Worried about my plants - day 8

[kristap]

Last week, I added a 'large' number of plants to my meager java ferns. (Anubias barteri & coffeefolia, Balansae, Wendtii (red & green), narrow leaf swords, some java moss, petite nanas, and 2 Tiger lotus)

To help them stay happy, I also setup a pressurized CO2 system and purchased the range of seachem ferts for use until I get a better handle on what I'm doing.

I would really appreciate any thoughts you might care to share, please help - I need guidance.

Ferts - I started adding them last week
Seachem potassium: 3x week 5mL
Seachem iron: 1x week 5mL
Seachem phosphorus: 1x week .5mL
Seachem comprehensive: 1x week 5mL


However, it looks like they might not be doing so well:
Anubia rotting on the edge. Should I be adding even more potassium:

Some leaves on the micro swords turned brown pretty quickly and the rhizome on the left anubia is white muck. When touched, it dissolved!

And the ever popular crypt rot... only this one seems to have dissolved, the others are maybe ok?

Should java moss be brown?

48G bowfront
96W coralife lighting
CO2: ~15 (by chart), 1bps through bubble counter
PH: 6.6
KH: 2.25
GH: 4.5
NO3: 20ppm (lowest indicator on test strip)
50% weekly water change
edit: PO4: 2.0
edit: NO3: 12.5

 

[Purrbox]

I've got a feeling that your Nitrates are under 20ppm. Maybe see if you can take a sample to your LFS and get it tested with a liquid test for more precise results. Also it would be helpful to find out your PO4, as this dificiency can also present as a Nitrate deficiency.

Here's a page that is a good reference on dificiencies. And another.

 

[czcz]

In addition to Purrbox's advice, Anubias rhizome may have just rotted from being burried too deep instead of placed over the substrate (only the roots should be in the substrate, or you could tie the rhizome to an object). Micro sword likes more light ime. Do not worry about crypt melt too much as they can come back. Java moss does not like some of my tanks either -- if you thin out the healthier strands and remove the dead ones, you may get some nice growth from them.

 

[kristap]

Purrbox - you were right. Nitrates are at 12.5ppm and my Phosphates are 2.0ppm. Those are great reference pages; I guess I'm worried since all of the plants are pretty 'new' in the tank and I wasn't sure how to rectify that with their current condition ... hence the questions here for you experts

Can the rhizomes come back or once they start to go ... is that pretty much it? The leaves and stalks look really healthy (except for the one in the picture ) but I guess they need more than that. I didn't think that I 'buried' them as I tried to set them into the gravel and leave the top 2/3 uncovered.

 

[travis simonson]

Your nutrients look pretty good although 2.0 ppm of PO4 may be little on the high side. I would shoot for closer to 1.0 ppm by slightly decreasing your Seachem Phosporous dosing, although I don't believe this to be the issue with your plants. Give them some time to get used to the tank and prune any of the affected Anubias leaves. czcz's advice is good - make sure the rhizomes of the Anubias are above the substrate level otherwise they are subject to rot. And I've had the same bad luck with Java moss, even in a high-light, well-fertilized tank it just turned brown on me and died. I've never been good at mosses Maintain your fert levels, give the plants some time, and keep us posted. Good luck

 

[Tiffi]

I don't think the rizomes are buried to deep from what I can see in your pictures. The Cryptocoryne will probably come back, mine came back to after they took a time-out.
Well my Javamoss never came back. I can't believe so many people have problems with Javamoss here. In Germany I had that stuff with even less light, no ferts, little CO2 and it grew like crazy. Here I can't even keep it alive. I think either it's another species or something in American water .

The first picture looks like there is a glibbery mass on the leaf, if so, it's probably a fungus you have to fight with too.

 

[kristap]

AGH! 8O glibbery mass? The brown matter on the anubias' leaves?

For being so 'easy', there sure seem to be a lot of problems with the java moss in these parts. Maybe it is something in the the American water .... all your bases are belong to us

Thanks for your help!