Brown Spots - Aquarium Advice

LittleMossHead84 · 10-23-2009, 12:22 AM

I have a lutea and a cardinal plant amongst many others. The lutea and cardinal plant have brown spots and look like some leaves are dying however I see lots of new leaves at the bottom on both of them. My other plants are thriving marvelously. Any suggestions?

supradupafast · 10-23-2009, 10:39 PM

Hello,
I also had trouble with my Cardinals for the first 2-3 weeks having them. I was using SeaChem Flourish as Fertz. I then added SeaChem Root Tabs and this has changed my plants for the better. The dead leaves have been cut off, but the new ones are extremely Green, strong and healthy.
What are you using for Fertz & how long have you had them for?

supradupafast · 10-23-2009, 10:41 PM

I forgot to mention that I am refering to my 10 Gal with stock lighting. Nothing fancy.

fort384 · 10-23-2009, 10:45 PM

What kind of lighting do you have?

Cardinals are medium light plants...

For the lutea, are you talking spatterdock or crypts? The spatterdock (Nymphaea Lutia) is also a medium light plant.

Also curious about any ferts you are dosing?

Markstanfill · 10-23-2009, 11:13 PM

Sounds like a potassium deficiency

LittleMossHead84 · 10-24-2009, 12:39 AM

I am using a 15W nutri grow bulb. I am currently not using fertilizer at the moment other than the substrate I have in my tank and Seachem Flourish Supplement. I am trying to find the seachem tabs because I have read very good things about them.

And I dont want to have these plants in my tank if they require higher lighting but the guy who sold them to me also sold me the bulb and said they would grow

. the lutea is a crypt and the cardinal is interesting because it is purple on the underside of the leaves(well the darker leaves) the green leaves are solid green.

Im interested in the potatssium deficiency...looking it up now.

Markstanfill · 10-24-2009, 11:35 PM

The Flourish comprehensive is really kind of worthless imo. And if you bought your plants from a local store, sometimes they will tell you anything if they are needing to push some older plants before they are not sellable. Do all your research before you head to the store. Like for instance, go browse around and any plant you dont recognize just write em down or whip your blackberry out.... (seems like im the only person who doesnt own one) and google it. Also dry fertilizers are way cheaper. I recently bought a pound of each - nitrates, potassium, phosphate, and trace mix for 23 dollars shipped. And a sandwich bag of nitrates will last you almost untill death on a small aquarium. This way you can add what you need, not what the bottle says. Or you can also look up local hydroponics stores and talk shop with them as well.

newfound77951 · 11-01-2009, 09:14 PM

The crypt may be suffering from what is called "crypt melt" or "crypt rot". Crypts are picky about being moved, and respond by melting off a lot (sometimes all) of their leaves. Left alone they will come back quickly, as yours appears to be doing. 15w on a 10g is enough to grow crypts, although they won't grow fast. The crypt will appreciate a root tab, but adding ferts to the water column won't help too much as they take up most of their nutrients through their roots, not their leaves.

My guess is your "cardinal plant" is either not a true aquatic, or may be the emersed form of a plant that can grow submersed. Any chance you can post a pic?