# Are my LED lights burning my plants or is it a deficiency?



## Mrnbo (Dec 18, 2013)

And here's the plants, I don't know why it didn't upload in the first post.


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## Texan78 (Nov 17, 2013)

Another duplicate post to this one...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=519633

If you're running them 8-12 hours a day then that is why you're getting algae. Also how long has this tank being running and when do you plant the plants? 

Please only post one thread and not duplicates. It makes it hard for people to help you when you have multiple posts scattered everywhere.


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## Mrnbo (Dec 18, 2013)

Texan78 said:


> Another duplicate post to this one...
> 
> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=519633
> 
> ...


Sorry about the double posts. I'm using an iphone and a bit new to this forum thing. But I did feel that they were different questions that's why I posted them in different sections.


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## Texan78 (Nov 17, 2013)

You definitely need to shorten your photo period as that is too long. Especially since you're not using CO2. That is where your algae problem is coming from is the long photo period. 

Also how long have these plants been in? It is common to get some melting the first couple of weeks when you plant them then they will bounce back assuming these are newly planted. 

Cut your lighting back to 6-8 hrs and do 25-50% water changes at least once a week.


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## Mrnbo (Dec 18, 2013)

I bought the entire already planted tank about a month ago. While moving it downstairs all the substrate slid down and got all mixed up. So I had to do a complete rescape. They have been planted since then, so about 4 weeks. We left the some tank water on the bottom and in the filter so it should be fully cycled by now.


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## Texan78 (Nov 17, 2013)

Even just the move and replanting them can cause them to have to re-aclimate from the time they have been out of the water and being in different water parameters than what they are in now can cause melting. It could be just normal melting from replanting to a nutrients deficiency or a combination of both. What kind of deficiency, that is out of my expertise so someone else may be able to give you more information about that. 

One thing for sure, cut back on your photo cycle as it is way to much.


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## Mrnbo (Dec 18, 2013)

I'm going to get a timer and set it for 8 hours. I'm sick of trying to remember to turn it off lol. 

I still think that the light is burning my plants because it's only the tops of the plants directly under the lights that turned brownish black. I really wanted to get more information about the light, but I guess that might not happen. Should I just buy new lights (and spend more money :icon_roll lol) or try to make these work? Maybe I could hang them a little higher away from the plants. Hopefully there would still be enough PAR at that height to grow plants.


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## Texan78 (Nov 17, 2013)

Mrnbo said:


> I'm going to get a timer and set it for 8 hours. I'm sick of trying to remember to turn it off lol.
> 
> I still think that the light is burning my plants because it's only the tops of the plants directly under the lights that turned brownish black. I really wanted to get more information about the light, but I guess that might not happen. Should I just buy new lights (and spend more money :icon_roll lol) or try to make these work? Maybe I could hang them a little higher away from the plants. Hopefully there would still be enough PAR at that height to grow plants.


IMO I would start by shortening your light cycle first and see how that works for a few weeks and see if there is any improvement. The thing about this hobby is patience. If that doesn't work then try to hang them a little bit higher. It is kind of hard to tell without seeing the actual fixture itself. If you could post a picture of the fixture then that might be able to help others. Is there no part number or anything on the fixture anywhere that you could good to try to find out what kind of fixture it is? It is really hard to say if it is to much light, lack of macro nutrients combination of both. I mean if this fixture came with the tank and the previous owner was growing plants in it you might want to ask him if he ever had this problem. It is possible it is to much light but shortening the photo period should help some.


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## Mrnbo (Dec 18, 2013)

Yea if the previous owner isn't lying, then he grew some nice, lush, green plants. I saw the pictures. There's no part or serial number anywhere except for the sticker in my first post. I'd have to assume that it's a cheap e-bay floodlight sold from China. Here is a full picture.








Here's a pic of the back








Having trouble trying to do this on mobile. It wouldn't let me post two pictures in my last post. I think I should just download the app lol.


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## Texan78 (Nov 17, 2013)

I just saw a post recently in the lighting section that was talking about these exact same lights I thought but I can't find it now. 

I think if I remember correctly they had to be hung so you might want to try that. Hang them then shorten your photo period and go from there.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

The pinholes are a deficiency, maybe potassium. The top growth looks like natural color change along with crumpled new growth, which is caused by a few things. It could just be acclimation as Texan stated, I personally just watched newly arrived rotala stems do this in my tank, and for a day or so the new growth was crumpling into a slimmer form, and changing color according to the new nutrient and light source. This all comes from what I can see in the photo but obviously can't see them in person so take it with a grain of salt.

Another reason for crumpling is calcium deficiency, if you're low on GH and not adding a booster, you may very well be deficient in Ca Mg and K.


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## Stone454 (Jun 1, 2013)

the kelvin/coloremp of the lights is 14000k which is not ideal for plants, and yeah lights on way too long


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## Mrnbo (Dec 18, 2013)

jaidexl said:


> The pinholes are a deficiency, maybe potassium. The top growth looks like natural color change along with crumpled new growth, which is caused by a few things. It could just be acclimation as Texan stated, I personally just watched newly arrived rotala stems do this in my tank, and for a day or so the new growth was crumpling into a slimmer form, and changing color according to the new nutrient and light source. This all comes from what I can see in the photo but obviously can't see them in person so take it with a grain of salt.
> 
> Another reason for crumpling is calcium deficiency, if you're low on GH and not adding a booster, you may very well be deficient in Ca Mg and K.


Well I don't have the slightest clue so your guess is better than mine lol.

At the moment I have the lights resting on the glass top. Would the glass top interfere with the light penetrating the tank if they are hung above it?


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Are you sure you even have a problem? I think you might simply just need to do some research into ferts and start adding a little more. Could it be you have some snails?


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

There's no way snails are causing those pinholes, if that's what you're getting at. More likely, the plants are robbing their lower portions of nutrients to make up for a deficiency. Study the formation of your decay and read up on identifying deficiencies. Also, when acclimating the stem plant /environment don't "want" the lower portion anymore and it will waste away to release the healthy portion, and often send new shoots from the base if the root base is healthy and receiving light.


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## Mrnbo (Dec 18, 2013)

jaidexl said:


> There's no way snails are causing those pinholes, if that's what you're getting at. More likely, the plants are robbing their lower portions of nutrients to make up for a deficiency. Study the formation of your decay and read up on identifying deficiencies. Also, when acclimating the stem plant /environment don't "want" the lower portion anymore and it will waste away to release the healthy portion, and often send new shoots from the base if the root base is healthy and receiving light.


I have more 300 snails in there. Lol there are to many to count, no exaggeration. 

The tops of the plants have had this discoloration pretty much from the start, but it has slowly gotten slightly worse. It looked brownish to me but I guess it could also pass for purplish. The bottom portions of all the plants are lush and green. I am going to try hanging the lights.


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## Texan78 (Nov 17, 2013)

Patience is your greatest friend in this hobby and is greatly needed so get to know it well. Sudden and knee jerk reactions can sometimes cause more problems than good. 

Hanging your lights certainly won't hurt but like already suggested you need to cut back your photo period for starters. 

What is the plant that this is happening to or is it all of them? Is it possible this species of plant has purple or red tops that you might not be aware of?


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## Mrnbo (Dec 18, 2013)

Texan78 said:


> Patience is your greatest friend in this hobby and is greatly needed so get to know it well. Sudden and knee jerk reactions can sometimes cause more problems than good.
> 
> Hanging your lights certainly won't hurt but like already suggested you need to cut back your photo period for starters.
> 
> What is the plant that this is happening to or is it all of them? Is it possible this species of plant has purple or red tops that you might not be aware of?


Oh yea, I cut way back. It's only going to be on 6-8 hours like suggested. It looks like it's pretty much all of the plants that have the color at the top, to some effect. It's entirely possible that it's supposed to be purplish because I don't know what plants I have. Lol they came with the tank.

Kind of a crappy pic, but it's got the whole scape.


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