aquarium plant trouble

[bulatz]

hopefully these pics r decent sorry they are sideways for some reason, im not so worried about the sword plant i think thats its name it doesnt look good but im more worried of the other plant, dont know the name but i got alot of it and it looked real good, its beginning to semi melt and turn slightly brown. what do i need?

i put (flourish) fertilizer and i put seachem root tabs. my guess is my light maybe from what i read online but i dont know. i wish my light had a brand name on it, it really doesn't and i got it from my neighbor. its fluorescent bulbs. thanks for any help

 

[bulatz]

i guess also i might not be using fertilizer enough. im stupid for some reason i put a little less than a full cap a week i been using the same measurement as my prime cap haha. but the fertilizer says put a capful once or 2x a week for 60g and i have a 75g dont know how i messed that up and never payed attention but here we are.

 

[Aiken Drum]

The plant in the top photo looks like a java fern. Is that the plant you are concerned about? Did you plant it in the substrate?

 

[bulatz]

oh it is java fern and not in substrate i attached it to my driftwood like i read. im more concerned about the other plant in the pic ive had it for like 2-3 weeks and it looks real good but slowly kinda melting some parts turning brown. gonna put the required fert and hope that fixes it

 

[Aiken Drum]

Commercially grown plants are cultivated “emersed” rather than “submerged”. This way the plants can easily get their carbon requirement from atmospheric CO2. They can be grown quicker which makes the operation much more commercially viable. You take that plant, put it in your aquarium, cut off its source of CO2 and the plant goes into survival mode. It starts to use up its stored carbon and the leafs melt. You may lose all your original growth to melt but new leafs will have a structure more suited to its new environment and get its carbon from the water. Plant melt is a normal stage in aquarium plant growth. To judge the health of a plant look for new growth rather than what might be happening to the original growth, and judge it over extended periods of time.

You arent seeing anything i wouldnt expect to see. If you arent seeing any new growth in a couple of months, or if new growth isn't healthy, thats the time to be concerned. I dont think an extra half capful of fertiliser will make much difference.

 

[bulatz]

sounds good. well the thing that really concerns me is im finding the plants floating at the surface of the water and the roots are withered away, see thru and mushy. to me it would make sense if thats happening, there are none or not enough nutrients in the substrate? thats just my guess.

i have root tabs put in, not sure if i put in enough of them? ive seen in vids people put them in sort of a connect 4 type grid and its usually alot. i just put a few scattered around close to where my plants are.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Different root work differently. Tropica ones need 1 tab every 4 inches or so around the plants and they last a month or 2. The ones i use (dennerle) 4 tabs per plant and they last about 6 months. See what seachem instruct about theirs on their packaging.