Plants melting

[cyberjoe]

Hi Guys

I got problem with my planted tank.

my setup:

tank size : 4x1x1
fert substrate : sera
fert liquid : dr mallick
ph : 7
pl lights : 4 x 36
temp : 28
water changed : weekly 50%

my problem is that the rest of my plant are ok like riccia but i notice the rest with does red leaves and leafy plants on top they look ok but below started to decaying what im i missing? what do i need to ad? help help

[Allen_1971]

Joe,

can you tell us which plants are having problems? Usually rotting stems come from either...

1. damage during planting
2. Insufficient Light
3. Mebbe something eating at the stem.

[cyberjoe]

Allen,

I have is Bacopa myriophylloides, hydrocotyle leucocpphala, Hygrrophila polysperma, "Sunset" and Nesaea spec.

The top is ok but below its like ist melting if the light? but i already have 4 x 36 pl light it should be enough right? my riccia have no prob once i on the light they all bubble like mad. and the rest as well. Is it bec its a bit too many leaves blocking the lower part?

[Allen_1971]

in terms of raw wattage, your lights are bright enough, but the problem with PL is that the light distribution is uneven... Do a check to see if your plants which are having problem are sitting ins the dark regions?

Although this is a bit late, I think that given your tanks size, you really would have done better getting 3-4 4ft FL tubes instead.

[cyberjoe]

I suspect i planted them too near too each other but ive seen some others much closer to each other. the light dont penetrate below.

yap some areas are a bit darker than the rest. Im thinking of buying denerele's fl light model no. 3085 they claim that the light can penetrate donknow what. ad another 30 watts.

[vinz]

Dennerle is probably claiming that the lights can penetrate deeper down in to the water... due to the colours that they render. BUT, they still cannot penetrate through opaque plants.

First, are the stems rotting or the leaves only?

Stem rot is not indicative of bad light. When the bottom leaves do not get enough light, they are discarded by the plants but the stems will stay healthy. Space out the plants. For thin stemmed (1mm - 2mm) plants, plant them in bunches of 2 to 4 stems, 2 to 3 cm apart from other bunches. Thicker stemmed ones, plant each stem individually.

If it's stem rot, them I'll consider that the substrate is infertile or anearobic and rotting. Since you're tank is new and (assuming) the base fert is new, it can't be infertile. Can you see the base fert from the side of your tank? Has it turned black (real black, as if someone coloured it with black marker... not brown or dark brown)? If so, your substrate is anaerobic.

Which Mallick fert are you using? Aqua or Micros?

Your tank is 4x1x1... is that correct or a typo? Is this pure tank measurements or already excluding the substrate?

Another thing... your lights are way high. Something like 5.2W/G.... you don't need that much light especially for such a short (height) tank. I think you can cut down to 2x36 or 3x36.

On a personal note, I'll experiment with 2x36 to see if the riccia still bubbles. If they still do, I'll leave it at 2x36. If you cut the lights, monitor your CO2 for a few days.

[Allen_1971]

Vinz,

I think his tank is a custom size tank... 4x1x1 is probably correct.. Also given that he is using a PL light system, he probably cannot cut down to 2x36. The light distribution would be very bad... Only if he used FL.

[cyberjoe]

yap my tank is 4x1x1. the top part of the plants are ok but when i see below when you used a tweezer its really like melted.

Im using dr mallick lush grow aqua mine is about 100ml so i put 10 ml

so denerelle is not the answer. i will take a picture and show u all really quite sad to see them just melting away bit by bit.

[vinz]

CJ,

Pull up a plant or two that still has healthy stems, and check the roots. First, see if they are rotting and second, check for new root growth.

Other then rotting base fert (unlikely given the tank is new), is the stem were damaged during planting.

[Blades]

My hydrilla melted away too. I think it was the salt I added to the water to cure white spots.

I added the fine aquarium salt directly and discovered that the area where the salt landed resulted in melting of the stems..

[vinz]

General advice: any kind of solid(powdered/crystalline) additives that are to be added to the tank water should be dissolved in a container of water first. Unless, otherwise instructed by packaging, knowlegable ppl.
The solution should be poured over the water surface evenly, slowly and never directly on top of any fishes or tall plants.

Note: Solid additives that go into the substrate should not be dissolved first. E.g. root fert. Unless otherwise instructed.

[Blades]

yup vinz , learnt that the hard way , now part of my tank is botak! hehe.. managed to salvage some hydrilla and replanted them.. hope they grow!

[peterkoh]

Do you have any driftwoods ?

My backrow of red and green plants were doing well. Until I rescaped and added in a big piece ofdriftwood (soaked for 2 weeks) and it started to leech. The result is yellow tinted water. Carbon doesn't help much. I just have to resign myself to it and change water as frequent as I can.

Probably dark coloured water absorbed light and remove the efficiency of light spectrum drastically. This could explians why warm white light is not suited for planted tank.