Help

[straick]

I have a 10 gallon tank, with one betta, some anachris, and a Crypto Wendtii with a F15T8 10000k lamp. Some of the anachris is turning a grayish brown color. The crypto wendtii had a few leaves that got wilted(touch them and they fall apart, but I've heard that it wilting a bit is normal), so I took those leaves out. The plants and fish have been in the tank since this past monday, with the light on for about 9 to 10 hours a day.
Why is the anachris doing this? I don't know if this matters, but my NH3 has also been coming up slowly(was at 0 till yesterday, when barely detectable), and is now at .25, nitrate are 0(and have stayed right there), and the nitrate are at 10. Kh is 11 an pH is about 7.4.
I did a fishless cycle on the tank, and Barry(the betta) looks quite happy, swimming around and in a constant fight with his own reflection.
Thanks in advance.

 

[BigJim]

Crypt melt is common, especially if the crypt came with bare roots. I have a recently purchased crypt crispulata that lost half its leaves to crypt melt, but it's growing fast now that it's acclimated to the tank.

The anacharis is a bit more troubling. Healthy anacharis is bright green. I would remove the dying portions of the plant. If you've got the lead strip plant anchors, make sure they're not too tight around the stems.

 

[straick]

Is there anything else I need to do to take care of these plants?
I did my daily check of the crypt, and removed the two leaves that were wilted, and went ahead and felt the stems of the anachris, and the stems all feel the same, whether it's were they are not looking so pretty or where they are nice and green. The crypt though does have some new leaves on it, including one that is just starting to unroll itself.

 

[BigJim]

They're both pretty hardy plants. I have more trouble keeping up with the trimming on my anacharis than anything.

 

[straick]

Update, the anachris is almost all dead now(about to take another batch of dead chunks out), but the crypt seems to be doing well for the moment. Someone is eating up my nitrates though(thinking it's probably the crypt). I'm really wondering if I did something wrong with the anachris.
The water parameters are ph 7.4, KH 11, NH3 .25, NO2 0, and NO3 is about 2.5(halfway between 5 and 0, and I did that one twice to make sure).

 

[BigJim]

Anacharis really sucks up nitrates. I suppose a fast-growing crypt would do the same. Try cutting a healthy anacharis stem into a few 2"-4" pieces and let them float. They'll be close to the light that way, providing a best case scenario for you.

 

[straick]

Could part of my problem be not enough nutrients due to only having the one betta?

 

[BigJim]

You could try a simple comprehensive fert like Flourish and see what happens. You may have just gotten a bad bunch of anacharis.

 

[straick]

Trying the Flourish right now. I'm also going to upgrade my lighting to a 36 watt Compact Flourescent. Time to build a custom ballast setup.