Newbie to plants

[thresholdoftime]

Okay I recently bought a little 5 gallon tank from a garage sale and started it with like 4 different plants. A few weeks later they started turning a light color and falling apart. After buying fish I realized that they needed more room so I bought a 30 gallon tank and gave the 5 gallon to my little brother...only 1 plant survived and is now in my 30 gallon, but now the leaves are starting to fall apart on this one too....What do I gota to to keep the plants alive.. Any special bulb I should buy? I read that people are buying fertilizers for some plants,... I considered getting fake plant but I think the fish appreciate live plants instead and of course live plants look a lot better.

 

[mgamer20o0]

what plants did you get? some lights need more light then others. it isnt that they need more room just more light.

 

[thresholdoftime]

what plants did you get? some lights need more light then others. it isnt that they need more room just more light.

Idono I'm so bad lol... there is a pic of it on my profile though. It seems to be doing okay right now but I had to pull a leaf off it the other day. All I know about the bulb I have now is that it says "real daylight" on it. I bought the tank/light from a guy off craigslist so I dont have any papers with it or anything. It's kinda bright and I was thinking about getting one that is a bit dimmer. Any specific kind I should buy? Also is it true that putting one of those heating pad type things under the roots is good? I love the way the plants look but if they keep dying I will have to resort to a big fake plastic tree....

 

[mgamer20o0]

first put a link to the plant so we can figure it out. the root heating coils dont do anything helpful. look on the bulb it should say what it is or at least take a pic so we have some clue. just because it might look bright doesnt mean the plant is getting all the light it needs.

 

[kangster]

it looks like the plant you have in your profile picture is one of the plants they sell as aquatic plants but are not a true aquatic plant and will die sooner or later
i bought the same plant when i was starting out and found out the same thing...

sandriana i think is the name...

 

[JustOneMore20]

If you mean the plant in the right side (looking at your tank from the front)....its a species of dracaena I believe...and is not aquatic. I would take it out and plant it in a pot. It won't live very long under water.

Depending on the other plants you had...you may not have had enough light for them.

If you can figure out how many watts the bulb in the 5g and even your 30g (if you want some plant suggestions for that) we can suggest plant choices.

 

[thresholdoftime]

Okay thanks I will take it out then and plant it in a pot....

I will look on my bulb later tomorrow but I think I'm going to be trading in all my community fish for African Cichlids soon, so I may just buy a plastic plant. I think African Cichlids will eat most plants right?