Why are my plants all dying?!?!?!

[Gibberwatt]

I have a 29 gall aquarium with two angels and a RTBS. It also has a sqord plant, el Niño fern, ribbon ferns, and some other random plants which I don't know the names for. It used to have two swords, a banana, octopus plant, and more random plants which I didn't know the names of. I dose it with the flourish basics fertilizer pack every week, but my plants insist on not being happy.

I don't know why.

Can you tell my?



I don't know if this matters, but I have an aquaclear 30 as a filter, plant growing light, and heater (78F).

 

[enrgizerbunny]

"Plant growing light"is very vague, do you know any more information about it? What are your symptoms? Pictures also help.

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[Fresh2o]

I googled "Flourish basics fertilizer pack" and it appears to contain Seachem Flourish Comprehensive, Flourish Iron, and Flourish Excel. That should be fine for a low light setup.
I suspect the light is a single T-8 17w fluorescent bulb in the 5000-8000K range. Probably the combination of a tall tank and insufficient light are leading to the plant's poor health.

 

[Gibberwatt]

The tank is 18 inches deep, and the light is a FloraSun max plant growth, 17Watts, 5000K light.

For symptoms, The sword has very thin leaves, the growth of all the plants is kind of scraggily, and most of the leaves are covered in some amount by algae. I also have a huge problem with algae - can anyone help?

 

[Fresh2o]

The plants are suffering from low light. I believe the algae is opportunistic; being able to utilize the low light and growing on the weakened plants.
I used the same bulb on a shallower tank (20g long is 12" tall). Was able to grow moss but that was about it.
My next light was an inexpensive CoraLife dual T-5 NO (normal output) fixture. Low light plants such as crypts and moss do fine in this tank. All of the other plants (broadleaf chain swords, dwarf sag, Ambulia, four leaf clover) did not do so well. My current fixture is a Finnex FugeRay and it grows all of the above plants plus most low to medium light plants. Now for a taller tank I think the FugeRay may not put out enough light the depth. I step up would be the Finnex FugeRay Planted +. Or you could do a dual T-5 HO (high output) fixture.

 

[Gibberwatt]

I only have one 2foot bulb space. Do you think that the Finnex FugeRay Planted+ would be able to handle that?

 

[Brookster123]

I suspect there are a few things going on here, do you use root tabs? Just the one ac 30 on a 29 is not going to be adequate flow..are you noticing lots of build up on the leaves? What's your water change routine?

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[foster53]

I belive the El Nino, and Ribbon are not actually plants that will survive for long submerged. They are more of a semi aquatic plant. Second the lighting is pretty low. You would have better luck with lower light requiring plants like Anubias, and Java fern. As mentioned already, root tabs would help the plants.

 

[Fresh2o]

I only have one 2foot bulb space. Do you think that the Finnex FugeRay Planted+ would be able to handle that?

The 24" Finnex Planted + should be able to provide decent light at that depth.

 

[Brookster123]

The 24" Finnex Planted + should be able to provide decent light at that depth.

That'd probably be referring to actual bulb size, if it's a standard 29 a 30" will do, same as 29 long.

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[Fresh2o]

That'd probably be referring to actual bulb size, if it's a standard 29 a 30" will do, same as 29 long.

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Oh that's right. I forgot that fluorescent bulbs are sometimes much shorter than the fixture.

 

[Brookster123]

Oh that's right. I forgot that fluorescent bulbs are sometimes much shorter than the fixture.

Talk about wasted space

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[Gibberwatt]

I just use liquid fertilizer, but I can get root tabs.
The el nino is a fully submersible, but the ribbons are semiaquatic. now I know what that means.


Edit: and a 24 inch bulb barely fits in place.

 

[Fresh2o]

I just use liquid fertilizer, but I can get root tabs.
The el nino is a fully submersible, but the ribbons are semiaquatic. now I know what that means.


Edit: and a 24 inch bulb barely fits in place.

Can you post a pic of the top of the tank where the hood is?

 

[Gibberwatt]

here are the pictures:
DSCN0404.JPG

DSCN0403.JPG
The first one is of a plant which I am not sure of the name. any ideas?

 

[jasonfishaddict]

Research is valuable.?

 

[Fishperson]

I'm sorry, the pictures aren't very clear. If you use the mobile app it is very easy to post pictures, try that. I don't know if I am the only one having the problem though. Some plants are water feeders (and take nutrients from the water column) and some are root feeders (get most of their nutrients from the soil). Swords, cryptocoryne species, and most bulb plants are root feeders, and need a root tab under them, replaced every few months.

Your second problem is not having enough light. I recommend a finnex fugeray planted+, it should get you in the low-medium light range.

Lastly, you have an algae problem. I recommend some Otocinclus catfish to work on the problem. Make sure you acclimate them well and do frequent water changes, as they can be sensitive to parameters. Luckily, 3 or 4 of them should keep your algae to a minimum. If that is not an option, or if you would like to further control your algae, you can increase your dose of excel, slowly each day, up to 3 ml/ 10 gallons. Be slow and careful with this, and if you see negative affects drop it back down immediately. I believe that 2ml/ 10 gallons should be fine though.

 

[Gibberwatt]

I would like some otos, but I object to their collection method, so is there any other fish that could happily live in a 29 gallon with semi aggressive fish? Would a lizardfish work?


Also, wouldn't excel increase the algae growth?

 

[Gibberwatt]

What if none of my LFS offer the finnex fugeray?

 

[clarkm]

Order it on amazon. That's where I got my finnex planted +. Great price


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