Holes on Hydrocotyle leucocephala

[13-186]

hi,
Just bought some Hydrocotyle leucocephala a couple of weeks ago.
Some are time to driftwood, and some are left floating.
JBL Ferropol is added once a week and with light on for 6 hrs/day and DIY CO2.... but ever since the plant was introduced to the tank, brown spots keep appearing on the leaves, which later developed to holes (like cigaratte buring holes on a piece of paper).... until the whole leaf goes transparent and melted....
i tried to do some study, but mostly say that this is quite an undemanding plant, not much info given...
can experts pls give some advise on the root cause and treatment?

[juggler]

I too find the plant initially not easy to keep as mentioned in books. But with good light, CO2 and nutrients, it is growing nicely in my tank.

Your 6 hours of lighting is not enough, do you have supplemented sources like sunlight? Otherwise, try to increase to 10 hours.

The plant may also take time to adjust to your tank conditions. You can try to leave some of them floating and see if it gets stronger with newer leaves.

Any other fertilising you do besides dosing JBL Ferropol?
How are your other plants doing?
If you fill up the info sheet, we may be able to help you more.

[13-186]

thanks, i will try and increase the lighting hours and monitor the condition.

i only use the JBL Ferropol.
my other plants are: anubias, java moss, water sprite. all growing.... though not really blooming like crazy....

[vinz]

I had best success with this plant in a low-maintainance tank. It was a small tank (approx 1ft) housing 4 newts with just a small Eden filter. Gravel, driftwood, anubias, moss, no water change, low light, no ferts, no CO2.

The newts are fed a cube of frozen bloodworms 3 times a week.

I suspect the tank had high NO3 and PO4 (and maybe iron) from the feeding. I've read that it likes high NO3. The plant went thru a cycle of healthy growth after a major trimming, to dying once it infested the tank. Probably due to competing with itself for nutrients.

When I tried growing the plant in highlight tanks, they never survive.

[bclee]

Based on my experience with Hydrocotyle leucocephala, they thrive on nutrient rich water, especially K and NO3. You might want to look into supplementing it with some KNO3.

BC