# Help.. Riccia is DYING



## paul1218 (Jul 29, 2010)

Hi there, 

i bought the ricca last week after i set up the tank with 2 gold tiger barb 3 weeks ago. but it hasnt grown at all, more importantly, the leafs are turning white and dying, any help would be appreciated. :help::help::help::help::help::help::help:

i use very small amount of excel and 2 x 11W study desk lamp( i know, it sucks : ) . i keep the temperture between 24-27. i turn on the lights about 12-15 hours a day. 

did i get any type of Algaes ? or any other problem ? .


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## deleted_user_6 (Jun 19, 2010)

What's your tank size, and how much/often are you adding excel? Are you adding any other fertilizers? 

I can't seem to get rid of it, but I am running pressurized CO2, and dosing ferts.
It's really the scourge of my tank.


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## spunjin (Apr 7, 2009)

IME excel destroys riccia and vals.


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## 4f1hmi (Apr 22, 2009)

Spunjin is right. Excel will kill your riccia.


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## paul1218 (Jul 29, 2010)

Thanks guys, i will stop using excel form now on, and see how it goes. 
is there any other way i can help recover from the damage ?! : ))

it is a 16L tank i use excel went i have a big water changes, and i will also add a very small amount of flouris comprehensive supplyment and iron supplement as well if i want to. 
the petstore is basicly selling me everything that i dont even know if i need them right now

Thanks guys , i really do appreciated.


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

You need to ditch the excel, and get more light...float it on top for now, and it should bounce back...

Cut that photoperiod down too...15 hours? You should shoot for something closer to 8


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## urbguy (Sep 24, 2009)

i've had alot of experience with riccia. the way you're growing it now will not work because it'll just float to the top sooner or later. you need to have a mesh and then something weighted to hold it down so that it won't float to the top. but yeah, IME i will agree with everyone else that it does kill Riccia and i've had instances where the riccia will turn white after 3-4 hours of exposure. just get more light like xmas_one said. i've grown riccia without ferts because it just grows with or without ferts. i found that lighting is a big factor in riccia growth. If you go above 2.5 wpg riccia will just explode and pearl like it was its job, well it is haha. if you want to grow it in clumps, check out youtube and type in riccia fluitans and you'll see a tutorial.


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## urbguy (Sep 24, 2009)

btw, i found out that once you introduce riccia into a tank...good luck getting it out.


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## MlDukes (Nov 24, 2009)

Sounds like excel is your main culprit.

My experience with riccia goes against everything ive read pertaining to keeping it. I cant kill the stuff, Ive grown it with ferts/no ferts in low light, highlight, med light and no light... yes NO light except some sunlight that hit the tank. Ive even grown it in betta bowls. Never used excel or Co2 with it and always attached it to rocks or slate by fishing line or bath scrunchy material or just let it float.


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

urbguy said:


> btw, i found out that once you introduce riccia into a tank...good luck getting it out.


Yeah........ I never even bought it, but acquired it while it hitched in something else. I can't get it out..... it is overtaking my tank. 
What kind of plants do I have? RICCIA, RICCIA, and riccia. 
I somehow grew a 6 by 6 carpet of it before I knew what it was...
Finally cut it out and meshed it on rocks and driftwood and whatever else. The extra riccia clippings that floated around in my tank attatched to anything they could and now the stuff is growing everywhere and I mean everywhere. 
I am just going to have a riccia tank
You should see the stuff it grows like it is on steroids.


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## Green024 (Sep 19, 2009)

urbguy said:


> btw, i found out that once you introduce riccia into a tank...good luck getting it out.


Its very easy to get riccia out of your tank, dose your tank with excel for a few weeks. I was doing a hair algae removal trial by adding 1 gram of excel per gallon for a week. Riccia is long gone, and that tank was infested, it was tangled in everything.

Not that the OP wants it gone, just sayin =]


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

Excel will kill and melt some of your other plants as well.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Excel in itself did not kill your Riccia. An underdose might not be giving the plant what it needs and an overdose can definitely kill it. It's very easy to overdose excel especially in small tanks, but from what you said it doesn't sound like you are dosing excel correctly and/or dosing other ferts correctly. I can assure you, myself and many others have grown Riccia with excel. Granted it grows better with co2, but it definitely thrives and grows pretty well with excel.


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## stingraysrule (Apr 4, 2010)

I don't use excel and I don't use pressurized CO2, and it grows and grows and grows.


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## paul1218 (Jul 29, 2010)

thanks guys, 
now i ve got a new 24W light blub, and tight all the riccia down with the mesh. Set up a DIY co2 injection. 

i can see the riccia start growing some green leafs in a very slow rate, however the whiten leaf shows no sign of recovering. : ( 

may be its a chance for me to get rid of the riccia before it taken over my tank, like everyone else. : ))


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## urbguy (Sep 24, 2009)

paul1218 said:


> thanks guys,
> now i ve got a new 24W light blub, and tight all the riccia down with the mesh. Set up a DIY co2 injection.
> 
> i can see the riccia start growing some green leafs in a very slow rate, however the whiten leaf shows no sign of recovering. : (
> ...


You already tied them down? Why not just try it out? It never hurts to try it out for a bit. I know that the white tips will go away and when I say go away, I mean that it will just grow out because that part is gone. It is hard to get the stuff out but, when I had them, I never complained because it was a nice thing to look at. They pearl like no other if the conditions are met. It's just alot of upkeep. Keep it up, riccia is beautiful.


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