Did I kill my anacharis with excel?

[Harveyman]

I was using Flourish Excel in my tank at the recommended dose (3 ml for 29 gallons) every other day for about 2 weeks. However I have read that Excel and Anacharis is a no no, and I have seen the new stems getting thinner. Should I stop using the excel entirely until the plants recover (will they recover?) or should I step down my dosage (maybe from 3 ml every other day to 1 ml every other day?)

 

[daileene]

Hi, some of the post I've read is that anacharis and vals are sensitive to the Excel. But some have find a way of working this together. When you put the Excel, don't put it directly on top of the anacharis. See if that works. Some people have done it with vals and the vals looked great after. Just be careful not to dump it again directly on top of the plant.

 

[BigJim]

Are these relatively new plants? What light are you running?

If you've recently purchased this anacharis, it's very bushy in the store because it's grown under relatively powerful light. It'll thin out under lower light with longer stems and smaller leaves. As it grows to the top of the tank and gets closer to the light, it will get bushier.

 

[Harveyman]

The plants are fairly new, I got them about 4 weeks ago. But they were growing very well until about a week ago.
For lighting I have two 24 watt bulbs (one 5000k, and one 6500k)

I am trying an experiment to see if it is the lack of light that is causing the straggly look. I floated several stems at the surface, directly under the light, to see if they do better.

 

[BigJim]

You shouldn't have a problem growing anacharis under 48W of fluorescent light in a 29g. I have a small forest of it growing under 36W of light in my 29g. It may very well be the Excel causing your problems.

 

[fort384]

It could be the excel... but usually excel + anacharis = melting/die off, not stunted growth.

With that amount of light, it could very well be that there is another limiting nutrient, especially since it grew well for awhile... do you have a nitrate test kit? If so, what is your nitrate testing at?

 

[cwt]

I agree with Fort, that's what happened to mine, when I was using Excel to combat the BBA. I've since removed all my anacharis to keep the tank and filters clean, it just disintegrated too easily.

 

[Harveyman]

I just ran a nitrate test and the result was REALLY low. Maybe 0-5 ppm. In one sense i'm happy as my fish will thrive, but this is a problem for my plants.
I am going to the store tomorrow, should I pick up a nitrogen supplement and if so any particular brands recommended?

 

[fort384]

Fish will be fine with nitrates anywhere below 40ppm. I suggest trying to run it up to 10-20ppm if you plan to keep plants. Anacharis is a fairly quick grower, and it will suck it up fast.

Seachem N is a good product. KNO3 in dry form would be a really good option as well. You may need to look online. If your LFS isn't big into plants, they may not have a N supplement. Most LFSs only have fert mixes that contain some trace elements and potassium or maybe an iron supplement.

 

[Harveyman]

I think ill get the Seachem one as I know they have it (lol, they have a huge shelf stuffed with Seachem bottles.) But ill also look at what else they have.

 

[Harveyman]

I've been adding seachem nitrogen every other day since Saturday (14. 5 ml). I haven't really noticed any difference but the Anacharius hasn't been dying any more.

On a side note, what is this plant and is there something wrong with it? It's been in my tank for a while but started to grow when I changed the lights.

 

[daileene]

that looks like rotala...i could be wrong..

 

[fort384]

looks like rotala of some sort to me. Hard to tell with that pic. Can't tell if there is something wrong or not... rotala will turn all kinds of different shades, even when healthy... especially if you have been messing with N. A very limited N supply will usually result in reddish/yellow colors.

 

[Harveyman]

Thank you very much for the help, i stopped using excell and started adding 20 ml of flourish nitrogen every other day (built up to over the last few weeks). The Anacharius hasn't been dying any more, and is growing rapidly. The other plants are growing well too.
I confirmed that the other plant is a rotalia, but its doing something realy weird. Ill start a thread on it tomarow.
Again, thank you very much.