[AdamP.]

I got my plants a couple weeks ago through the mail. They did not ship well through the heatwave the USA is having right now. I used 2nd day shipping but i guess it wasnt fast enough.

I got Green Cabomba, Jungle Vals, Bacopa Australis, Dwarf Sag, Pennywort, Giant Hygro, Rotala Indica, and Java Fern.

About half the plants were lost due to heat, they were all brown and mushy, but I planted everything that seemed salvageable.

Over the past two weeks here is what happened:

Cabomba melted a little, but is now growing in height, but its color looks bad, very brown and not much green at all, but it has grown about 6 inches.

Jungle Vals are doing very well, they have all sprouted new leaves and are starting to fill in the back corners of the tank.

Bacopa Australis seemed like it was growing at first but now is melting..

Dwarf Sag also was starting to grow but seems to have stopped.

Pennywort is growing like a weed.

Giant Hygro was grown emersed, so now is dropping all its old leaves, some new leaves are growing in.

Rotala indica completely melted, did not survive shipping even after planting it.

Java Fern is not growing but not melting either. No change since planting on driftwood.

Here are my tank parameters:

75 gallon tank
100% Flourite Dark
2x 55W 5500K AH supply PC retrofit, light is 20 inches from substrate.
2x 2213 Eheims, with GLA inline atomic diffuser on one output.
Temp 80F
EI dosing using GLA dry ferts
No algae so far.
KH 3.0, GH 4.0, pH 6.4,

According to CO2 chart I should have 35ppm CO2, but my drop checker is a dark green, not the lime green it should be and I am using 4dKH solution in the drop checker. I can assume my drop checker is more correct, since my tap water has hydroxide to increase pH which messes up the CO2 chart for me.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome. Do you think I have enough light, etc? thanks!

 

[madness]

While there may be actual problems (or there may not be) it seems like you are still well within the acclimation period of plants that have changed tanks and this transition period is increased for plants switching from emersed to submersed growth and for plants that have been stressed or damaged.

In my limited experience Java Ferns, as one example, can take forever to start to show new, healthy looking growth upon changing tanks.

I don't have personal experience with the other plants on your list but it sure seems like you just have to be patient at this point because until they acclimate you are going to have trouble getting 'good' data to use in troubleshooting.

 

[Kathyy]

The Cabomba might have diatoms turning it brown. Sort of odd it growing 6" but with brown leaves any other way.

Sounds like things are going okay. Bacopa is my new 'plastic' plant as it just grows and doesn't lose leaves or stunt for me but you might have a different species. Too bad about the Rotala. I almost revived a plant that arrived in heinous shape but the rotten stems couldn't hold the tiny new shoots and I lost them. With aquatics you can just float the nastiest looking stuff and there may be live stuff at the nodes. Keep the dead stuff picked out and don't disturb the plantings and things will continue to look up.

 

[AdamP.]

Here is a pic I just took.

 

[DarkCobra]

Some types of cabomba can also acquire a particular reddish tint in high-tech conditions; which in combination with the green, makes it look brown.

 

[discuspaul]

Madness & others have given you some sage advice, Adam. Hang in there & keep the faith.
Your tank looks quite good, and with a little patience over the next few weeks as the plants settle in & acclimate, I believe you'll begin to see some positive changes & results.
All the best.

 

[Hoppy]

What kind of CO2 system do you have? The CO2 vs pH & KH chart isn't useful for determining how much CO2 is in an aquarium. Your drop checker should be a light green color if you have something close to enough CO2 in the water to make a difference.

The plants you left in the little mineral wool filled pots need to be removed from the pots, the mineral wool tossed away, and the plants set out individually. If any of the other plants are planted in a bunch, those should be replanted as individual plants too.

 

[AdamP.]

I am using the Milwaukee pH controller and regulator on a 10lb cylinder. The CO2 is being injected into the canister outflow hose using GLA atomic inline diffuser. I am at 2 bubbles a second now and it still isnt enough, my drop checker is a dark green, not a light green. I think this diffuser wastes a lot of CO2, lots of bubbles go to the surface.

