Whats wrong with my plants?

E

eylk

AC Members
Aug 5, 2007
265
0
0
Hello,

My plants were doing fine until a period of time ago.. They start to become like this :










I am using SeaChem Flourish, No CO2 and with Arcadia Freshwater Lighting.

I know these plants are low requirement plants.. so this shouldnt happen to them. I snipe of the "infected" leaves but still it doesnt help.
I have also given any 2 Platys and 10-15 baby ones. Does that somehow cause a deficiency?

Or can it be a disease?

What should I do? Thanks
 
Java Fern is low light, but how low is your light?? What kind of bulb?? K rating??
 
How much are you dosing your plants with ferts?

How often do you do a water change?

I'm no expert in aquatic plants but in terrestrial plants I would guess it was salt/sodium damage. It could also be good old fashion fertilizer burn. I would increase the amount of water changes and decrease the amount of fertilizer.

When it comes to fertilizer, too much of a good thing is deadly. The instructions on the bottle of Flourish are really silly. They do not take into account the actual needs of the plants in the tank. Different species, age, and size of plants have different nutritional needs. Unused fertilizer in your tank will slowly build up to toxic levels.
 
1) gravel
2) no clue as to lighting
3) dosing strictly micros
4) ph, kh, gh? and any other levels?
5) copper pipes?
6) filtration/circulation
7) wood?
8) algae
9) water changes

there are A WHOLE LOT of variables in a planted tank. all of these must be considered. as is we really don't have enough info to go on. it looks as if there is algae on the glass. that can suggest a lot of things. your plants seem to be lacking something really bad. maybe something your water supplies maybe not. the fish may be the difference as it seems live bearers are great for planted tanks somehow. some won't agree with this i assume but to each his own.

as is i would recommend you give us a nice long post. the post should include some very important info and anything you may think is relevant. first break out your test kit. test everything and give a couple lists. first list being all the values in your tank. second list all the values of your tap water. next how long have you had everything... one at a time. your dosing schedule... not just what you use. your equipment would help too including sizes and anything you may use that didn't come with whatever. for example if you use a stock fixture but replaced the bulb... what bulb. if you use a cannister... what media. do you add anything to get any values. example if your water is very soft what do you use to make it harder. anything you can think of is very important.

as far as i can see only dosing micros is going to strip your water (probably very slowly) of anything else the plants are using... or build up dangerously. the second though would probably affect the fish first in most cases. please give us a ridiculous amount of info... as technical as you can get.

as it is right now you can really only get speculation... which can be a killer imo.

good luck, that is very stressful!
 
Oh no.. I was afraid this was gonan happen...

the reason I got Easy plants is because Im new to plants and I dont know that many things
bout dosing and all the chemical equations.

I cant get a better picture.. my camera is lousy. Nope, no algae on the glass or anywhere.


Using Arcadia Orginal Tropical Lamp
http://www.arcadia-uk.info/product.php?pid=11&mid=10&lan=en&sub=&id=4
I have 2 of them but its does not cover the length of my tank.
Tank is 90cm , the lights are 60cm. 8 hrs a day.

40 gal tank. 6 platys 18 neon tetras, 1 SAE.
Seachem Flourish 3ml with 20% PWC every 8 days. Using a Eheim Pickup (internal filter),
eh.. if you mean flow as in circulation, yeap, there's plenty.
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Flourish.html

What do you mean by gravel? Gravel are slightly larger then pea size. Inert (or that what LFS
claimed)

No wood.

PH from tap is about 6.8 but will end up to 6.6 or 6.4 after it sits in my tank. No buffer. KH. 1. Gh- the kit is spoilt but I believe the water in my area is very soft.
Ammonia and nitrite and nitrate levels are very safe. because of the very light bio load.

Algae. None so far.

Im not sure if my water comes from copper pipes. Will find out.

For this tank, I dont do anything for the KH or PH or GH. Im still trying out on plants.
Planted tanks are really a headahe.. YES very stressful !

-------------------------------------------------

Will epsom salt help? but it might affect the fishes too (laxative?). And I think I get it.
Im not going anywhere or keep doing the trail-and-error until I find out the source of the problem
but do I really need a test kit for EVERYthing? as in mag, cal, and all the nutrients.

Urg. I think I can forget about my planted aquarium dreams.

Anyway Thanks
 
you have two of these bulbs?
FO08 8W 300mm / 12"
If so, that there is your problem. you have 16 watts of light over a 40 gallon tank which is .4 watts per gallon (WPG). we might need to work on upgrading or supplementing your lighting a bit, although not tooooooo much.

if possible let the tank get as much sunlight as possible, which may cause algae but that can be taken care of easier than a dead plant can ;)

IMHO no need to run out and pick up any test kits, fertilizers, substrates or anything else that will make your plant growing more difficult (except for some lights).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom