Not enough light or nitrogen deficiency?

[Navyblue]

The tank is newly set up for a few weeks.

After a week or so I think I noticed new growth, at the same time the leaves at the bottom are melting. But now even the stems are turning brown and melting. There are no more new growth and I think they are all wasting away.

Tank is 12" tall 22G lit by 24W worth of LED. No CO2 and no fish at the moment.

I dosed Seachem Flourish once before I added the plants. A week or two ago I also dosed the followings:

Seachem Flourish K - once, full dose.
Seachem Flourish N - once, half dose.
Seachem Flourish P - once, half dose.

I also tried 1/4 dose Excel twice a week ago. Thinking of ramping it up to normal dose gradually but did not follow through.

[HD Blazingwolf]

24 watt's of leds is pretty bright.. more of a total nutrient deficiency. especially carbon
carbon makes up about 44% (i think) of plant mass. its very important
whether or not hat percentage is correct. plants cannot use the other nutrients if they are carbon limited.. its the building block for almost every other enzyme, tissue, or energy source

[Navyblue]

Thanks.

Btw, the anacharis (I think) in the tank has almost totally melted, and the water sprite is also showing brown and starting to melt.

The rest of the plants are anubias nana, java ferns, jungle val, blyxa dwarf sag and bacopa. They are not doing too well but that's the way there were.

So you are saying, I should either up the carbon or dial down the light? Btw I intend it to be a low light low tech tank.

[HD Blazingwolf]

if its truly 24 watt of led's dial it down.. the picture looks dark so its hard to tell

i have maybe 1-3 watts of leds over my 10 gallon

anacharis WILL NOT TOLERATE excel
its a macro algae

[Navyblue]

The LEDs are 8x3W LEDs, however I have no idea if each of the LED is indeed running at full 3W, probably not though.

The plants in the picture are sort of under direct light. Whereas the water sprite that is beginning to turn brown are quite shaded.

I am new with plants, so please bear with me. So when plants are blasted with too much light, and carbon supply can't keep up, plants would start melting? Especially from the bottom?

[HD Blazingwolf]

YES,
plants will "eat" old leaves in an attempt to continue growth and sustain life
or it can be looked at like this.
plants can willingly lose leaves if those leaves have become a liabiliy to support life.

excel is not my first cabon source.. some plants dont like it at all
you will find many taks on here though that are quite beautiful just using excel for a carbon supplement

IT would not hurt to ask all the LED guru's how they feel about 3w led's on a low tech tank.
im more of a t5 high output light kinda guy

[Navyblue]

Thanks.

I pulled out the water sprite mentioned. I cut away the stems that turned brown. Some of the roots are brown too. What does it mean?