 

[drtechno]

none of those plants do well with co2. remove co2 injection plz. put an -airstone overnight. let the plant adjust the ph back to 6.8-7.5 as these plants naturally are in water 7.2-7.6.
it takes two to four weeks for the plants to get out of planting shock.

co2 is a waste of time for these low maintence plants.
lighting is more important.

remember, co2 helps grows and is only absorbed during daytime and o2 helps repair celluose and root damage and this done during night time.

if someone injects co2 consistantly, your asking for burned up plants ( ph burn)

Bacopa Australis do best at 7.4 ph

the penny wort has mutated because of the rapid groth cycle due to co2.


And a lot of your plants will have a shorter lifespan because of the un natual co2 injection causing unnatual groth. Granted they will look pretty for a while, but then they will die off and you have to replant.

you really need to research your plants not all plants can live in the same water chemistry and there are some plants that give off aloe chemicals that can kill off other plants.

 

[demonr6]

none of those plants do well with co2. remove co2 injection plz. put an -airstone overnight. let the plant adjust the ph back to 6.8-7.5 as these plants naturally are in water 7.2-7.6.
it takes two to four weeks for the plants to get out of planting shock.

co2 is a waste of time for these low maintence plants.
lighting is more important.

remember, co2 helps grows and is only absorbed during daytime and o2 helps repair celluose and root damage and this done during night time.

if someone injects co2 consistantly, your asking for burned up plants ( ph burn)

Bacopa Australis do best at 7.4 ph

the penny wort has mutated because of the rapid groth cycle due to co2.


And a lot of your plants will have a shorter lifespan because of the un natual co2 injection causing unnatual groth. Granted they will look pretty for a while, but then they will die off and you have to replant.

you really need to research your plants not all plants can live in the same water chemistry and there are some plants that give off aloe chemicals that can kill off other plants.

Good stuff there!

 

[DarkCobra]

if someone injects co2 consistantly, your asking for burned up plants ( ph burn)

...and there are some plants that give off aloe chemicals...

No problem then, aloe is good for burns.

Still, there is the problem of the mutated pennywort rampaging around the tank. :hihi:

 

[roadmaster]

 

[Steve001]

none of those plants do well with co2. remove co2 injection plz. put an -airstone overnight. let the plant adjust the ph back to 6.8-7.5 as these plants naturally are in water 7.2-7.6.
it takes two to four weeks for the plants to get out of planting shock.

co2 is a waste of time for these low maintence plants. lighting is more important.

Plants need carbon. CO2 is the easyiest way for them. If there's not an adequte supply they then switch to bicarbonates which requires more energy output by the plant to utliize the carbon for less energy input. In the long run plants will become exhausted, like a marathon runner not in taking enough calories.

remember, co2 helps grows and is only absorbed during daytime and o2 helps repair celluose and root damage and this done during night time.

In nature co2 isn't shut off at night. Bacteria and other sources of co2 are constantly delivered to the water column.

if someone injects co2 consistantly, your asking for burned up plants ( ph burn)

I've been running co2 constantly for over 20 years. Some plants in the tank are still alive. Some are not so old, but still over a decade. Not once have any experienced ph burn.

And a lot of your plants will have a shorter lifespan because of the un natual co2 injection causing unnatual groth. Granted they will look pretty for a while, but then they will die off and you have to replant.

Like I said some of my plants are as old as my tank and still going as strong as when they were new. Perhaps this might be true at very high levels creating a strong solution of carbonic acid producing a ph of <5. But with a ph of 6.8- 6.5 that will not be an issue

you really need to research your plants not all plants can live in the same water chemistry and there are some plants that give off aloe chemicals that can kill off other plants.

You mean allellopathic.

 

[DarkCobra]

Not to mention:

let the plant adjust the ph back to 6.8-7.5 as these plants naturally are in water 7.2-7.6.

There are many factors affecting pH. Hardness is one of them. That's what particular plant species have preferences for, not pH.

if someone injects co2 consistantly, your asking for burned up plants ( ph burn)

The low pH in CO2 injected tanks does not burn plants.

Consider cell culturing, where plants are cloned from just one cell, or a small cluster of cells. Cell culturing is typically performed at a pH of 5.7-5.8, far lower than the majority of CO2 injected tanks.

