Leaves turn transparent over time

[uklau]

Hi,

What would be the cause for this? I saw some leaves on Valisneria & java fern having this problem. I also notice that the new leaves on Anubias nana is not as thick & as green (dark) as the older leaves .

Could it be due to low lighting?

[vinz]

Does not seem to be lack of light. More likely nutrient deficiency.

What is your tank specs? I.e. amount of light, period of lighting, which and how much fertilisers are you dosing, tank size?

[|squee|]

Old leaves will naturally be thicker and darker green for nanas.

For Java fern, new leaves will be transparent at the tip, and a overall lighter colour. Over time the leaf matures into a green non-transparent one.

For me, my vallis turned transparent over high lighting, where the leaves are hit by strong light and high temperatures with no water moving, usually the surface leaves.

[uklau]

Does not seem to be lack of light. More likely nutrient deficiency.

What is your tank specs? I.e. amount of light, period of lighting, which and how much fertilisers are you dosing, tank size?

Thanks, Vincent. It's a small tank (~10L), which I'm trying out with non CO2 method (low maintenance). Plants are valisneria, x'mass moss, anubias nana, java fern & some riccia floating on the surface. Dosing Excel, ADA K & Brightly Step 2 (going for EI after finishing these) once a week. Lighting = 13W PL. Temperature around 25-27C.

Mind sharing with me a fertilizing regime that would help my plants to grow well? Thanks.

Old leaves will naturally be thicker and darker green for nanas.

For Java fern, new leaves will be transparent at the tip, and a overall lighter colour. Over time the leaf matures into a green non-transparent one.

For me, my vallis turned transparent over high lighting, where the leaves are hit by strong light and high temperatures with no water moving, usually the surface leaves.

Thanks for sharing your experience, Terence.

[PeterGwee]

13W PC lighting over a 10l tank unless raised pretty high up over the tank is bad news without CO2. Excel simply cannot keep up with the CO2 demand of the plants with that amount of light over a small tank.

Regards,
Peter Gwee

[Plantbrain]

Lack of CO2 for a given growth rate and the expression of melting or spotting or blackening in Java fern appears to be CO2 related.
I've repeated the test and blackened them by slightly lowering the CO2.
Some other plants suffered during this time in ways not before recognized but over all, the java ferms suffered the chronic long term effect of lower than optimal CO2, while the more competitive plants where able to get enough CO2.

Raising the CO2 back up corected the issue and new healthy leaves grew back out and I've been hacking gobs of new fern clumps off the wood for many weeks afterwards, no changes where done to the dosing routine nor lighting, EI/high light etc.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[uklau]

13W PC lighting over a 10l tank unless raised pretty high up over the tank is bad news without CO2. Excel simply cannot keep up with the CO2 demand of the plants with that amount of light over a small tank.

Regards,
Peter Gwee

Thanks, Peter. I thought the lighting is not that much as my Riccia only start pearling when I shifted it up to the middle of the tank. It never show any pearling when it's at the bottom of the tank. The WPG rule still rules although my observation shows the opposite.

I'll add in CO2 & increasing the fertilizaing regime to alternate days.

[uklau]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for sharing with us (AQ) on your findings of plant behavior/reaction in low CO2 environment .