WHY DO MY PLANTS LOOK SO BAD ?

[vanillarum]

Hey gang. I'm a noob, and I'm trying live plants for the first time. I had (still do, it has shrimp in it now) a 10 gal for a couple of years with artificial plants and upgraded to a 46gal. bowfront. Most of my plants are turning brown, yellow, anything but green. I am not using Co2. My light is a 65 w (10000K ?) that is on for 10-12 hours a day. I havea lace fern, some plants with leaves like teardrops, a couple of anacharis that I purchased as med light plants. Do I really need the CO2 ? I don't need the plants to go crazy, but I would like them to look decent. I'd appreciate any help you can offer. Thanx.

 

[VTwinFanatic]

well first IMO you dont have enough light on the 46g with only 65w of light. In all of my plant tanks i have at minimum 2wpg. I wouldnt put and CO2 on your tank until you got at or above 2wpg or you will just be feeding the algae instead of your plants. also 10000K is not a really good plant light. 6500k is a much better one for plant growth. I would try to get some low light plants such as crypts, java fern, and anubias, they are all good starter plants.

 

[Cory Keeper]

More light would be first, and once the light is upgraded, then yes, CO2 is needed.

What is your Nitrate level per-chance?

 

[Squawkbert]

I'd look into adding another 65W bulb (maybe your existing ballast can handle it?).

I have a 46g bowfront w/ 96W of 6700K PC light and can grow some but not all plant's I've seen tagged as "med. light".

My Alternanthera grows, but could be redder. I simply can't grow Cabomba but I'm doing pretty well w/ the HM I recently added. I can grow C. wendtii like nobody's business. Bacopa does well for me too. Other plants listed in my sig are just getting by or are slower growers by nature.

 

[beviking]

I'd add another 65W also. Depending on fish load and how densly planted the tank is, you may not need to add any ferts. Even with two 65w bulbs, you don't NEED CO2.

 

[Squawkbert]

OK - other thread says you have 2x65W fistures. That's 130W/46g, that's enough to mean you need a nice steady CO2 stream.

Start reading up on DIY & pressurized CO2 (I frequently contribute to such threads). In the meantime, add Excel until you decide which way to go.

 

[Cory Keeper]

Just be careful with Excel, some plants are sensitive to this fert and might have a bad reaction.

 

[Que]

Just be careful with Excel, some plants are sensitive to this fert and might have a bad reaction.

I think that's what got my crypts.

Q

 

[vanillarum]

Do you mean Flourish Excel ?

 

[mellowvision]

to the best of my knowledge, microsoft software has no effects on plants.