Help me save my plants

[Animag771]

My plants don't seem to be feeling too well at the moment... Other than my java fern, that thing can grown in a closet. Some of my plants are beginning to get yellow/brownish and my Ludwigia Repens keeps having leaves that the tips away and then die off. My largest concern is my Lilaeopsis Mauritiana, which is green at the base, then brown higher up, turning yellow towards the tips and then the very tip wilts.

Its a 20g high, Aquaclear 50, 24" Finnex Planted+ (8hrs), 2ml Excel daily (a few hours before lights on), PPS-Pro dosing (same time as Excel), bubble wand pumps in air (8hrs) as soon as lights go off.

What needs changing?

On a side note, any clue on how stop myself from having to clean algae off the class bi-weekly?

 

[Mr. Nowhere]

You should prob be dosing more like 10 to 20 ml of excel daily with that light

 

[Mr. Nowhere]

More excel should help with algae aswell

 

[Fishperson]

Work your way up to 10 ml excel slowly. An extra ml per day. Don't worry about initial die off, that is normal. With the ludwigia, if it has bare stems it isn't getting enough light down near the bottom. It's not necessarily unhealthy it just sees no benefit from putting out leaves there. It can't grow leaves back down there so just trim the bare part (leave around an inch so it'll be easy to plant), and plant the top. Pull and trash the bare stem remaining.

 

[Animag771]

You should prob be dosing more like 10 to 20 ml of excel daily with that light

10-20ml? The bottle says 5ml for every 50g. My math adds up to 1ml per 10 gallons, 5/50 = 0.1ml per gallon * 20g = 2ml. your talking about using 5-10 times the recommended dose.

Is this just a recommendation Seachem uses so that overdosing doesn't occur and kill all of somebody's fish?

 

[Animag771]

Work your way up to 10 ml excel slowly. An extra ml per day. Don't worry about initial die off, that is normal. With the ludwigia, if it has bare stems it isn't getting enough light down near the bottom. It's not necessarily unhealthy it just sees no benefit from putting out leaves there. It can't grow leaves back down there so just trim the bare part (leave around an inch so it'll be easy to plant), and plant the top. Pull and trash the bare stem remaining.

Thanks for the advice on the Ludwigia, I have been a little unsure on how to trim them up to make them look better.

 

[Fishperson]

10-20ml? The bottle says 5ml for every 50g. My math adds up to 1ml per 10 gallons, 5/50 = 0.1ml per gallon * 20g = 2ml. your talking about using 5-10 times the recommended dose.

Is this just a recommendation Seachem uses so that overdosing doesn't occur and kill all of somebody's fish?

Yes you can waaaaay overdose. Seachem seems to be a bit conservative on that. Just work your way up slowly. Many members say that their fish come up to the surface during metricide dosing (a cheaper excel alternative) and take 20+ ml of hospital grade sterilizer straight to the face. Metricide is so powerful you shouldn't even touch it. Excel is far more diluted of course.

 

[Fishperson]

Thanks for the advice on the Ludwigia, I have been a little unsure on how to trim them up to make them look better.

Yeah just do that. Here's a pic of mine. It was recently moved to a higher light setup than the low one it was in before so it looks bad now. It still needs to grow out a lot.

Don't mind the rummynose photobomb.

 

[Animag771]

So, when should I know that I'm adding the right amount? I added 3ml today instead of 2ml, but should I just keep dosing 3ml for a few days and watch for changes and if nothing happens up it to 4ml? If so how long should I wait before upping the dose?

 

[Fishperson]

So, when should I know that I'm adding the right amount? I added 3ml today instead of 2ml, but should I just keep dosing 3ml for a few days and watch for changes and if nothing happens up it to 4ml? If so how long should I wait before upping the dose?

You probably won't know for sure. A good mark to shoot for is 1ml/2 gallons. If you see co2 deficiency signs or lots of algae than you should dose more.

 

[Animag771]

A bit hard to read that pic, but very helpful. You and I have extremely similar setups. How much do you dose?

 

[Fishperson]

I dose modified PPS pro at:


42 grams of K2SO4
28 grams of KNO3
8 grams of KH2PO4
21 grams of MgSO4

50 grams of CSM+B

Per 500 ml

I plan on switching to EI soon though.

 

[Animag771]

I thought about EI... I've heard EI is great for maximum plant growth but I'm not a fan of the extra maintenance and bigger water changes. I just started my PPS-Pro about a month ago, not sure if I need to modify it yet... I guess I need to get my carbon under control first. What do you do for carbon?

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[Fishperson]

I thought about EI... I've heard EI is great for maximum plant growth but I'm not a fan of the extra maintenance and bigger water changes. I just started my PPS-Pro about a month ago, not sure if I need to modify it yet... I guess I need to get my carbon under control first. What do you do for carbon?

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I think the problem with PPS pro is that its a bit old. The phosphate and potassium amounts are a bit off and need to be increased. EI doesn't allow for deficiencies although it does allow for increased plant growth.

 

[azmodan]

In regards to your algae I'd decrease your lighting to 6 hours or look to increase your plant mass. Plant heavy in the beginning with things like stem plants and they'll help outcompete the algae.

 

[Animag771]

In regards to your algae I'd decrease your lighting to 6 hours or look to increase your plant mass. Plant heavy in the beginning with things like stem plants and they'll help outcompete the algae.

I would LOVE to plant more, just don't know what kind of plants I want... I wish I could find some Val Americana for the back and get some sort of red bush like plant in front of it, but don't know what will work for that. Want a lot of other stuff to fill some space but still pondering.

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[Fishperson]

Some Alternanthera Reineckii would look nice and is red.

Also, some staurogyne repens as a carpet would look great and could do well. Rotala rotundifolia is worth a shot. Or cabomba. Lots of choices out there.

 

[azmodan]

I would LOVE to plant more, just don't know what kind of plants I want... I wish I could find some Val Americana for the back and get some sort of red bush like plant in front of it, but don't know what will work for that. Want a lot of other stuff to fill some space but still pondering.

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Here are a few suggestions that would likely do well for you: bacopa caroliniana, hygrophila augustifolia, hemianthus glomeratus, hydrocotyle tripartita, pygmy chain sword, and dwarf sag. I've had success with all of these plants in very similar conditions to yours (20h and 29g).

If your microsword doesn't work out I'd recommend trying ranalisma rostrata. Does well in medium light, spreads pretty quickly and in my 29g is only growing about 1-2 inches tall. I haven't tried it without co2 injection though but with high enough glut/excel it wouldn't surprise me if it did fine.

 

[Animag771]

Thanks for the suggestions, there are just so many plants out there. I hope my microsword works out. I like how narrow the leaves are, reminds me more of an open field than the broad leaf saint augustine-ish look sag and others have.

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[azmodan]

Cool, you'd definitely like ranalisma rostrata then.