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April 16th, 2018 FTS

November 8th, 2016 FTS

February 3rd, 2016 FTS

Last photo before December accident/January 2016 rescape:

ORIGINAL POST

This is my first foray into a planted tank. I run several other non-planted tanks but really love the look of the live plants. I really do not like how fake plants react when fish rub against them. Last week I ordered a starter pack of plants from a forum member. Great decision as far as getting started. I am terrible at aquascaping. Really, I just wanted to see how each species of plant reacted in this tank before getting too picky with the plant locations.


As of FIRST PLANTING - June 19th, 2014...

Fish
1 Convict
2 Bolivian Rams
5 Bleeding Heart Tetras
1 Glo Tetra
12 Mollies - Black, Dalmation, Creamsicle
5 Cory Cats, Albino

Plants
Water Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis)
Red Ludwigia
Corkscrew Valisneria
Unknown Sword
Sunset Hygro
Scarlet Hygro
Anubias (Larger, unknown strain)
Anubias Nana
Anubias Nana Petite
Alt Reneicki (Mini)
Ludwigia Repens
Micro Sword
Lobelia Cardinalis
Bacopa Caroliniana

Light
Current Satellite Plus 48"
9am to 5pm
19 to 21 inches above the substrate

Substrate
Safe-T-Sorb

Fertlizers
Flourish Comprehensive once a week
Root Tabs under the Swords

 

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As of June 26th, 2014

First, a note about the fish. Since I have a few tanks, sometimes fish get moved around. This isn't my ideal set of fish for this tank, but sometimes you have to work with what you've got! I never intended on keeping the mollies, they were a rescue, but they have grown on me. They let me pet them and eat algae off the background and decorations.

Now, on to plants.

I have lost almost all the Scarlet Hygro and Alt Reineckii. There are a few stems with melting leaves left, but I am wondering if I should just remove them. I don't see any roots growing.

I thought the Ludwigia Repens was in the same position, but I am seeing some roots growing from the remaining stems with leaves. The leaves look pretty rough though.

The Anubias Nana and Petitie have almost completely melted away. I don't know what went wrong here. I thought this was supposed to be one of the easier plants to grow.

Corkscrew Valisneria completely melted within days.

I am unsure of the species of this plant. It was marked as "Anubias Graz" Some of the leaves look good, others are yellowing/browining.

There are two other similar plants in similar condition.

The Lobelia Cardinalis seems pretty happy and roots are growing on almost all stems. Bacopa Caroliniana looks pretty decent, too, though it was much brighter when I first planted it.

Water Wisteria looks OK. Most of the lower leaves have come off or look weak, but the upper leaves are bright green. Roots are growing.

Sunset Hygro is in similar condition.

Micro sword is kind of hard to tell. They look like they are browning to me, but since they had so many roots to begin with I can't tell if those are growing.


SO.... What can I do to liven these guys up? I'm new to this, and I haven't really seen a guide to determining the causes for the different issues I am having. Am I short on light? Fertilizers? Why the heck did my Anubias melt away so dang fast?

 

[BuddhaBoy]

Have you tried dosing with excel? My Anubis is flourishing with excel. I also use flourish and potassium.

 

[jmsaltfish797]

the plants are going through shock from shipping and replanting. just give it a little time. i didnt see any mention of co2 in your equipment. if your not running co2, go pick up some excel and start dosing it. should help everything snap back to health.

 

[vanish]

Thanks folks. I was shying away from C02/Excel as I would prefer this to be a low tech/low maintenance setup, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of a jump start.

 

[AutumnSky]

What light bulb/lights are you using and how long are they on?

 

[vanish]

What light bulb/lights are you using and how long are they on?

Light
Current Satellite Plus 48"
9am to 5pm
19 to 21 inches above the substrate

In original

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In other news, I watched the convict kill a molly recently. I'm really surprised since they've been together for a couple of months. Then I found another one dead this morning, obviously killed the same way.

I've already arranged for him to be adopted tonight...


The Anubias Nana has lost all of its leaves. Should I pull it out, or could it just be readjusting and new leaves might sprout? I can't quite tell if roots are growing.

I kind of struggle with this in lots of places. When a plant isn't looking good, what do I remove completely VS what should be trimmed VS what should be left alone? I'm sure it varies by species.

 

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While watching the tank at lunch time today, I noticed some bright green new micro sword leaves! Hooray!

Tiny, blurry photo, sorry, no macro lense!

 

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Sad day. The Convict was picked up. I really liked him but I like the Bolivian Rams more.

Did a large water change including cleaning under the stump where the rams had recently started to hide. Only found one under there.

 

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Oh my gosh. I don't know where he was, but suddenly he's swimming in front of me!

Yay!

 

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Two Weeks

Inhabitants

[STRIKE]1 Convict[/STRIKE]
2 Bolivian Rams
5 Bleeding Heart Tetras, 1 Glo Tetra
[STRIKE]12[/STRIKE] 9 Mollies - 3 Black, 2 Dalmation, 4 Creamsicle
5 Cory Cats, Albino
2 Gold Apple Snails (they are good guys, leave the plants alone, forgot them in the OP)

Everyone seems to be enjoying Big Head Todd's departure. He went to a 4000 Gallon pond at the local Aquaponics place. The rams are once again out and about. He took out three black mollies before he went. I don't know what pissed him off all of a sudden.

PLANTS
My Glut has not arrived yet.

Micro swords got a bit torn up while trying to capture BHTodd. We'll see if they come back.

