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Thread: Urgent help needed for novice

  1. #1

    Urgent help needed for novice

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    I set up a planted tank 6-8 weeks back and in the beginning i had problem getting the plants to roots or grows well and this was follow by quick successive death to my fish. The problem with the death of my fish is over now (no more fish dying every other day). However, recently the situation with my plants goes from bad to worse. There are many black furry specks on most of the leaves of my plants and most of my plants are starting to turn yellow too. A few of the plants even rotted, at the part just above the roots, which results in these plants floating in the water.

    This is a 3 feet tank and i use aquacolisal sand and a tub of substrate(i forgot the name), no CO2 yet and the light source is 2 tubes of 25 watts normal flouresence light.

    Can anyone of you here help me with this problems asap. All comments will be gladly appreciated.

    Thank You So Much.

  2. #2
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    What plants did you use? - This matters since you have no CO2 and your light amount is rather low. Quite a number of species (esp those with red or fine-leafed foliage) which need bright and/or CO2 to thrive, otherwise they will die down. Check www.tropica.com or www.dennerle.de for online catalogues and brief biodata of common plants.

    My guess is that the fish suffered from high ammonia/nitrate levels initially, esp since the plants were obviously not using up these nutrients.

    The furry specks sound like Black Brush Algae, a sign of excess nutrients in the water. In the initial stage, a weekly water change of about 1/3 to 1/2 the tank's volume is highly recommended to control nutrient levels.

    Your lighting, at about one watt per gallon, is probably not sufficient. Try adding another light fixture if there's space. If the tank came with those bulk hoods where you can only attach a certain number of lights, I suggest you ditch it and get those mobile light fixtures containing either 30W florescent tubes of 36W PL tubes. 90 to 120 W would be better for your tank size.

    Substrate fert without CO2 injection, i find, is heaven for horrid algae, since there is not enuf CO2 for the higher plants to photosynthesize and grow at a rate that will outcompete the algae.

    You have to decide what kind of setup you want: a lower light setup (less than 100W) with slow-growing plants that can survive without bright light and CO2 injection (like Anubias, Cryptocorynes, Sagitarria, Hygrophila), or a bubbling kind of tank with high light, high CO2 plants.

  3. #3
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    Hi welcome to AQ, firstly, u gotta know what plants u have.. that will clear some questions on y u plants r dying (perharps require high light, C02...etc)
    most plants require carbon to aid growing.. so still depending on the type of plants.. as for the black furry thingy on the leaves, its prolly be BBA (Black brush algae)

    visit the site below to help u id the plants
    Dennerle

    oso the lighting is good for low to mid light plants..

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