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joe,
is the area where your macandra is planted very densely planted, such that the bottom leaves don't get light? Also maybe you could do a check... uproot one of your macandra (that is doing badly) and look at the roots... are they white or black?
Hi guys, I need some help with the rotala macrandra leaves melting. The plant was doing fine (as in new leaves are quite reddish) after a water change and fertilisation last Sunday. Yesterday I checked and most of the lower leaves are like melting away. Got even 1 or 2 stems melt totally till dislodge from gravel. Is this Fe deficieny? Or do I need to add Flourish daily (now only once per water change)? Any advise is appreciated [:]
My fertilisation regime juz started 2, 3 weeks back back. Still experimenting. Every water change, I add the folliwng:
1) 1/3 teaspoon Seachem Equilibrium
2) 1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon K2SO4
3) 1ml Seachem Flourish
4) Laterite balls added 2 weeks back, once only
My tank parameters as follows:
20 gallon tank
lights = 60W PL
pH = 6.6 to 7.0
kH = 3
JBL base fertiliser
... always look at the bright side of life
joe,
is the area where your macandra is planted very densely planted, such that the bottom leaves don't get light? Also maybe you could do a check... uproot one of your macandra (that is doing badly) and look at the roots... are they white or black?
Allen
Fe is an immobile nutrient hence Fe deficiency only affects younger leaves. If lower leaves are affected, it is usually due to a lack of mobile nutrients such as N, K, P.... I would suggest you measure your NO3. Any CO2?
The roots are black. They are not really densely planted, more like medium dense. What does the black roots mean?
NO3 is at around 10mg/l. Yes there is CO2 using diffusor. In fact, last month too much kill my shrimps [] Now stablise liao.
... always look at the bright side of life
another reason why the stem might rot might be becoz when you plant it in, you might not have forgotten to remove the lower leaves. The lower leaves rot causing the stem to as well.
as for melting leaves... definitely not enuf light i guess...
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Did you wash you plants under running tap water before you plant them into the tank?
Yes it is my practise to wash anything before putting into tank. I even wash the bags holding the new fish/shrimps before putting in the tank to accilimisate them
As for pulling out the old leave, I did trim off like 2 inches of the stem and pulled out like 50% of those crumbled leaves.
... always look at the bright side of life
goondoo, how does washing the plants under running water helps to prevent rotting?
Joe, how long are the macrandra in your tank? Not very sure about the black and white roots, but..
- did u damage the lower stems when u r planted the macrandra?
- do u have any plants at the spot before hand? U might have left some uncleared roots in the gravel which rots and cause problem to the macrandra?
人的一生﹐ 全靠奮斗﹐ 唯有奮斗﹐ 才能成功
Hehee maybe I did damage the stems. That not sure but they are only like 2 weeks old. Grew quite ok for first week leh. Now like wilting away.
Current planted location is occupied by some plants which I cannot ID. Gave them away and if not wrong, their stems and roots were doing really great when I pulled them out.
... always look at the bright side of life
I was about to buy some liquid Fe fertiliser but decided to consult u guys first. So is it confirm not Fe deficiency?
... always look at the bright side of life
black roots means your substrate has turned anaerobic... which is not a good sign. In a healthy plant, oxygen is transported to the roots, keeping the area of the substrate oxygenated. Just to be sure, take a whiff of your roots, and if you get that funky hydogen sulphide smell, you know for sure its gone anaerobic...
On the whole though, it just serves to confirm that the plant is in bad shape.
Allen
Can the substrate turn anaerobic so fast? My tank is only one month old. If it is really anaerobic, how can we solve it besides planting some fast growers to aerate that area?
Hmmm actually I remember for the stems that rotted, there are roots growing from the portion of the stems above the gravel. Does this mean anything?
... always look at the bright side of life
joe,
your substrate is anaerobic due to poor plant health and not the otherway around... by checking your roots, it just serves to confirm that your plant is in bad shape, and is not just lacking some nutrient...
If your plants are closely packed, try replanting your macandra further apart... to ensure they have ample light.
Allen
Thanks guys! Will do so and monitor for this week. Lastly, wanted to ask this but always forget. Do I need to add laterite balls periodically?
... always look at the bright side of life
laterite balls are more for spot fertilisation if your substrate is missing or depleted... for now I think you can avoid that.
Allen
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On 2/28/2003 9:25:59 AM
goondoo, how does washing the plants under running water helps to prevent rotting?
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I read an article saying plants shouldn't be wash under direct tap water with chlorine. Not only it doesn't helps preventing melting, it would most probably be the cause. Imagine putting a fish over fire then introduce it to the tank.
Smoked salmon Goondoo?[:
... always look at the bright side of life
I won't give much credit to wherever you read that from goondoo... many aquatist have been using a 1:20 diluted bleach solution to get rid of pest on plants for years... out tap water is much more diluted than that.
Allen
not very sure about... but i never fail to wash my plants under running tap water after clearing the pots and excess roots to remove any snail eggs or dirt.
人的一生﹐ 全靠奮斗﹐ 唯有奮斗﹐ 才能成功
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