Help for a Newbie with plant problems...

[Jeff]

Hi everybody,
I've had a ten gallon now for about six months and about a month ago
put in live plants. They looked beautiful at first, but now about half
of them seem to be dying- turning brown and rotting away. Any ideas?
My LFS recommended I keep carbonate hardness at about 5 degrees... which
I did but recently upped it to about 8 degrees based on other
recommendations. My Ph is ok as far as I know (LFS tested it) and so
are ammonia & nitrite levels (not sure if those have any effect on
plants anyway). Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated!

-Jeff

[Marcus Fox]

"Jeff" > wrote in message
...
> Hi everybody,
> I've had a ten gallon now for about six months and about a month ago
> put in live plants. They looked beautiful at first, but now about half
> of them seem to be dying- turning brown and rotting away. Any ideas?
> My LFS recommended I keep carbonate hardness at about 5 degrees... which
> I did but recently upped it to about 8 degrees based on other
> recommendations. My Ph is ok as far as I know (LFS tested it) and so
> are ammonia & nitrite levels (not sure if those have any effect on
> plants anyway). Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated!

Ok, would need to know what species of plants they are, what the pH of the
water is, and the temperature you are running the tank. Oh, and also let us
know what wattage of lighting you have.

However, if the genus is Cryptocoryne, this is perfectly normal, when
subjected to changes in water conditions (such as when they're first added
to the tank) the current foliage will die back. No need to worry though,
fresh foliage will soon be on it's way.

Marcus

[Bubbles Jackson]

You didn't say what kind of plants, what kind of lighting, or if you're
adding CO2.

Getting plants without considering these things is like buying a car
without taking driver's ed. Errr.. something like that.

Anyway, plants can have widely varying requirements, and many won't
live/thrive without additional CO2 (I'm sure others can give web sites
with this type of info). I don't have CO2 and I've had the same things
happen.

I just know from experience what _not_ to buy because I've killed it
before :)


-BJ


Jeff wrote:
> Hi everybody,
> I've had a ten gallon now for about six months and about a month ago
> put in live plants. They looked beautiful at first, but now about half
> of them seem to be dying- turning brown and rotting away. Any ideas? My
> LFS recommended I keep carbonate hardness at about 5 degrees... which I
> did but recently upped it to about 8 degrees based on other
> recommendations. My Ph is ok as far as I know (LFS tested it) and so
> are ammonia & nitrite levels (not sure if those have any effect on
> plants anyway). Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated!
>
> -Jeff

[Victor Martinez]

First and foremost, what kind of lights do you have? How much wattage?
Which plants did you get? Once I know that, I might be able to point out
what your problem is.

--
Victor Martinez
Send your spam here:
Email me here:

[Justin Boucher]

Couple good replies above.

A few main things to consider that must be addressed:
What kind of lighting are you using? (Wattage, degree K, time on, type)
Although the LFS may say that your pH is fine, what is it?
Do you run any kind of CO2 supplementation?
Is your water return from a filter aggitating the surface water? (will
reduce your CO2 concentration)
Are you running an airstone of anykind anywhere? (this will kill your CO2
concentration)
How many fish do you have in the tank and what kinds? (any plant eaters?)
What kind of plants are they? (as mentioned in another reply, Crypos
normally die off with rapid water changes)

I converted to live plants about 8 years ago, just to try it out. I don't
have any supplemental CO2 running but I also use canister filtration and no
airstones what-so-ever. My lighting consists of two regular fluorescent
lamps per tank (20 and 40) with one bulb rated around 6000K and the other
pushing 12000K or actinic. My tanks aren't what you may consider heavily
planted, but if I leave them alone, I'll have one hell of a trim job in the
making. I have Crypos in the 20 with a new addition of corckscrew val (I
like it and want more of it) and in the 100 I have one uncontrolable amazon
sword plant that I can't trim fast enough. My fish loads are very
conservative: 1 angel in each, 3 Pricilla Tetras, 1 clown loach, 1 khuili
loach for the 20 and 1 red tailed shark, 1 irridecent shark, 3 khuili
loaches, 5 ottos in the 100. I also have a plethora of Malasian trumpet
snails (MTS) that control plant die off waste and algae.

