My plants are dying! Help!

[Slayer1393]

So I recently started up this tank, it was at first a 6.5 gallon tank, everything was fine and the plants were actually holding steady, but the tank cracked cause it was cheap plastic, and now that I've transferred everything over to a new 10 gallon tank all of my plants are turning see through or brown, and I e has this fuzzy black thing growing on it that kinda looks like a moths antennas. But some of it's green?

This is my first time ever trying to grow aquatic plants and alot of the information I saw said that at first "your plants will melt" but bounce back but I'm VERY concerned about the black stuff, please help!

 

[fishorama]

The first & second plants are java ferns & those are baby plantlets forming roots & leaves, often on old leaves. You can leave them until they're big enough to remove. Or you can cut off the leaf with babies & let it float

The last 2 are anubias. I would use scissors to cut off the dying leaves near the rhizome, they can't recover.

All have a "rhizome" (sideways stem) that roots & leaves grow from. The rhizome needs to be above the substrate, yours are planted too deep. You can either pull the plants up until it's a little above the gravel or attach the rhizome to wood or rocks using super glue gel or sewing thread. The roots will eventually attach to decor.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I would add one more thing. Plants do best in smaller grained substrate than you have. Either get a smaller size gravel or else sand. Otherwise stick to plants you can attach to rock and wood. Both java ferns and anubias are great for this.

 

[Slayer1393]

Update, thanks for advice, Im starting to dose the water with flourish, and I've moved the tank Infront of a window that allows for natural light.

I was just doing a 25% water change and I've noticed root growth and baby leaves have started to sprout, they seem to be fine and recovering from the transfer, thanks again!

 

[Slayer1393]

I was kinda surprised to see growth in the two bigger Anubias plants, I mistakenly had bought them thinking they were different than the smaller ones and they were only planted last Saturday, so they basically started growing right away compared to the others!

 

[fishorama]

You still need to pull them up so the rhizome is even a tiny bit above the substrate. They will slowly die if you leave them like that for too long. Just grab near the gravel & gently, gradually pull up

Flourish isn't really needed, both java ferns & anubias are slow growing with or without ferts. Flourish only supplies "micro" nutrients...

I'm glad you're seeing new growth, both are easy plants...but again, planted too deeply. Fix that issue soon! It'll take only a few minutes to do all your plants & they'll all be much happier.

You could attach 1 to the pineapple to add some height...I'm just saying

 

[jake72]

To repeat what F fishorama said the rhizome must be above the substrate. It isn't just that the plants will die but the rhizome will ROT. Once it starts rotting the area that connects to the rhizome is 'dead' and there is no way to savage that portion of the plant. You will have to trim away the rot portion and hope the remainder of the plant can recover. This is different than the plant simply 'slowly' dying. What you will see is individual leaves as they fall off the rotten rhizome but no new growth can occur since the plant has effectively rotted.

Also one must be patient with plants things tend to move in weeks and months not hours and days. Frequently new growth on a newly purchased plant is actually growth that started prior to purchase. Things tend to move in a hi-tech tank but that is not relevant to this discussion.

Also be aware that many plants have submerged and emersed leaves. Frequently plants are grown emersed before being sold since they grow faster in that form. When you purchase the plant the plant will 'melt' as it let the emersed leaves die off and start growing submersed leaves. This isn't quite relevant to your current situation but something you should be aware of when purchasing plants in general.