Help with Plants
 

Hi. My plants are turning brown and yellowish. Can anyone tell me what is
going on?

Thanks,
Pedro

Give us some more information on the tanks, plants, fish load and water
chemistry.

Do you use fertilizer?
Bob

"Pedro" wrote in message
...
Hi. My plants are turning brown and yellowish. Can anyone tell me what is
going on?

Thanks,
Pedro

I am using fertilizers(Tropica Grow)...I do not now all the names of the
plants. I have some swords, ludwiga, bacopa, vals, among other.
How often should i use the fertilizers?

"Robert Flory" wrote in message
...
Give us some more information on the tanks, plants, fish load and water
chemistry.

Do you use fertilizer?
Bob

"Pedro" wrote in message
...
Hi. My plants are turning brown and yellowish. Can anyone tell me what is
going on?

Thanks,
Pedro

Pedro wrote:
I am using fertilizers(Tropica Grow)...I do not now all the names of the
plants. I have some swords, ludwiga, bacopa, vals, among other.
How often should i use the fertilizers?

You should generally put 1-3 doses of aquarium plant fertilizer in the
tank per week, depending on the amount of plants you have. But first
make sure you have adequate lighting, as this is a far greater factor in
plant health than fertilizer.

And have you ever used aquarium salt or any antibiotic fish medications
in the water? Those kinds of chemicals can often make freshwater plants
sick.

- Logic316



"...trusting the government with your privacy is like
having a Peeping Tom install your window blinds."
-- John Perry Barlow

Im using the fertilizer three times a week.
I will describe my tank as medium planted. My planst seem to have a brownish
algae. I am trying everything i can to save them.
Any suggestion are welcome. What type of light do you suggest?

"Logic316" wrote in message
...
Pedro wrote:
I am using fertilizers(Tropica Grow)...I do not now all the names of the
plants. I have some swords, ludwiga, bacopa, vals, among other.
How often should i use the fertilizers?

You should generally put 1-3 doses of aquarium plant fertilizer in the
tank per week, depending on the amount of plants you have. But first make
sure you have adequate lighting, as this is a far greater factor in plant
health than fertilizer.

And have you ever used aquarium salt or any antibiotic fish medications in
the water? Those kinds of chemicals can often make freshwater plants sick.

- Logic316



"...trusting the government with your privacy is like
having a Peeping Tom install your window blinds."
-- John Perry Barlow

Pedro wrote:
Im using the fertilizer three times a week.
I will describe my tank as medium planted. My planst seem to have a brownish
algae. I am trying everything i can to save them.
Any suggestion are welcome. What type of light do you suggest?

For freshwater plants, using a light that provides a minimum of two
watts per gallon (but no more than 5 watts per gallon) is a good rule of
thumb. Going stronger than that could promote excessive algae growth.
It's best to keep the light on for 12-14 hours a day, but no longer.

As for the brown algae, the way to get rid of it is by reducing the
level of waste nutrients in the water that they are feeding on. Do
20-30% partial water changes every week, be careful not to overfeed the
fish, and keep the gravel as clean as you can. You also need to make
sure you don't have too many fish in your tank, as they may excrete a
lot of waste into the water that the algae could be feeding on. There
are also water treatments that inhibit algae growth by reducing the
levels of nitrates and other unwanted substances in the tank; one such
product is called Algon which you can buy at http://www.algone.com
It also helps a little to have a few algae-eating shrimp living in the
tank. Amano shrimp are great at eating algae, ghost shrimp are OK too
and are fun to watch. Snails also like to eat algae, but be careful what
kind you get as many varieties will also devour your plants - the best
types of snails that wont eat your plants include the Olive Nerite snail
and the Japanese Trap Door snail (aka Periwinkle snail).

- Logic316



"The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy
without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to
do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose."
-- Ronald Reagan

Logic316,

I have a 58G tank with Bolivian Rams, angels, some cories and gouramis.
Currently I have two OTO and two Tru SAE in there. I do weekly water changes
and feed them twice a day.
Nitrate, nitrites, ammonia, ph, etc are at normal levels. Lights are being
controlled by a timer. I currently have a FloraBase substrate. Plants are
growing but many have this brownish thing that looks like alage on the
leaves. I will see if I can get some amano shrimps and keep monitoring the
levels.

Regardins the light, any brands in particular?How do I calculate how many
watts per gallon it provides?

