Whats going on...

[Vienolac]

Ok. So to start. Let me add a picture of what my tank looked like a about a week ago or a little more





Ok, so now that is what is has looked like for a while. Maybe a few months with the exception of the amazon sword.

Here recently tho. My needle leaf ludwiga has been dying off, rapidly.
I know the mollys I have nip at the roots and what not. And kinda effect that but it has never really hurt the plants before.

Yesterday. I pulled out maybe half of what was in the tank. Because it was all brown and dead looking.

This morning I come home to this




All that is left is almost dead. . I wish I knew what was happening.

Im not sure if the light in which I have. It came with the tabk pretty much.
The brand is all glass aquarium. And it's a 15w hg light...

So. Maybe someone could give me some advice. Let me know how to fix this... And maybe give me the information to stop it from happening again

 

[Vienolac]

Anyone?

 

[Gillie]

How much light do you have? Any co2? Are you dosing ferts?

 

[Vienolac]

No idea on what you mean how much light to I have

20 gallon tank. 15 watt halogen light.

I think it stays on for maybe 10-14 hours a Day depending the work schedual I have.

No co2
No fert.

But they have been doing well for a LONG time

 

[Rivercats]

Not only do your plants need ferts but those stems are planted on top of each other. When planting stem plants you need to individually plant each stem so its leaves almost but not quite touches the leaves of the stems around it. Light and water circulation needs to be able to reach lower stem leaves. You need to take all that out, cut off all the dead parts, and replant the good stem pieces correctly. If the stem pieces are too small I would suggest floating them until they are of a size that you can plant them.

 

[Vienolac]

Ok. Going to do that now.
They came in bunches of what look like 3 tufts.
I didn't know anything(shame on me) so I just stuck them under the drift wood. Because I thought it would look cool.

This plant has an issue with being sucked into my filter. And. I'm not sure. How I would individually plant each stem. Or plant a few in small groups with seperation?
It was peculiarly frustrating trying to plant them to begin. Because they had seeds and stuff that came off in my tank all over...

What kind of ferts would be good.?

 

[Rivercats]

It almost sounds like you got ones that had been grown emmersed (leaves above water with roots submerged). What causes them to get sucked into the filter? I have tons of plants and 3 large/strong filters and don't have an issue with my plants. As for planting, cut the bad parts off, gently pull the bottom couple of leaves off the stem, and carefully push each stem in the substrate. I have planting tweezers which are very handy. Many people just use their fingers. You have to be gentle with the stems your planting so you don't break them. If you have to I wouldn't put more than two stems together in a hole.

As for ferts, if you don't have a ton of plants in your tank something like Seachems Flourish Comprehensive would be good to get and use once or twice weekly.

 

[Gillie]

You have less than 1 watt per gallon which supports only a few types of plants, and a plant like needle leaf lud needs at least 3 watts per gallon, co2 and ferts to do well at all, with the exception of only a few plants the general rule is, the thinner the leaf the more light it requires. That also means with higher lighting you also have to have a fert routine or good root tabs and injected co2. You might want to try plants like hygrophila corymbosa, java fern, anubias, and green myrio.

 

[Rivercats]

The watts per gallon rule is rather obsolute with all the different types of lighting there is available today so upgrading your lighting in the future could be a good option. Plus even with high lighting you can get very good results with plant growth just using a liquid carbon, CO2 is not necessary, my 220g high light heavily planted tank is testimony to that. But a good fertilizing route is necessary. For now trim those stems and float them. Then get a liquid fert and start using it. Then down the road if you want to upgrade lighting it's an option.

 

[ktomminello]

Yay!! Go ferts!!

The watts per gallon rule is rather obsolute with all the different types of lighting there is available today so upgrading your lighting in the future could be a good option. Plus even with high lighting you can get very good results with plant growth just using a liquid carbon, CO2 is not necessary, my 220g high light heavily planted tank is testimony to that. But a good fertilizing route is necessary. For now trim those stems and float them. Then get a liquid fert and start using it. Then down the road if you want to upgrade lighting it's an option.

Especially with a 20g CO2 isn't really necessary and I think that it is a cost that isn't for the type of tank that just has a few cool looking plants. Flourish by seachem works really good. I'd suggest using an iron supplemented plant tab for now until you get the hang of planting roots.

As for lights- here's a cheapo lighting solution. 2 desk lamps with compact florescent light bulbs pointing in from either side or the back of the tank. Ludwiga is a little more light particular, and ph finicky. What are your water parameters?

 

[aqua_chem]

Also should be pointed out that those are halogen lights. They're not putting off as much light watt for watt as a CFL (this is why wpg sucks). 20g is also proportionally taller than many tanks, further reducing the light (wpg fails again).

The fact that the tops of the ludwigia looks decent but the bottoms are raggedy further suggests a light issue.

 

[Vienolac]

So why if I buy a "plant growth support" light for what I have? Will that help with things?
I thinks it's 18" strip light