# Brown spots on dwarf sag



## Water7 (May 19, 2013)

Hi Lullafishi,

I kind of hesitate to answer, as I'm not greatly experienced, but since you've not received any other replies, I will venture a guess. I planted my tank a few weeks before I began a regimen of EI low-light dosing (in my case, one EI dose' worth per week). I was also including the potassium sulfate. Before I began the EI, I was using some liquid fertilizers I had. However, my hygrophila corymbosa was obviously deficient.

So after I started the EI, the hygrophila leaves that had been growing during the pre-EI stage became old and either dropped off or I removed them. I think that the plant probably couldn't "heal" the old, deficient leaves, so it just wanted to get rid of them. I wonder if some of your sag leaves, although they may have been doing their best before the fertilization and didn't look bad, were still deficient, and now that your plants have more food, those old leaves are dying back. I would think that algae would be attracted to growing on dying leaves.

On a side note, since I started the EI a few weeks ago, I've noticed pinholes and bigger holes developing on 3 plant varieties. So I think I will try 1 1/2 doses per week. Since you have started out with a lower dose of fertilizers too, you may want to keep an eye out for possible deficiencies. I think it depends on your lighting, and the amount of plants and their speed of growth.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

If you magnify the picture you will see short black hair. That is BBA .

Some questions:
- are the spots on the outside leaves only?
- did you trim the roots before planting?

Meanwhile, peel off all the leaves with spots.

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## lullafishi (Dec 13, 2012)

Water7 said:


> Hi Lullafishi,
> 
> I kind of hesitate to answer, as I'm not greatly experienced, but since you've not received any other replies, I will venture a guess. I planted my tank a few weeks before I began a regimen of EI low-light dosing (in my case, one EI dose' worth per week). I was also including the potassium sulfate. Before I began the EI, I was using some liquid fertilizers I had. However, my hygrophila corymbosa was obviously deficient.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your input! I was going to do a weekly dose amount, but I wonder if it would be better to cut the EI low light weekly dose in half and dose those 1/2 amounts twice a week.



OVT said:


> If you magnify the picture you will see short black hair. That is BBA .
> 
> Some questions:
> - are the spots on the outside leaves only?
> ...


Oh nooooooooo, not the dreaded BBA!  That really bums me out. I was hoping my first inevitable algae battle would be something easier to manage.

The dark brown spots are mainly on the top of the leaves, but I did see some patches of algae growing on the underside as well.

I did not trim the roots before planting... should I have?

I will trim all leaves with any sign of spots and start spot treating any algae with Excel. The only fauna in the tank right now are a bunch of snails, so at least I don't have to worry about fish stress. I'm open to any other recommendations or threads to read so I can prevent it from becoming a bigger outbreak.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

No need to panic or nuke the tank 
I am guessing that you have not seen new runners from sag either?

Here is my guess: the old roots are rotting. The plant does not have enough healty roots to feed the existing leaves. The existing leaves are dying off. Rot (organic decay) create favorable condition for BBA.

Step 1: pull one of the sag out. Check if my guess on rotting roots is correct. If yes, then cut all but ~2" of roots; remove all non-white (decaying) roots; starting from outside, peel off all leaves with spots/algae. That plant will bounce back just fine even if it has ~3 leaves left. Re-plant.

Step 2: repeat Step 1 for the rest of Sag.

I would not cut down on your ferts.
I would add 1 root tab for each 2-3 adjacent Sag, for a max of, say, 3 tabs total.

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## lullafishi (Dec 13, 2012)

You're right, I haven't seen any new runners from it (much to my dismay). I'll check the roots tonight when I get home from work and report back if that was the culprit. Thank you!


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## Water7 (May 19, 2013)

lullafishi said:


> Thanks for your input! I was going to do a weekly dose amount, but I wonder if it would be better to cut the EI low light weekly dose in half and dose those 1/2 amounts twice a week.


Actually the one dose that I have been using, I have been splitting up into two weekly doses. I made a liquid mixture with my dry fertilizers, so it is easier than dealing with very small amounts of all of the dry ones each time.


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## lullafishi (Dec 13, 2012)

I inspected the roots and you were right: some of them were rotting away, especially on the plants that had spotty leaves. The good news is that they also had some healthy white roots already taking over! So I removed all rotting roots, trimmed some on the struggling ones to promote new growth, and peeled off any leaf that was decaying. A few of the larger nodes I left be. They were resisting quite a bit when I gently tugged on them, and I got a glimpse of bright white roots, so I think those are doing well.

I also adjusted the spray bar on my tank so that the flow is going the length of my tank instead of hitting the glass and bouncing off. I think this is improved my overall circulation quite a bit.

THANK YOU, OVT! Once again, you are my plant hero.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I think you caught it soon enough. That dwarf sag will take your tank over once they settle in. Expect daily new runners 

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## lullafishi (Dec 13, 2012)

OVT said:


> Expect daily new runners


Gooooood, goooood.  I want an underwater grassy mound that would make a lawnmower drool.


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