[Baidatank]

I wasn’t sure if I should post here or in lighting…but alas, here I am, because ultimately I want to keep the aquarium pretty low tech (read: low cost). Also, I am not 100% sure my issue is lighting related!

A little backstory: tank purchased as a Christmas gift for children.
Basics of the tank:
37 gallon tank, purchased the TopFin essentials starter kit found here (Top Fin® Essentials Aquarium Starter Kit | fish Starter Kits | PetSmart) which comes with a basic “bright white led light”.

15 fish:
2 leopard danio- long fin (about an inch)
1 zebra danio - long fin (about an inch) we lost the other one due to ich
3 mollies -silver lyretail (about 2 inches), 1 Dalmatian (about 2 inches), 1 black (under 1 inch)
2 cosmic blue danio (about 1 inch)
3 lyretail delta guppy (under 1 inch)
2 gold twinbar platy (about 1 inch)
2 blue wag platy (each a little over 1 inch)

we have live plants …about 8 individual plants….4 varieties: narrow leaf fern, Amazon sword, Anubias congensis, windelov Java fern, planted in CaribSea Eco complete.

About2 weeks in, we had an ich situation. So in an attempt to treat that, in addition to medication (2 rounds of super ich cure, and Fritz Coppersafe) I raised the temp of the tank to 82F. That was a whole thing…but I don’t think impactful for my current plant issue.
I usually dose with 1 mL Seachem flourish about 1x per week.

Based on my stocking levels, and my daily testing (ammonia/ nitrite/ nitrate - all zero), I believe the tank to be cycled and nitrogen balanced (aka, the plants are using what the fish/ bacteria are creating), but I never saw an extreme ammonia spike (we did fish in cycling for the sake of a magical Christmas surprise-yikes. While it was the right choice for us given the circumstance, avoid if possible).

ANYWAY…..on the the issue at hand: I noticed that some of my leaves are starting to turn translucent. To me this is due to one of 3 things:

1. the high temp of the water (slowly returned to 75*F- confirmed today.
2. Some sort of nutrient deficiency
3. Lighting issue

Thoughts? Are they just still getting used to life in the net tank? Is it because I hear it so warm(78-82) for so long (~3 weeks)? Is it because of some nutrient deficiency? Do I need to invest in a better light?

I want the tank to be as self sufficient as possible. We all enjoy it, and want what’s best for the fish and the overall tank ecosystem….but we don’t have a ton of time to dedicate and don’t want it to become a money suck, either.
Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts, experience, and expertise!!

 

[itsdirk]

1 month on a low tech tank? You do nothing. The plants are still acclimating.

 

[Baidatank]

Awesome. Thank you!!!

 

[itsdirk]

Remove leaves that are dead. They wont come back.

 

[Baidatank]

Will do

 

[Baidatank]

Are pale/ translucent leaves considered dead?

 

[Baidatank]

Remove leaves that are dead. They wont come back.

Are pale/ translucent leaves considered dead? Should I remove them before they start to rot and throw that tank into a tailspin? (Dramatic? Yes! Hahah)

 

[itsdirk]

Yeah, go ahead and snip off the translucent ones they won’t turn green again. They’ll just rot away.

 

[LidijaPN]

Yep yep, the fading ones just cut them away. As long as any new growth is happening it should be good.... Plants in my experience definitely don't love hot water but most of the species you have I believe are fairly sturdy and will recover....

Also it's totally normal for plants to melt (have leaves go translucent and fall off) when they change environments, especially if the grower grew them emersed (i.e. out of water) and now they need to transition to their water form in your tank.... usually when plants are going from land form to water form they discard some (and in some cases all) of their old leaves and just start again. So you can have something literally disappear from your tank, but if the roots are still in the substrate and you just leave them there you can see new leaves peeking out after a while and the plant comes back in its new submersed form. It's pretty cool.

Now I'm definitely no expert but from what I've seen so far your plants are all relatively undemanding and should do fine in low to medium light. I have a pretty crappy light and my amazon swords are not complaining. And my water sprite is going mental taking over everything, it takes her like a week to reach the water surface after I cut her down to half. Over time you will see which plants are thriving for you and which are struggling, and then you can decide to ditch the struggling ones and pick up some new ones to try... Water sprite for me so far has been bullet proof, also nymphoides hydrophylla has been growing wildly for me. But you should look at that a few months down the line.

 

[Baidatank]

Amazing! Thank you so much for your reply!! I am grateful I don’t need to make any major changes just yet! The tank is so fun to watch and is a hot topic of conversation in the house!!! I will remove the leaves and keep an eye on the plants!