Help Whats wrong with this plant???

[Steve Danhof]

I just started keeping fish after about a 10 year
hiatus. The 20 gallon tank, fish and plant are all about a week and a half
old and have began cycling well. The fish are showing no ill effects.

PH is 8.0 (perfect for the 2 cichlids I have in it)
Ammonia is coming down (currently at approx 2.0 PPM)
Nitrites are of course rising now (.25 ppm).

Anyway, that's the good part, my problem starts in that I have never raised
live plants before. I put one in the tank as a starting point until I can
learn more and it seems as though there is a great deal more I need to
learn, the plant is turning strange colors. The tank has a 15 Watt
flourescent full spectrum aquarium light and a temp of 75 Degrees. I have
been "feeding" the plant once a week with a product called "Leaf Zone" by
aquarium pharmaceuticals, INC.. Since I am color blind I cannot really
describe what the plant looks like but they say a picture is worth a
thousand words so hopefully these pictures will help.


Higher res pics available at http://home.comcast.net/~shdanhof/PlantPics.htm

Anyone have any ideas what could be done to save this plant?

Thanks for your help,
-Steve

[Victor Martinez]

Hi. Please don't post binary pictures to non-binary groups.
> learn, the plant is turning strange colors. The tank has a 15 Watt
> flourescent full spectrum aquarium light and a temp of 75 Degrees. I have

That's probably not enough light. How big is the tank? What kind of bulb
is it, CF or regular fluorescent?


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Victor M. Martinez
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[Steve Danhof]

> Hi. Please don't post binary pictures to non-binary groups.

Sorry must have posted the wrong one. I thought I just posted the link to
my site.

>What kind of bulb
>is it, CF or regular fluorescent?

It is a 20 gallon tank with a regular fluorescent bulb. It was the bulb
that came with the hood. Can I get a higher wattage bulb or should I get
another fixture?

Thanks
-Steve

[Victor Martinez]

Steve Danhof wrote:
> It is a 20 gallon tank with a regular fluorescent bulb. It was the bulb

Way too little light.

> that came with the hood. Can I get a higher wattage bulb or should I get
> another fixture?

You probably want a retrofit kit. You can get a good deal on Ebay.

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[Victor Martinez]

Rick wrote:
> what kind of plant is that? You can grown plants in that tank with that

Like Nikki said, looks like a sword-type, which does require medium to
high light.

> light but you have to pick the right plants like anubias, java fern, java
> moss and low light species of cryptocoryne.

Unless it's a 20g long tank, his regular fluorescent bulb is too weak
for most plants. I have a 20g long with an 18W regular fluorescent bulb
and fluorite substrate heavily planted. The key to that tank is that
it's very shallow. If TOP's tank is a regular 20g, he'll need much more
light.

--
Victor M. Martinez
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[Steve Danhof]

>
> Unless it's a 20g long tank, his regular fluorescent bulb is too weak


No it is not a long tank. I have started looking into the retrofit option,
but I don't really know what I am looking for. Any help would be most
appreciated. Thanks.

Also would the plant, being in the condition it is in, raise the ammonia
level at all? My tank's ammonia level has now gone back up to 4 ppm and the
nitrite level has not changed from .25ppm in 3 days. The couple of fish I
have in there seem to be handling it fine, but I know they cannot endure at
these levels forever.

-Steve

[Victor Martinez]

Steve Danhof wrote:
> No it is not a long tank. I have started looking into the retrofit option,
> but I don't really know what I am looking for. Any help would be most
> appreciated. Thanks.

Something like this would suffice:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=46314&item=4347331720&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
Remember, CF bulbs are much more efficient than regular fluorescent
bulbs. You cannot compare their wattages, it's apples and oranges.

> Also would the plant, being in the condition it is in, raise the ammonia
> level at all? My tank's ammonia level has now gone back up to 4 ppm and the

Why do you have ammonia? That is never a good sign. You should have zero
ammonia and zero nitrites, otherwise your biofilter is not working properly.

> nitrite level has not changed from .25ppm in 3 days. The couple of fish I
> have in there seem to be handling it fine, but I know they cannot endure at
> these levels forever.

They will suffer irreversible damage, even if they survive.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
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