now 2 days ago i noticed the little new growth leaves on 2 stems of ludwigia looked like they turned brown. Yesterday basically all little leaves are brown and look like they are rotting (old big leaves are ok).
Light goes on this morning - and the biggest stem is broken in half with the stem brown and rotted looking.

All other plants (as far as i can tell) are fine.

What can cause such a sudden death ? Oh and at the same time i noticed something else. As previously posted i had a little BGA (cyanobacteria) problem - and some dust algae on the glass and in the water.

Over the course of the past 2 days the BGA died off in 50% of where it was - and the dust algae basically disappeared totally. My water is clearer than i've seen it in a month.

I am confused.
 
Shouldv'e mentioned that huh ? :)

10G, 40W
1 betta, snails
KNO3, K2SO4 dosed so NO3 stays at 15-20ppm (both mixed so 1ml =1ppm of N and K)
Flourish every 2 days
Phosphate in tap (could it be i ran out?) - have no test kit so no accurate number
Heavily planted with L. Repens, Water sprite, Hygro difformis, Sunset Hygro, Riccia, Java fern, anacharis, frill

I tried to search for "browing leaves", plant deficiencies and checked the chuck gadd page on that but no deficiency is described as what i've seen.
 
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You should know your P value out of the tap. Sit some out for an hour or two and take a sample to your LFS for testing. It would be better to pick up a kit though. This is one of the elements that should be tested regularly until you learn your tank, IMO.
With the other plants you report doing well, I'm kinda at a loss as to why the L. Repens is browning. It is the only plant that you have, other than the Hygro, that will get nice and red under good light and gets a brownish color on the way to red or in a tank with an abundance of N will not get really red but stay kind of bronze/brown.
Is it possible that that's what's occurring? Or is it a sickly brown?
Also, consider totaling up the amount of mls. of trace(flourish) that you dose for the week and divide that number by 6. Then dose the answer to that daily, skipping water change day. This is a better way to keep some traces (especially Fe) in the water table more consistently for the plants.

Len
 
Thank you for trying to help me djlen.

I know i need to get a phosphate kit but none of my LFS carry them (and don't have them to test for you either) and shipping just for a test kit isn't worth it.

I probably should've been more specific when it comes to the "browning". As mentioned the biggest stem (grown to the top of the tank) actually broke. To make it more clear the stems turned brown first - and then basically into mush. I pulled 3 stems out today that were dead and rotted. Its odd - it basically killed the tiny new leaves first - then the stems and then moved into the old leaves.

I had plants slowly die off (over many weeks) when i didn't have enough light over my tank yet - but these basically went from nice and lush to brown, mush and dead within 4-5 days.

Would a phosphate deficiency do that to a plant ?
 
Sounds like something more specific to the plant since you're not experiencing the problem with any of the others.
My next guess would be fish or snails, but with only one betta I don't think it's the fish.
I'm kind of stumped on this one.
L.Repens is a fairly inexpensive plant so I'd pick up another bunch and see how it fairs in your tank.
I have had this type of issue with certain plants over the years, where everything was doing great and I added one variety that just wouldn't grow for me, even though I had enough of all the right elements and light.
Maybe I'm just missing something and someone will suggest another option for you.

Len
 
Thanks again.
I am wondering - could the described symptoms be from "too much light" ?
As mentioned i have 40W over the 10G - but everyone says multiply that with .5 or .6 because
a) its a small tank
b) the hood is cheap and there really isnt a reflector worth mentioning so a lot of light gets lost through restrike and absorption.

So i assumed factoring all that i am in the 2-2.5wpg range and would get away without CO2. Was i wrong and the lack of CO2 but "too much" light somehow drove the ludwigia into this collapse ?

I am uncertain how plants react without CO2 but too much light at the same time - this doesn't seem to be an often discussed problem. Usually its not enough light that you read about.....
 
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