Whats making my plants die?

[flavia21]

Hey guys!
I've noticed that in my tank my plants are slowly dying. They seem to dissolve little by little and then end up floating at the top after its detached from the rest that still stays living.
I noticed my platy was picking at it yesterday and it seem like she ate most of what was dissolving. Is this ok?
Any ideas guys, suggestions to what I should be doing?
Thanks!!

 

[shellieca]

What kind of plants? What kind of lighting? Do you use ferts, what kind? Do you add salt to your water? How fast are they dying? How long have you had them? Do you know your water parameters; ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph? More info. will be needed to determine why they're dying.

 

[flavia21]

What kind of plants? What kind of lighting? Do you use ferts, what kind? Do you add salt to your water? How fast are they dying? How long have you had them? Do you know your water parameters; ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph? More info. will be needed to determine why they're dying.

I actually don't know what their names. I know they're tropical. (Ill take a picture of them and attach it). Also I've never used fertilizer, not sure how to use it. ( new to all of this). At the moment I'm using strips to test my water and its at zero.












What do you think?

 

[BBradbury]

Plants

Hey guys!
I've noticed that in my tank my plants are slowly dying. They seem to dissolve little by little and then end up floating at the top after its detached from the rest that still stays living.
I noticed my platy was picking at it yesterday and it seem like she ate most of what was dissolving. Is this ok?
Any ideas guys, suggestions to what I should be doing?
Thanks!!

Hello flav...

I started with easy plants that didn't need to be planted. Get some Anubias and Java fern. Anubias can simply be placed on top of the substrate and you can attach Java fern to a piece of lava rock with black sewing thread and put it on top of the substrate too.

Get several of these and that way you can enjoy a planted tank. After putting these in, research other easy plants like Anacharis and Pennywort. These just need to be floated and have no special planting requirements.

Start with the very easy and go from there.

B

 

[Rivercats]

From what I can see from the pic's the problem is the plants aren't aquatic plants. I can't tell what the plant on the left in 1st picture is since there isn't enough of it left but the reason they are dying is because they can't be planted in water. Did you keep the names of them and where did you buy them from. It's pretty common for fish stores to sell plants that are not aquatic. Alot of people make this mistake when they are new to planted tanks. The dying plant material won't hurt the platy but you need to remove them from the tank so they stop fouling your water. Before buying any more plants write down their names and research them to be sure they are true aquatic plants so you can be sucessful.

There are a few easy plants you can actually plant in your substrate such as water sprite, wisteria, crypts, and swords. I would recommend getting some root tabs if you get any crypts or swords as they take alot of nutrients from their roots. And invest in a liquid fertilizer you can use once or twice a week to add proper nutrients to your water for the plants to use. Hope this info helps.

 

[flavia21]

From what I can see from the pic's the problem is the plants aren't aquatic plants. I can't tell what the plant on the left in 1st picture is since there isn't enough of it left but the reason they are dying is because they can't be planted in water. Did you keep the names of them and where did you buy them from. It's pretty common for fish stores to sell plants that are not aquatic. Alot of people make this mistake when they are new to planted tanks. The dying plant material won't hurt the platy but you need to remove them from the tank so they stop fouling your water. Before buying any more plants write down their names and research them to be sure they are true aquatic plants so you can be sucessful.
There are a few easy plants you can actually plant in your substrate such as water sprite, wisteria, crypts, and swords. I would recommend getting some root tabs if you get any crypts or swords as they take alot of nutrients from their roots. And invest in a liquid fertilizer you can use once or twice a week to add proper nutrients to your water for the plants to use. Hope this info helps.

What type of liquid fertilizer would you recommend?

 

[Rivercats]

I don't use liquid ferts but several here do. Hopefully BBradbury will chime in here and list what liquid fert he uses.

 

[BBradbury]

Liquid Ferts

Hello again flav...

I dose liquids, because they're fast and simple. No getting my hands in the tank water, I guess. I have larger tanks, so tabs and the like wouldn't work well. Anyway, I think it's best for my plants to change the ferts every few months. Plants are like people, they grow best with a variety of food. Right now, I'm using FloraPride from Tetra. I mix just a little in a couple of gallons of my water change water and pour it into my tanks a couple of times a week when I need to top them off. A little liquid and the kind the fish produce seems to work pretty well.

Pretty easy. I like easy.

B