I thought I had lost all the Alt Reneicki mini. It appears two of them have started acclimating.

Similarly, ONE stem of Scarlet Hygro seems to have sprouted new leaves. There is one other stem still in the tank.

I thought I had lost all the Corkscrew Val. Turns out there is one little one trying to survive the transplant (left). On the right is an adorable fresh growth Sunset Hygro. The zoom really throws off the scale.

Almost all the Lobella Cardinalis have a new leaf or two.

Most of the Wisteria has grown fat new leaves on top. If you compare it with last weeks photo, you can see the Wisteria is two-three inches taller already.

Most of the Sunset Hygro has pretty new pink leaves on top.

There is also ONE stem left of Ludwigia Repens. It is hiding between the stump and the back wall and I had originally missed it when doing last week's survey. It has brand new leaves, too!

The sword in the stump seems like it is adjusting. New roots started after I trimmed off the rotting leaves. The Anubias Nana is gone. There are a couple of pieces of the petite that look like they are trying to hang on.

Questions

1.) I've been told I should have more than 5 Bleeding Heart Tetras. These 5 have been together for a year or so. They are currently cheap, so I could pick up a few more. Is it a bad idea to add new, smaller ones? Is 5 enough? They do nip at each other, but I haven't seen them pick on the rams.

2.) Are there any shrimp that would thrive in this tank? Shrimp as so cool.

 

[burr740]

LOl "Big Head Todd." Great looking tank, I really like the background.

Keep nurturing that Ludwigia. If it ever takes off you'll have quite a showy plant. Mine got totally out of control, even before heavy ferts/co2. (although I was dosing Excel)

 

[PhysicsDude55]

Good looking tank! I really love the rock 3d background.

If your 5 tetras don't seem too aggressive I wouldn't worry about adding more. I've had mixed success adding small fish to nippy schools.

I would get some Amano shrimp. They get pretty big (2" or so), and are pretty good at evading hungry fish. You might have to separate them for a few months to let them grow. When they're juvies, they're probably small enough that some of your fish might eat them.

 

[AutumnSky]

On the light, that is supposed to be a good one. If you get any more fish, consider quarantine.

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

I would double the amount of Flourish Comprehensive you're dosing to the tank, or you can go with dosing the tank twice a week just to give the plants more available nutrients. Whether you're going with a low tech setup, or a high tech one the plants still need some sort of source for co2, so using some excel wouldn't hurt but make sure not to over do it with excel or you can start losing fish.

What kind of root tabs are using for the swords? The lighting fixture is fine for a planted tank, but your plants are deteriorating not because of "initial stages" but because of a lack of available nutrients in the water. Especially if they're deteriorating within a week, for the anubias plants I would suggest attaching them to something away from the substrate such as a piece of driftwood. Make sure to never bury any part of the rhizome part on the anubias plants, this is why you see most people attaching anubias to driftwood.

 

[vanish]

I hope my glut gets here soon. Tracking says between tomorrow and next Tuesday. It seems like things are growing, but even the wisteria and sunset hygro have lost or are losing most of their original leaves. They do have new leaves but things are looking a bit thin.

In better news, I found this plant I had tossed in my outdoor tank and had forgotten about. I can't ID it, and now I feel like I might have one of my other IDs wrong? You can also see some of the deterioration on the sunset hygro behind it.

 

[redfirebird87]

Tank looks nice Vanish. I hope the plants liven up soon.

Everyone can find Sunset but me! I want some!

 

[ced281]

I hope my glut gets here soon. Tracking says between tomorrow and next Tuesday. It seems like things are growing, but even the wisteria and sunset hygro have lost or are losing most of their original leaves. They do have new leaves but things are looking a bit thin.

In better news, I found this plant I had tossed in my outdoor tank and had forgotten about. I can't ID it, and now I feel like I might have one of my other IDs wrong? You can also see some of the deterioration on the sunset hygro behind it.

Can't say for certain, but it looks a lot like a rotala species that's been grown in low light. Maybe its rotala rotundifolia?

 

[ced281]

Also, if you still have the anubias nana, it is still salvageable. My guess is that the nana was grown emersed and so it melted all of its leaves once grown submersed. As long as you keep the rhizome, new leaves adapted to your tank will grow from it. You just need to make sure it gets a decent amount of light to trigger the spawning of new leaves.

Nana is a heavy root feeder from my experience, so it will not grow vigorously until it has secured a nutrient source via its roots. Putting some osmocote plus into the soil right underneath its roots or putting a pond plant spike (fertilizer spike) or a root tab will give it a direct nutrient source that will make it grow at insane speeds.

 

[vanish]

Also, if you still have the anubias nana, it is still salvageable. My guess is that the nana was grown emersed and so it melted all of its leaves once grown submersed. As long as you keep the rhizome, new leaves adapted to your tank will grow from it. You just need to make sure it gets a decent amount of light to trigger the spawning of new leaves.

Nana is a heavy root feeder from my experience, so it will not grow vigorously until it has secured a nutrient source via its roots. Putting some osmocote plus into the soil right underneath its roots or putting a pond plant spike (fertilizer spike) or a root tab will give it a direct nutrient source that will make it grow at insane speeds.

Thanks. I had put root tabs in underneath. The larger nana's rhizome even turned brown, so I decided to get rid of it. The petite looked like it was rotting in the center, so for better or worse I clipped and replanted the good looking parts. One of them has been planted over a root tab, the other tied to a rock. They still look a little sad, but each has a new leaf this morning.