Whats happening to my plants?

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FishN00b83

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jun 7, 2011
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Location
Queens NYC
I recently finished my fishless cycle and decided to plant my tank. It's been 2 days now I think and I'm starting to notice some things. I've attached a few pictures and I would like some guidance on what to do. My crypt is developing holes in it's leaves, my dwarf sag and dwarf hairgrass is turning a little brown, and some of my vals have little brown spots.



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More info on your tank setup will help...

and what do you mean by a fishless cycle?
for only 2 days, your water is probably not cycled properly... even if you add bacteria, it still takes some time to be fully established.

how is your lighting level?
Temp?
water parameters?
 
Lol I finished my fishless cycle about a week ago, so my tank is cycled. I meant my tank has been planted for 2 days. my current levels are:

Ph 6.5 - I just put a bunch of crushed coral in a mesh bag to raise it up
Ammonia .25 - I have been dosing 4ppm everyday and it's been dropping to 0 for a while now. By tonight i will have to dose it again.
Nitrites .5
Nitrates 20

Lighting I have 4x nova extreme and I have 2 on for 4 hours, then 4 on for 2 hours, then 2 for 4 again.

C02 I don't have on yet, I have everything but the tank which I should be getting within a week.

Temp is currently 82. I am gradually lowering it down to 79
 
One of the photos isn't working. 2 days isn't very long, I'd probably give it a little more time for the plants to get settled in. That's a lot of light, so hopefully things will start going smoothly when you get your co2 and dosing routine started up.
 
Aquarium Plants

Hello Fish...

I've gone round and round with plants and it can take weeks, if not months for plants to become acclimated to your tank conditions. Many plants can lose half their bulk or more in just a matter of a few days.

I'm assuming you did your research and have matched the plants to your specific lighting. If not, then hopefully you have at least 1 to 2 watts of light per gallon of tank size. If this is the case, then your plants just need the standard macro and micro nutrients and some time to get used to your water conditions.

The macro nutrients are the easy ones. Those are provided by you when you do your water changes and by your fish.

The micro nutrients come from a commercial fert, either dry or liquids and need to be dosed according to instructions.

If you have the above in place, all you need is patience and the plants will be fine.

B
 
I recently finished my fishless cycle and decided to plant my tank. It's been 2 days now I think and I'm starting to notice some things. I've attached a few pictures and I would like some guidance on what to do. My crypt is developing holes in it's leaves, my dwarf sag and dwarf hairgrass is turning a little brown, and some of my vals have little brown spots.



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im actully having the same problem with my plants this is what is happening to my swords just like ur pic
 
The holes in your crypts is completely normal phenomena known as 'crypt melt'. Basically, whenever you crypts are disturbed in some way (roots moved, water conditions change, look at them crosseyed, etc), they will all melt off and regenerate. Completely normal process. I just moved some of by Crpyt Wendtii Bronze around, and I was actually getting worried when I didn't see crypt melt as I expected. It eventually came though.

Based on your picture, your DHG was grown emersed and needs to adjusted to submerged conditions. Anticipate some plant death followed by a rapid recovery assuming good conditions. It is DHG after all. As a general rule of thumb, most plants look like death when you first get them and usually recover.

As stated above, with that much light you WILL need CO2 and ferts, especially if your tank is <20" high.
 
My Italian vals, and my java moss are looking like he'll now too. I am also growing algae like it's in style all over my driftwood. I decided to by some flourish, potassium, and phosphorus, I'll start dosing once a week after water changes and see if this helps at all.

My vals all look like ****, I just hope they all come back. They started runners all over the place, but have not really sprung up like I herd they would. Basically, my tank looks like it's on the way down the drain, and I want this thing to turn around quick. I hope after I start dosing it will do just that.
 
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