"Logic316" wrote in message
...
Pedro wrote:
Im using the fertilizer three times a week.
I will describe my tank as medium planted. My planst seem to have a
brownish algae. I am trying everything i can to save them.
Any suggestion are welcome. What type of light do you suggest?

For freshwater plants, using a light that provides a minimum of two watts
per gallon (but no more than 5 watts per gallon) is a good rule of thumb.
Going stronger than that could promote excessive algae growth. It's best
to keep the light on for 12-14 hours a day, but no longer.

As for the brown algae, the way to get rid of it is by reducing the level
of waste nutrients in the water that they are feeding on. Do 20-30%
partial water changes every week, be careful not to overfeed the fish, and
keep the gravel as clean as you can. You also need to make sure you don't
have too many fish in your tank, as they may excrete a lot of waste into
the water that the algae could be feeding on. There are also water
treatments that inhibit algae growth by reducing the levels of nitrates
and other unwanted substances in the tank; one such product is called
Algon which you can buy at http://www.algone.com
It also helps a little to have a few algae-eating shrimp living in the
tank. Amano shrimp are great at eating algae, ghost shrimp are OK too and
are fun to watch. Snails also like to eat algae, but be careful what kind
you get as many varieties will also devour your plants - the best types of
snails that wont eat your plants include the Olive Nerite snail and the
Japanese Trap Door snail (aka Periwinkle snail).

- Logic316



"The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without
controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that,
it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose."
-- Ronald Reagan

Pedro wrote:
Logic316,

I have a 58G tank with Bolivian Rams, angels, some cories and gouramis.
Currently I have two OTO and two Tru SAE in there. I do weekly water changes
and feed them twice a day.
Nitrate, nitrites, ammonia, ph, etc are at normal levels. Lights are being
controlled by a timer. I currently have a FloraBase substrate. Plants are
growing but many have this brownish thing that looks like alage on the
leaves. I will see if I can get some amano shrimps and keep monitoring the
levels.

Regardins the light, any brands in particular?How do I calculate how many
watts per gallon it provides?

I couldn't say exactly which brands are best, but for a tank your size
you may want to use a fluorescent light as it will be cooler and less
expensive to operate (if your lamp fixture is designed for an
incandescent bulb, you can buy special fluorescent bulbs that can screw
into it). Also, try to find an aquarium light that claims to radiate as
little light as possible in the red spectrum, because red light tends to
stimulate algae growth. Anyway, you need a minimum of 2 watts per gallon
(but no more than 5), so you multiply 2 watts times 58 gallons. This
means that you need at least a 116 watt light bulb, but a bulb that's no
stronger than 290 watts (5x58).

- Logic316



"The difference between death and taxes is death
doesn't get worse every time Congress meets."
-- Will Rogers

Logic316 wrote:
Pedro wrote:

Logic316,

I have a 58G tank with Bolivian Rams, angels, some cories and
gouramis. Currently I have two OTO and two Tru SAE in there. I do
weekly water changes and feed them twice a day.
Nitrate, nitrites, ammonia, ph, etc are at normal levels. Lights are
being controlled by a timer. I currently have a FloraBase substrate.
Plants are growing but many have this brownish thing that looks like
alage on the leaves. I will see if I can get some amano shrimps and
keep monitoring the levels.

Regardins the light, any brands in particular?How do I calculate how
many watts per gallon it provides?


I couldn't say exactly which brands are best, but for a tank your size
you may want to use a fluorescent light as it will be cooler and less
expensive to operate (if your lamp fixture is designed for an
incandescent bulb, you can buy special fluorescent bulbs that can screw
into it). Also, try to find an aquarium light that claims to radiate as
little light as possible in the red spectrum, because red light tends to
stimulate algae growth. Anyway, you need a minimum of 2 watts per gallon
(but no more than 5), so you multiply 2 watts times 58 gallons. This
means that you need at least a 116 watt light bulb, but a bulb that's no
stronger than 290 watts (5x58).

- Logic316



"The difference between death and taxes is death
doesn't get worse every time Congress meets."
-- Will Rogers



Huh? Blue promotes algae, not red. Both red and blue are essential for
healthy plant growth, though. Current wisdom is to use full spectrum
lighting with 5500K or 6700K color temperatures. There is no way to
light a 58 gallon tank adequately with incandescent lights, unless
you're talking metal halide. You can use flourescent T8 bulbs, compact
flourescent lighting, or metal halide pendants. Brand is not terribly
important, but Coralife makes very high quality fixtures and bulbs. I'd
recommend manageable levels of light - 120 watts (low) or 160 watts
(medium) of light for your tank.

