Plant revival

[BettaGal]

I have plant I've been told is probably bacopa that is sort of . . . wilting. It's got roots, but they are real big, more extension of the stem. It's my gourami's baby, so if it's salvageable, I wanna salvage it. Here's a picture of it happy when I asked what it was on here.

 

[fort384]

What kind of light are you using (type of bulbs, # of bulbs, duration per day)? What size tank? Are you adding any fertilizer? What is your nitrate testing at?

 

[BettaGal]

I only have a color changing light at the bottom of the tank. It's on the whole time I'm awake. I do have plant fertilizer stuff that I add weekly like it says to. I just had to do a massive water change because the water was gross. I slacked off around my 3-day weekend at home and my water showed it. My test kit is at home at the moment, and it will be picked up over thanksgiving break. I'll make sure I don't forget this time. I just did a big water change, so the levels better be good, or we got a problem with tap water. I did two 50% water changes back to back because it was so nasty. I have a hypersensitive nose, so I have something to go on. I did one 50% water change yesterday after I had a Cory clock out on me just to make sure he didn't mess up anything, which was my great discovery of crappy water. He was the only one not well, so I doubt it was the water. I had added the stuff a couple hours before he clocked out and was told not to re-add it after the water change. I have bamboo and this plant in there.

 

[fort384]

Sounds to me like your light is most likely insufficient to support plants.

 

[BettaGal]

How can I get around that? The only lamp I got is a desk lamp and there's my dorm room light that doesn't get to my desk much. The desk lamp is bright. I hate that bulb, but I can turn it on and shine it on the plant if it will help.

 

[fort384]

What kind of bulb is in your desk lamp? It might be sufficient.

If not there are some lights out there you could pick up. What size tank is it?

 

[BettaGal]

It's a 10. My desk has one of those energy efficient bulbs in it. I hate that lamp because it's so bright and the medication I'm on gives me headaches sometimes. I can turn it so it's not aimed toward me if it will revive my fish's baby. He tends to that thing like a grand champion rosebush. He spends more time tending that plant than he does establishing his boss-hood.

 

[fort384]

It might help, but it depends on the specifics of the bulb - can you tell how many watts it is, and what color temperature it is? It might say on the base of the bulb.

You could also buy a plant capable LED fixture for the tank for somewhere in the $40 range.

 

[BettaGal]

The base of the bulb says helical 13W 120VAC 60Hz 180mA FLE 13HT3/2/SW

 

[fort384]

Unfortunately that probably won't be enough to grow bacopa. You could give it a try and see how it goes.

 

[jetajockey]

If it's got a regular screw in bulb base you can just put a daylight/6500k bulb in there and it should help.

It looks like the one you listed is a 2700k bulb so it's not optimal for plant growth.

 

[BettaGal]

That mini-sun ain't good enough for that plant? I wanted a new bulb for it, but a dimmer one. Maybe I'll have to get two bulbs if this sun doesn't do it. One for the plants and one for my eyes. I'm still gonna try the lamp as is for a while like one guy said. I'm turning into a vampire. The bright lamp greatly irritates me. No wonder I have a Cory named Dracula and a Cory named Lestat.

 

[fort384]

How the light appears to your eye is not necessarily a factor - it is what is usable by your plants for photosynthesis.

You could consider an LED fixture that would shine the light more in the tank and less in your eyes

Something like this would do great for your purposes:
Archaea LED light fixture 30cm (clamp-on) All white LED [LED-H30W] - $44.99 : Aqua Forest Aquarium, ADA USA, Aqua Design Amano

Jeta's idea is also a good one - switching to a different color temp might help. You could also up the wattage a bit. A daylight bulb would probably also be a little easier on your eyes.

 

[jetajockey]

It's a little less harsh if you have a fixture that can direct the light straight down, but otherwise I don't know. Maybe go with a plant growth bulb, they are yellowish/pinkish.

 

[BettaGal]

It's a flexible necked desk lamp that swivels. It will shine it straight down, but it isn't tall enough to shine directly on top of the plant. It's currently hiding behind my laptop. Oddly, my fish don't care. I just have to fix that stupid airstone again before they make it the bathroom again. It's got large aquarium rocks around it because my highly intelligent Cory cats unbury it and turn the space it was buried in into a bathroom. My tank finally looks healthier except that plant. Torch is mad I had to pluck the nearly dead leaves and pull up two strands of this plant that were gone. Not gone gone but gone enough they were done. I touched his baby. Shame on me. He's a weird gourami.

 

[BettaGal]

And I'll look into a daylight bulb. Hopefully they aren't too expensive.

 

[fort384]

Shouldn't be more than $5-7 or so. Go with a higher wattage though if your fixture will support it. 13W is not much usable light, unfortunately.

 

[BettaGal]

$5 is much better than $45. I'm a broke college student with a fish tank for relaxation and feeling useful. As I'm sure you guys understand, aquariums are very relaxing. I'll probably be going tomorrow after stuff so hopefully I can find the light bulb. Then Torch's baby can be saved and all will be well in my 10-gal oasis. Would it help if I replaced the liquid stuff since I did a massive water change? Or still wait till I'm about to head home next week? I did a 50% Wednesday and two 50% today. It was gross. Beyond gross.

 

[fort384]

What do you mean the liquid stuff?

 

[BettaGal]

This stuff. It's liquid and it's stuff, therefore it is liquid stuff. And now we all know why I take medication.