Mainly, watch the lighting conditions and water aggitation. A lot of basic
plants are rather hearty when considering the other water conditions. Your
fish will usually tell you something else is wrong regarding ammonia and
nitrite before your plants do.

Justin

"Jeff" > wrote in message
...
> Hi everybody,
> I've had a ten gallon now for about six months and about a month ago
> put in live plants. They looked beautiful at first, but now about half
> of them seem to be dying- turning brown and rotting away. Any ideas?
> My LFS recommended I keep carbonate hardness at about 5 degrees... which
> I did but recently upped it to about 8 degrees based on other
> recommendations. My Ph is ok as far as I know (LFS tested it) and so
> are ammonia & nitrite levels (not sure if those have any effect on
> plants anyway). Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated!
>
> -Jeff
>

[Flash Wilson]

On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 13:17:35 -0700, Jeff > wrote:
> I've had a ten gallon now for about six months and about a month ago
>put in live plants. They looked beautiful at first, but now about half
>of them seem to be dying- turning brown and rotting away. Any ideas?

Amazon Swords have a habit of doing that - but they will grow back
with new leaves eventually once they are used to the water, just trim
out the rotting ones to keep the tank clean.

I bought an "economy collection" of mixed plants, and stuck them all
in - many died, many thrived. Might be a good bet for you unless you
really want specific ones. Also, you might want to check your lighting.
If a generic tube came with the tank see if you can get a brighter one
or one which encourages plant growth. Probably worth changing the tube
every 6-12 months anyway; they fade quite a bit.

Cheers,


--
. ( www.gorge.org/fish )
\_____)\_____ O
/--v____ __`< . o
)/

[Dick]

On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 13:17:35 -0700, Jeff > wrote:

>Hi everybody,
> I've had a ten gallon now for about six months and about a month ago
>put in live plants. They looked beautiful at first, but now about half
>of them seem to be dying- turning brown and rotting away. Any ideas?
>My LFS recommended I keep carbonate hardness at about 5 degrees... which
>I did but recently upped it to about 8 degrees based on other
>recommendations. My Ph is ok as far as I know (LFS tested it) and so
>are ammonia & nitrite levels (not sure if those have any effect on
>plants anyway). Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated!
>
>-Jeff


Since you are a newbie, I will guess your tank light is providing less
than 2 watts per gallon. Most of the attractive plants want more. I
found that buying low light plants solved the problem. They grow
slowly, not so tall, but the fish like them and swim in and about them
all the time. My 75 gallon tank has a carpet of a variety of low
light plants needing less the 2 wpg. Only one (I don't know species)
has grow to the top, whereas the others may be 8 to 10 inches tall.

The other responders raise useful points to consider. A 10 gallon
tank does not offer much opportunity to do much with plants. I have 4
ten gallon tanks. They can be attractive and enter into the bio
balance without major effort. Choosing the right plants and the right
fish and avoiding plant chewing fish or snails and then giving them
time to settle in takes patience.

Hope you reach the point of tank stability to enjoy it. The first few
months are frustrating. I have 5 tanks I set up in the last year, so
the memories are fresh. Glad to say all is well now.

[Victor Martinez]

Justin Boucher wrote:
> sword plant that I can't trim fast enough. My fish loads are very
> conservative: 1 angel in each, 3 Pricilla Tetras, 1 clown loach, 1 khuili

Loaches really shouldn't be kept alone, they like the company of their
own kind.

--
Victor Martinez
Send your spam here:
Email me here:

[Aquatic-Store.com]

Do you have co2?
How many Watts per gallon?
What plants?
Do your fertilize the plants and howoften?
With what ferts?
Thanks

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Marcus

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On Mon, 26 Jan 2004 13:17:35 -0700, Jeff > wrote:

>Hi everybody,
> I've had a ten gallon now for about six months and about a month ago
>put in live plants. They looked beautiful at first, but now about half
>of them seem to be dying- turning brown and rotting away. Any ideas?
>My LFS recommended I keep carbonate hardness at about 5 degrees... which
>I did but recently upped it to about 8 degrees based on other
>recommendations. My Ph is ok as far as I know (LFS tested it) and so
>are ammonia & nitrite levels (not sure if those have any effect on
>plants anyway). Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated!
>
>-Jeff