Plants - Wasting Away / Dying / Eaten?

[that Fish Guy]

I am new to Planted Tanks.

I have done Fish Only Freshwater for Years and have never had success with Live Plants and they always died.

I have tried time and time again.

So this time I bought a new Coralife Dual T5 Fixture with a Pink Light to help Plant Growth in my 29 Gallon Tank to Replace my Old Single Bulb T8 that came with the Original Set Up from Walmart.

I also have been Fertilizing with Seachem.

But I am still having trouble. Some Plants Live and others still Die / Waste Away / Get Eaten?

What is the Deal?

Still Around:

Amazon Sword
Java Fern (Why are they always half black and look like they are dying in the stores and the sites that sell them online are All Green and Healthy)? Mine is still alive but is half Green / Half Black. I really cannot find good ones and I have been to like 30 Pet Stores. Seriously they all look terrible.
Java Moss
Moss Ball

Completly Seem to Have Dissappeared:

Hornwort
Water Sprite
Jungle Vallisneria

And according to PlantGeek.com Hornwort and Water Sprite are said to be Hardy and Easy to Keep. Hornwort is even listed as Low Light.

I just bought 3 new Plants today (Forget Which Ones as It was an Impulse buy).

I am going to see if they Live or just Dissapear.

Can anyone please help?

What am I doing Wrong?

 

[tyler79durdan]

Your plants are most likely "melting" because of a nutritional problem including lack of CO2. More light=More CO2/fertilizer. In a well stocked tank, one could get by with minimal fertilization.

Your original problem seems to be crap lighting/wrong spectrum...

T5 upgrade is good(prolly not enough though) if its the HO not the NO.
Some are called HO only because both bulbs are powered together. Usually 2 24watt bulbs...

If bulbs have separate switches, they may be a true HO bulb...

I find that floating watersprite/hornwort is the best, and they DO require fertilization.

You need LIGHT and CO2 and Fertilizer to grow plants. Plants can grow with a minimalist approach, but generally the growth from low-tech is stunted and slow...

-Aaron

 

[that Fish Guy]

Your plants are most likely "melting" because of a nutritional problem including lack of CO2. More light=More CO2/fertilizer. In a well stocked tank, one could get by with minimal fertilization.

Your original problem seems to be crap lighting/wrong spectrum...

T5 upgrade is good(prolly not enough though) if its the HO not the NO.
Some are called HO only because both bulbs are powered together. Usually 2 24watt bulbs...

If bulbs have separate switches, they may be a true HO bulb...

I find that floating watersprite/hornwort is the best, and they DO require fertilization.

You need LIGHT and CO2 and Fertilizer to grow plants. Plants can grow with a minimalist approach, but generally the growth from low-tech is stunted and slow...

-Aaron

I posted before and people said that Light was the most important thing, then fertilizer.

Most people said not to worry about CO2.

They said Low Light Plants do not even need Fertilizers.

I will quote one person.

"CO2 is not needed cause I'm gonna assume you have fish in this tank and that's your co2 source right there. Feel free to check out my tanks here they're all set up with gravel/sand, no add ferts, low lights and no co2 and I'd want to say the pictures speak for themselves http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/p...hp?userid=1029

I am not trying to get them to "Grow" really I just want them not to die.

 

[that Fish Guy]

Why did the supposedly easy to care for ones Die?

That is what I am really wondering.

 

[that Fish Guy]

I'm lost.

Some say Fertilize and some say don't.

Some say se CO2 and many say don't. Heck one place I get my plants from does not even sell any CO2 Machines. It is a good place too and not a chain like Petsmart.

Why does everyone tell me something different?

 

[tyler79durdan]

I can promise you that the fauna supply more nutrients to the plants the CO2.

There is no way that fish can respire enough CO2 to even bring the ppm to over 3-5.. One requires 25-30ppm for healthy growth without harming live stock.

Good luck getting your fish to get you to those levels...

Do what you want... But you cant expect different results from the same actions...

EDIT: After you get all the equipment used in a standard planted tank... and you get poor results growing plants... then start asking why.......

 

[lookit]

All of my tanks are planted, and all are low tech set-ups -- meaning, no CO2, minimal, if any, ferts, original tank light fixtures, etc. My tanks look just fine and, for the most part, my plants grow quite well. As tyler79 originally noted, your plants are probably going through a "melt." Many just do that as they adjust to your tank. What I would concentrate on for now are the low light plants that you have, such as the java fern, java moss, and moss ball.

I don't know about others, but my experience with hornwort is that it does best as a "floater." I've never tried water sprite, but I have tried to grow water wisteria in all my tanks and never once succeeded. It's supposed to be a fool-proof grower, but that certainly hasn't been my experience. So, I just don't grow it. Another that I have a spotty record with are the crypts. They take a long time to adjust, and just when I think they've taken hold, "poof!" they just melt.

As for the java fern being half black and half green, I go through that too, but bear in mind that java fern is a very slow growing plant, and algae seems to flock to it, especially when I fertilize too frequently.

Be patient! If you decide to go and/or stay low tech, you have to give the plants and yourself time. Also, I think you have to be fairly stingy with the ferts if you don't have great lighting and CO2.

Also, based on my experience, if you're using Excel as a CO2 supplement, drastically cut back on your dosage and wait, wait, wait. Everytime I try to use it, it melts my anubias (which it is known to do), but also my small java ferns.

I'm sure others can give you much better advice, but I wanted to let you know that you can have a very nice planted tank without all the high tech gadgets.

 

[lookit]

Oops! I said my anubias melted with Excel, but what I meant to say was that my anacharis melted. The anubias does just fine with or without Excel.

 

[that Fish Guy]

What am I doing wrong though to even loose the "Easy to Maintain" Plants.

Am I not using enough fertilizer?

Are my Fish / Snails Eating the Plants?

Do I need to feed my Fish more if so to stop them from eating the Plants?

Am I doing to many or too little Water Changes?

Are my Lights on too long or not long enough?

There has to be something to Fix this.

I am doing something wrong and I need to figure it out and figure it out Fast.

What is the usual cause for a "Melt" of a Plant?

 

[bradlgt21]

What is your coralife setup? If you look at my profile I have the coralife 36 watt freshwater fixture over a 29 gallon. No CO2 and I grow stuff just fine. You just gotta know what you want to grow. Some stuff I tried died too. Stick with Crypts, anubius, low light stuff and you should be fine.