[vanceibz]

Hello everyone,

I have a new setup, around 3 weeks old, the plants are not doing very good, they are slowly turning brown... I have a CO2 setup with a digital Ph controller. Can anybody help? Would it be helpful to post photos, how is this done? Thanks in advance

The plants:
Eleocharis acicularis
Hemianthus callitrichoides "cuba"
Microsorum pteropus

Hardscape and substrate:
ADA Aqua Soil - Amazonia, 9 l
ADA Mekong Sand Powder, 2 kg
ADA Aqua Soil - Amazonia, 3 l
7kg Seiryu stone

My water tests:
Ph = 6.5
Gh = 6
Kh = 3
No2 = 0,05 mg
No3 = 7mg
Temperature = 27º
lighting set to 12 hours.

Other:
Eheim Professionel Termo 2322
WEIPRO PH-2010A PH Controller
Aquarium 78 LED Top Light 7W, Luminous: ~4000 lux

 

[vanceibz]

here are some photos

 

[foster]

What lighting are you using? Are you using ferts?
Its common for plants to go through an adjustment period to their new surroundings. Are you seeing any new growth at all.
What PH are you running at? The HC needs strong light!!

 

[vanceibz]

hi foster,

I am using a beamswork 78 LED (72 white and 6 blue) 400w and fertilizer i am using Ferropol.

My tank size is 80x50x30 with 120 liters

My water tests:
Ph = 6.5
Gh = 6
Kh = 3
No2 = 0,05 mg
No3 = 7mg
Temperature = 27º
lighting set to 12 hours.

I havent yet done a water change, it has been three weeks..

 

[foster]

Not familiar with the fert your using. If its a complete fert with all necessary micros it should be good. Try dosing extra PO4 and K2So4. I find the little extra nutrients give the plants a boost.
A 50% water change, and redoes of ferts could be what the plants need to get started.
Are you seeing any new growth on any of the plants? Sometimes when plants are moved to a new environment they wither a bit, until they acclimate to their new conditions. You could trim the dying matter from the plants, so no energy is wasted on it.
Do the water change, and redoes the ferts according to the amount of water changed, and see what happens.
If your not using plant substrate, you could enrich the substrate area around the plants.

 

[Hoppy]

The little plastic pots that some plants are sold in are not good to leave in the tank, hoping the plants will grow more. For one thing, if you are relying on ADA Aquasoil for plant nutrients, the potted plants will get only a small part of those nutrients. You should remove those plants from the pots and plant them in the substrate directly, discarding the mineral wool or whatever else is used as a planting medium in the pots.

 

[Zapins]

There are three likely possibilities here. The first is the plants may be dying back from being stored too long before being in the tank, there may not be enough light for the HC, and finally there might be ammonia leaching out from the aquasoil which is damaging the plants.

Can you do an ammonia test on the water? Can you plant some of the HC in a pot of aquasoil and put it closer to the light?

 

[Sinhalaya]

I'm no expert, but I'm having similar problems. The conclusion I've arrived at with the help of some members is that my water is softned. Softned water is not good for plants. What type of water are you using?

 

[Zapins]

Sinhalaya - salt in the water from a softening system can easily cause similar problems. Can you post photos of your plants? Before and after? It would be interesting to see the damage.

 

[Sinhalaya]

There are photos in another thread I created a while back, looks a little similar to the ones posted here. Don't have after pictures yet as I have just recently discovered the issue.