This does not burn the plant cells, despite them being at their most vulnerable. In fact, it is the most friendly environment for them. Why? Because that's the typical internal pH of a plant cell. If the outside and inside environment is the same pH, they don't have to waste energy regulating their internal pH.

the penny wort has mutated because of the rapid groth cycle due to co2.

Many plants grow differently according to their environment. This is not a mutation.

you really need to research your plants not all plants can live in the same water chemistry and there are some plants that give off aloe chemicals that can kill off other plants.

Even Diana Walstad says that allellopathy is most likely a minor factor in the average tank. Furthermore, she says that in a high-tech setup like what the OP describes, the large weekly water changes further reduce the possibility of significant plant vs. plant allellopathy.

There were just so many things wrong with that post I couldn't manage a serious answer until someone else addressed some of them. :hihi:

 

[JasonG75]

my drop checker is a dark green, not a light green. I think this diffuser wastes a lot of CO2, lots of bubbles go to the surface.

Out of Curiosity are you using 4Dkh solution or Tank Water?

 

[AdamP.]

I got my drop checker to turn lime green finally after injecting more CO2. My pH controller reads 6.0 when the drop checker is lime green. I thought about boosting my KH with some more baking soda so i could inject the same amount of CO2 and end up with a higher pH, but my rummynose tetras colored up so nicely and my rams are super happy, so I decided to leave it at 6.0 for now.

My tank is actually doing ok. The Vals are sprouting a lot of new leaves, and there appears to be some runners starting to extend. the Cabomba is growing very tall, but its leggy, i dont like the color of this Cabomba and will probably pull it eventually. I wanted Cabomba Green, but i got Cabomba red/brown or something. Pennywort sprouts a new leaf every day. Bacopa Australis is starting to look better, had some more stems melt, but the ones that remain are starting to grow. Still no change in the dwarf Sag or java fern..

I have some dark green algae beginning to grow on one of the driftwoods, but its the nice kind that isnt all fuzzy or stringy. I actually like some green algae in my aquarium I think it looks cool and natural and is also good for my otos.

 

[JasonG75]

Out of Curiosity are you using 4Dkh solution or Tank Water?

BACK to my original Question ?

 

[DarkCobra]

Out of Curiosity are you using 4Dkh solution or Tank Water?

He's using 4dKH, last paragraph of the first post.

I got my drop checker to turn lime green finally after injecting more CO2. My pH controller reads 6.0 when the drop checker is lime green. I thought about boosting my KH with some more baking soda so i could inject the same amount of CO2 and end up with a higher pH, but my rummynose tetras colored up so nicely and my rams are super happy, so I decided to leave it at 6.0 for now.

Biofilter bacteria are technically supposed to start dying under 6.5pH. Yet some people run below this without issue. Could be because fast growing plants simply take over the role of the biofilter, or the bacteria eventually adapt; I don't know for sure. But if you continue running this low, I'd recommend doing an ammonia test or two just to make sure you're ok. A bacterial die-off will produce an ammonia spike.

Everything else sounds pretty good. I have the same issue with cabomba. All the Cabomba Caroliniana I find for sale locally, and used to be really green a few years ago, now appears to actually be the reddish Cabomba Furcata or something like it.

 

[AdamP.]

Yes I am using 4dKH solution. Thanks for the info about the bio-filter. I will have to check my Ammonia, but my fishes seem happy.

 

[tetra73]

Plants need carbon. CO2 is the easyiest way for them. If there's not an adequte supply they then switch to bicarbonates which requires more energy output by the plant to utliize the carbon for less energy input. In the long run plants will become exhausted, like a marathon runner not in taking enough calories.


In nature co2 isn't shut off at night. Bacteria and other sources of co2 are constantly delivered to the water column.


I've been running co2 constantly for over 20 years. Some plants in the tank are still alive. Some are not so old, but still over a decade. Not once have any experienced ph burn.




Like I said some of my plants are as old as my tank and still going as strong as when they were new. Perhaps this might be true at very high levels creating a strong solution of carbonic acid producing a ph of <5. But with a ph of 6.8- 6.5 that will not be an issue


You mean allellopathic.

Man, I was about to dump my 2 days-old CO2 system.