# I think my plants are dying.



## botsman (Mar 12, 2009)

Hi all!
I've been reading this forum for a while now, and decided to set up a planted tank. This is what I have so far.

10g tank
EcoComplete substrate 
15w Plant & Aquarium light on for 12hrs/day
AquaClear HOB filter
heater set at 76 degrees
DIY CO2 using a 2 liter bottle

THE TANK









ANUBIAS NANA



























JAVA FERN









JAVA MOSS


















CRYPT SPIRALIS


















E. TENNELLUS

















It's been running for about 10 days now and as you can see from the pics, the plants are not doing well. What am I doing wrong? Should I be using fertilizers? I don't know what to do...:frown:


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

It is still too early to tell. I would suggest to be patient. The 15W bulb is very low light, so plants will not be growing quickly and you don't need to worry about fertilizing yet (if at all).


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## skabooya (Apr 15, 2005)

I agree its still very early, although if its a HUGE change from previous then i would think you should start adding some very small amounts of ferts. You do have very low light for C02 however. Its almost a waste.
Was your java moss that yellow when you got it though? The only time my java moss went that yellow was when i had it in an unheated tank in nearly black conditions and stagnant water for a while... that was many years ago.


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## NightSky (Feb 16, 2009)

It seems plants go through a die off period before they get used to the conditions of the tank you have them in. Check my link below, I had a die off period but it has since recovered and is steadily growing. I do have a little over 3wpg, though, so my recovery may be faster than yours before you notice any change. I personally would add a very small amount of ferts, but others may disagree.


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## kyle3 (May 26, 2005)

It's prob. the plants adjusting to their new home. You've chosen well with all low light plants. If you're going to do any ferts i would suggest flourish excel and root tabs. but the best advice right now is wait it out and let your plants find their own balance. Any fish yet?
I like your scape it's unique. good luck keep us updated!
cheers-K


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## Honorable24 (Nov 16, 2008)

I saw that plant and aquarium light at walmart and it is not 6500k. Buy the daylight one which is 6500k


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## botsman (Mar 12, 2009)

Thank you all for your replies.

I will try switching the light bulbs, I have a spare AllGlass full spectrum 15w bulb.

The Java Moss was very green when I got it, with just a few brown strands...now I see more strands turning brown though.

And the Java Fern was already with black spots when I got it, it hasn't changed much.

I use DIY CO2, because I figured it may help a little bit, and that it won't hurt the plants, so I just decided to give it a shot.

No fish yet. I want to get the "plants" situation under control first

Do I need Excel if I am using DIY CO2?
And should I use Flourish liquid ferts? Or root tabs, or both?


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## FishGirl65 (Apr 26, 2008)

I've had some of that black spot on certain swords and java fern that were in my 75g when I ran out of CO2 and didn't replace it for a few months. The tank was totally overgrown and needed a redo. It's just a form of algae that is unsightly.

Just pinch off the worst leaves at the base and your plant will sprout new, better looking leaves. My plants are doing much better now since I've done the same. I took plants out of my 75g high light and made a 29g low light planted tank as well as a couple of other.

I think you're off to a great start. If it were me, I wouldn't wait to add a few fish if your tank is cycled. The fish waste is beneficial to the plants. Clip the brown java moss off. It is probably just some transition stress. Like I said, the fish waste will help fertilize the plants.


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## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

I second the excel. Some use it even when they have diy Co2.

Have you tested the rock to see if it has lime, which will raise the ph up to high? It is done by putting some vinegar on the rock. If it fizzes it has limestone. 

What is your gh, kh, and ph? 

Perhaps your plants are struggling to addapt to your water parameters which are very different for where you bought them. 

*Avalon at planted tank:*
*Plants tend to melt when there is a significant change in the KH of the water they came from to the KH of the water they currently inhabit. The KH break points appear to be approxiamately 4-6 and 10-13 in my experience.*
*
*
*
* If it is very soft gh booster may help. It can be bought at Rex Griggs site.
If you don't have it baking soda will help some. 

Diana K(at link on soft water):
I use baking soda for KH at the rate of 1 teaspoon per 30 gallons
This raises the KH by about 2 degrees. In the tank that needed this the KH was 0 degrees and the pH was at the bottom of the test, 6.0. and Ph came up to 6.2



Link to thread on soft water.


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## botsman (Mar 12, 2009)

Thanks for the info. I will follow your advice
And hopefully, my plants will survive


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## Florida_Larry (Jan 19, 2009)

as a few have already stated hold off on adding ferts, and watch, That said however you may also wish to add a few fish into the tank, this will add nitrogen to the tank, which will feed the plants and the cycle.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Florida_Larry said:


> as a few have already stated hold off on adding ferts, and watch, That said however you may also wish to add a few fish into the tank, this will add nitrogen to the tank, which will feed the plants and the cycle.


I agree.

Make sure the tank is cycled and then add fish- you probably won't need ferts at all once the fish are in there to fertilize the plants themselves.

I personally never use ferts in my own 10gal tanks under that same level of lighting. Plants do grow slowly, but they will fill in quite nicely given time. :thumbsup:


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## botsman (Mar 12, 2009)

Thanks, guys!

The plants seem to be doing much better now. The crypt has recovered, and I am getting new growth on the java fern. I've added 7 neons, and they look very happy.
Will keep you updated


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## botsman (Mar 12, 2009)

I guess they just needed some recovery time.


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## botsman (Mar 12, 2009)

Also, I keep the lights on for 12hrs, 11am-11pm.
Do you think it will cause any problems?


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

I kept my 20Long with low lighting on for 12 hours without any problems. Mind you, the plants grew very slowly and some did die out! But the lighting was low enough to avoid algae problems. If you start to get some algae, you may need to reduce the photo period, depending on the kind of algae you get.

The brown spots on the java fern is not algae, but caused by a lack of nutrients. I would second the suggestion for using root tabs in the substrate. I use them in all my tanks, including my little 5g with my RCS (red cherry shrimp) colony. The lighting in that tank is extremely dim so I don't add ferts, CO2, excel, anything. But I find that the plants grow better with fert tabs. Since my 5g tank is so small with only about 1" of substrate, I break the fert tabs and only use about 1/4th tablet instead of a whole one.

I also wanted to add that while the plants you have are almost always highly recommended for low light tanks, I have not found those plants to be the easiest to grow. The problem is they are sooooo slow growing that any mistake made could result in the plants requiring months to recover once the mistake is correctly. Fast growing plants are much more forgiving.

While most stems won't grow in such dim light, I am having success with a very pretty plant, _Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig' _(Sunset Hygro). It grows extremely fast in high tech, high light tanks, but it slows down with low tech tanks with less light. And to my surprise, I even have red coloring on it! This is with a standard 8w bulb! The plant began to improve and grow new, healthy leaves when I added the fert tabs.

So don't limit yourself to just the traditional Java fern, Java moss, anubias plants. There are others out there, some of which you may really enjoy.

Oh, another plant that really loved my low light, low tech tank was Crypt wendtii 'Bronze'. It multiplied like crazy over time. And it was very happy with low light, no ferts, no CO2; plus, it added color and leaf form to the tank. I'm intending to add it to my little 5g tank soon to see how it does with extremely low light.


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## botsman (Mar 12, 2009)

Thank you all for your advice!

I switched out to a full spectrum light bulb, and added some root tabs.
A couple of days later the crypt started to come back. Anubias and java ferns sprouted a new leaf, and e.tennellus has sent two runners. 

I don't know if it is something I did, or the plants had to acclimate, or what, but I'm a happy camper right now 

However now I am fighting Brown Algae 
I started a new thread about it...


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