You will also need to add CO2 or a carbon source if you want robust
plant growth. Otherwise the bright lighting will cause algae. You can
either go with a pressurized CO2 canister, yeast bottles, or Flourish Excel.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Elaine T wrote:

Huh? Blue promotes algae, not red.


"Too much red light in combination with high nutrients will stimulate
algae growth"
http://www.algone.com/aquarium_lighting.htm

"Green hair algae thrive on more-red spectrum lighting"
http://www.syngnathid.org/articles/greenHairAlgae.html

I guess some species of algae like the blue spectrum, some like red :-/

- Logic316



"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without an
accordion. You just leave a lot of useless noisy baggage behind."
-- Jed Babbin

Logic316 wrote:
Elaine T wrote:

Huh? Blue promotes algae, not red.



"Too much red light in combination with high nutrients will stimulate
algae growth"
http://www.algone.com/aquarium_lighting.htm

"Green hair algae thrive on more-red spectrum lighting"
http://www.syngnathid.org/articles/greenHairAlgae.html

I guess some species of algae like the blue spectrum, some like red :-/


Yes, but your articles refer to marine algae. Marine lighting is very
different because of the way the ocean filters longer wavelengths out of
light. People have posted here that actinics and sometimes 10,000K
lighting over FW promote algae growth.

Have you looked at how much red and how little blue is in the spectrum
of a 5500K bulb? 5500K and 6700K were not chosen arbitrarily. Those
are the color temperatures at tropical streams where algae-free FW
plants have been collected.

http://www.thatfishshop.com/equipment/lighting.htm is a nice little article.

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/lighting.html has some info on it as
well from old work at Phillips and by Dennerle.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

I currently use liquid CO2. My plants have shown growth. It is only the
algae bothering me. I will try changing the bulb. Do you recommend liquid
CO2 everyday?

Thanks
"Elaine T" wrote in message
t...
Logic316 wrote:
Elaine T wrote:

Huh? Blue promotes algae, not red.



"Too much red light in combination with high nutrients will stimulate
algae growth"
http://www.algone.com/aquarium_lighting.htm

"Green hair algae thrive on more-red spectrum lighting"
http://www.syngnathid.org/articles/greenHairAlgae.html

I guess some species of algae like the blue spectrum, some like red :-/


Yes, but your articles refer to marine algae. Marine lighting is very
different because of the way the ocean filters longer wavelengths out of
light. People have posted here that actinics and sometimes 10,000K
lighting over FW promote algae growth.

Have you looked at how much red and how little blue is in the spectrum of
a 5500K bulb? 5500K and 6700K were not chosen arbitrarily. Those are the
color temperatures at tropical streams where algae-free FW plants have
been collected.

http://www.thatfishshop.com/equipment/lighting.htm is a nice little
article.

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/lighting.html has some info on it as
well from old work at Phillips and by Dennerle.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Now I see something like looks like hair algae on plants!!!


"Pedro" wrote in message
. ..
I currently use liquid CO2. My plants have shown growth. It is only the
algae bothering me. I will try changing the bulb. Do you recommend liquid
CO2 everyday?

Thanks
"Elaine T" wrote in message
t...
Logic316 wrote:
Elaine T wrote:

Huh? Blue promotes algae, not red.



"Too much red light in combination with high nutrients will stimulate
algae growth"
http://www.algone.com/aquarium_lighting.htm

"Green hair algae thrive on more-red spectrum lighting"
http://www.syngnathid.org/articles/greenHairAlgae.html

I guess some species of algae like the blue spectrum, some like red :-/


Yes, but your articles refer to marine algae. Marine lighting is very
different because of the way the ocean filters longer wavelengths out of
light. People have posted here that actinics and sometimes 10,000K
lighting over FW promote algae growth.

Have you looked at how much red and how little blue is in the spectrum of
a 5500K bulb? 5500K and 6700K were not chosen arbitrarily. Those are
the color temperatures at tropical streams where algae-free FW plants
have been collected.

http://www.thatfishshop.com/equipment/lighting.htm is a nice little
article.

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/lighting.html has some info on it as
well from old work at Phillips and by Dennerle.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Pedro wrote:
Now I see something like looks like hair algae on plants!!!

Most of the time hair algae comes attached to the plant when you
purchased it. It can also come in as some floating fragments in the
water that comes with fish from the pet store. You can try taking your
plants out and giving them a 3 minute bath in a solution of 1 part
bleach to 19 parts water to kill the stuff (just make sure to use the
generic household bleach, not the scented type).

