Plants are Dying!!??

[jordanb_ny]

Hello all. Recently, I have just started my first planted aquarium. I have always wanted a planted aquarium because of all the benefits and the more natural look it provides.

I did plenty of research on how to go about starting and everything that I needed and felt that I was well prepared to begin.

However after about a week of being planted it seems as though most of my plants are dying. I’m not sure what the cause is. Also some of my stem plants have accidentally uprooted and I noticed that those ones have no roots at all. So I’m led to believe that none of the stems have started growing roots.

What should I do!!

My set up:
I’m using Tropica Aquarium Soil for my substrate.
I have the Finnex Planted + 24/7 Light.
I don’t use any pressurized CO2 as I read that it’s not necessary for the plants I have(However I do use flourish Excel in my tank daily that should provide liquid carbon)
I have also used Aqueon Aquarium Plant food to provide nutrients in the water.

Plants:
Egeria Densa
Bacopa Caroliniana Red
Dwarf Hair Grass

**I’ve attached some pictures.

 

[Enchantress]

What's the temperature? Do you have animals in the tank? And do I understand correctly that you have the lights on 24/7? That's not good for plants. They need a period of darkness, too. And what kind of light are you using (temperature, watts/lumens)? Light, CO2 and nutrients are the holy trinity when it comes to growing plants. If any of these elements is wrong or missing the plants will not thrive. And keep in mind that red-coloured plants require more intense light than their green cousins. For the time being I'd stop dosing fertilizers and carbon, since they're not doing any good anyway. At this point it's like trying to spoon-feed someone who's in a coma.

 

[jordanb_ny]

In the tank I currently have 3 Cory Catfish, which I added today. But I don’t believe the fish have any effect since the plants were dying before hand. So the lights are on at full for only about 6-7 hours daily. It has a 24-hour day cycle. So it slowly raises to full at about noon, and then begins dimming around 6pm. At night the lights are fully off. It has 35.8 Watts and light temperature is 7000K

 

[Enchantress]

No, of course the fish aren't harming the plants - I was thinking that if the tank was empty they could be missing some macronutrients, that's all. With the waterweed, there are 2 species on the market, one coldwater and one tropical, if you were sold the coldwater one by mistake (elodea canadensis instead of egeria densa), then the temperature could be killing it. If that's not it then my money would be on light/mobile nutrient deficiency (would explain why only the older leaves seem to be affected), but without more close-up pictures it's difficult to diagnose.

 

[jordanb_ny]

Yeah, I think maybe the roots just need some time to develop. I noticed that there has been some new growth at the top and those leaves seem healthy. Also, I pulled up one of the stems to observe the roots and I noticed the smallest stub of a root growing So, I'm guessing that it just needs more time for the roots to grow. I wish the roots could grow faster.

I also read somewhere else that Egeria Densa thrive faster when the stems are floated instead of planted. Is that true?

 

[Enchantress]

I also read somewhere else that Egeria Densa thrive faster when the stems are floated instead of planted. Is that true?

It's possible - it will be closer to the light and all the leaves will have access to it (less likely to go brown). If you leave it floating (or attached to some rocks/driftwood) the stems will eventually grow long white roots from between the leaves that will go down to the substrate and anchor the plant over time. I've had this plant too and I've never planted it, always left it floating. Keep in mind though that the lower/older leaves tend to go brown over time, because they don't get enough light - this is normal and to be expected. This is a plant that grows very long, but not very bushy (like hornwort). I have a few stems in a jar on my windowsill, where they get lots of light from different angles, and it's growing incredibly well, better than it ever did in my tank.

 

[jordanb_ny]

Just an update on my plants. Initially when I first put the stem plants into my new setup all the leaves wilted and died. I checked the water parameters and everything was fine on that end.

Now, after about a week, the stems have all rooted and began growing new leaves. Also the colors of the leaves are a nice vibrant green. So it seems like all the plants are now healthy.

Don’t know the reason for the massive die off at the beginning but everything is going well now.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Commercially grown rooted plants are generally grown immersed rather than submerged, so they often lose their leaves to melt because they weren't grown underwater and arent tolerant of the conditions. New leaves are obviously more tolerant to being submerged and the plant should now adapt with new healthy growth.