- Logic316



"Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need
for its own existence."
-- Ronald Reagan

Pedro wrote:
I currently use liquid CO2. My plants have shown growth. It is only the
algae bothering me. I will try changing the bulb. Do you recommend liquid
CO2 everyday?

Thanks

The ONLY liquid CO2 product that I can recommend with any confidence is
Flourish Excel. Use it according to the directions on the bottle.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Will the amount of plants determine the amount I have to use of the
fertilizers, etc? My theory on the algae thins is that I do not have many
plants and the algae is beating the plants for nutrients, etc. Does this
makes sense?


"Elaine T" wrote in message
. ..
Pedro wrote:
I currently use liquid CO2. My plants have shown growth. It is only the
algae bothering me. I will try changing the bulb. Do you recommend liquid
CO2 everyday?

Thanks

The ONLY liquid CO2 product that I can recommend with any confidence is
Flourish Excel. Use it according to the directions on the bottle.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Pedro wrote:
Will the amount of plants determine the amount I have to use of the
fertilizers, etc? My theory on the algae thins is that I do not have many
plants and the algae is beating the plants for nutrients, etc. Does this
makes sense?

According to the brand I use (KENT), it say 1-3 doses a week, depending
on how heavily the tank is planted. It doesn't get any more specific
than that. But as far as I know, fertilizer specifically formulated for
aquarium plants shouldn't promote algae growth. Unlike ordinary garden
fertilizer (like Miracle Gro), it doesn't contain phosphates which algae
like to feed on. Some people, in an effort to save money, do like to use
Miracle Gro to fertilize their water plants. But as well as containing
algae-promoting phosphates, it also has ammonia in it which is bad for fish.

You could try and stop using fertilizer for a month or two and see if
has any effect. As long as you provide sufficient lighting, I don't
think your plants will suffer.

- Logic316



"I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French one
behind me."
-- General George S. Patton

Logic316 wrote:
Pedro wrote:

Will the amount of plants determine the amount I have to use of the
fertilizers, etc? My theory on the algae thins is that I do not have
many plants and the algae is beating the plants for nutrients, etc.
Does this makes sense?


According to the brand I use (KENT), it say 1-3 doses a week, depending
on how heavily the tank is planted. It doesn't get any more specific
than that. But as far as I know, fertilizer specifically formulated for
aquarium plants shouldn't promote algae growth. Unlike ordinary garden
fertilizer (like Miracle Gro), it doesn't contain phosphates which algae
like to feed on. Some people, in an effort to save money, do like to use
Miracle Gro to fertilize their water plants. But as well as containing
algae-promoting phosphates, it also has ammonia in it which is bad for
fish.

You could try and stop using fertilizer for a month or two and see if
has any effect. As long as you provide sufficient lighting, I don't
think your plants will suffer.

- Logic316

Try reading Tom Barr's Estimative Index fertilizing method at
http://www.barrreport.com. You have to register for free to read it,
and it's well worthwhile. Use EI dosing for a "low uptake" tank and
you'll be fine.

I also believe that Tom has demonstrated reasonably well that phosphate
does not cause algae. I haven't hunted down all the publications yet in
his EI article, but the real culprit appears to be ammonia. Tanks with
lots of rapidly-growing plants outcompete algae for any ammonia that the
filter doesn't immediately convert to nitrate.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Elaine T wrote:

Try reading Tom Barr's Estimative Index fertilizing method at
http://www.barrreport.com. You have to register for free to read it,
and it's well worthwhile. Use EI dosing for a "low uptake" tank and
you'll be fine.

I also believe that Tom has demonstrated reasonably well that phosphate
does not cause algae. I haven't hunted down all the publications yet in
his EI article, but the real culprit appears to be ammonia. Tanks with
lots of rapidly-growing plants outcompete algae for any ammonia that the
filter doesn't immediately convert to nitrate.


Here's the direct URL to "The Estimative Index of Dosing" article:
http://www.barrreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1
You don't need to register unless you're going in through their
homepage, heh heh.

Very interesting. That ammonia can be bad, bad stuff even in tiny
concentrations. I'm still kind of skeptical about phosphates not causing
algae though. Despite his meticulous looking data, Tom appears to be the
only guy who claims that. I guess we just have to try it out for ourselves.

- Logic316



"Bureaucracy: The process of turning energy into solid waste."