My plants are in trouble

[librarygirl]

Clearly I have a black thumb....

I have low-light plants in my 29 -- anubias and java fern (I had java moss but it kept dying off so I removed it). There is some new growth on both but the plants are also turning brown, have holes (I don't have any fish or snails that eat plants so I don't think anything in the tank is damaging them), melting tips, and turning yellow. I did just order some Swords which should arrive today but I'm doubtful I can keep them alive for long. I did pick up some root tabs for them though.

My light isn't great, so that's probably one issue. It's a standard florescent T8 bulb with 17 or 18 watts at 6700k.

I do dose Flourish Comp, about 1/4 tsp twice per week with each water change. No CO2.

Since I have light sensitivity it's hard for me to upgrade lights but I am planning on upgrading the tank very soon to a 40-55 gal so when I do I may get some T5 lights and just leave them on during the day when I'm not home and then use the standard lights when I'm home to view the tank. I guess this should make a difference to the plants, right? If I upgrade lights, how much more ferts would I need and how much of each?

Also I may not have enough nitrate; it gets to about 5 between water changes. This might change when I upgrade tanks and add some dwarf cichlids though.

The java fern and anubias are planted in my sand, which may be another problem. When I upgrade tanks soon I"ll be attaching them to driftwood and rocks.

Some pics below. Are they too far gone to save?

Thanks in advance.

 

[librarygirl]

A few more pics.....

 

[Iodizedfate]

When did you start dosing flourish? I would for sure up the dosage on that if I was you. On my lightly planted 65 gallon I dose a cap plus 1/2 cap once a week.

I read someplace that you should keep nitrates up to 15 ppm if you have a planted tank. Mine after a week sits between 5 and 10.

With lighting, do you get any ambient sunlight? I get a ton because of where my tank is and I think that helps my plants a lot.

However even with low light the anubias and java fern should be good. They should just get greener. I would up the ferts and see what happens.

 

[blert]

I don't know where this diagram came from so I can't give credit to the maker but check this out...

 

[aqua_chem]

It looks like an issue with macronutrients to me.

 

[librarygirl]

Thanks for the replies.

@Iodizedfate: Been dosing Flourish for a while now, a few months at least. I figured a lower dose in a fairly small low-light tank would help keep algae away but maybe they do need more nutrients.

I do get some ambient sunlight, yes. The tank is across the room with a very large window and sunlight does reach there at certain points during the day. Apparently it isn't helping.

Problem is I've had the anubias and ferns for months now and they're getting worse. lol I'll try upping the ferts. Thanks.

@Blert: Thanks! I've seen that one before too. So according to that I'm deficient in pretty much everything except for Magnesium lol

@Aqua-Chem: So nitrate/nitrogen, phosphates, and sulfates. Shouldn't the tap water have most of these? Or is it because my nitrates are so low? Would upping the dose of Flourish Comp help? Should I dose nitrogen too?

I'm also worried because I got some gorgeous amazon swords and red melon sword yesterday from a member here and I'd like to keep them healthy. I did buy fert tabs for them (the package is at home and I'm at work, I can post details later), hopefully I can upgrade tanks within the next week or two and upgrade lights too so hopefully they won't go through too much damage in the meantime. Tips caring for these would be great, these are my first Swords.

Sorry for the what probably seems to most as common sense questions but for some reason me+plants=do not mix and I just want a clear plan of attack so-to-speak to try to get these plants healthy.

 

[blert]

Macros are N, P and K.

Should I dose nitrogen too?

What is the nitrate (N) level:
Now?
On the day you do your PWC?
Of you source water?

It can never hurt to dose more potassium (K), I think. Aqua_Chem will know more about this.

There is a test kit for phosphate (P). Overdosing phosphate can be a problem if there are other imbalances.

Your swords will want good root tabs.

 

[Cornstar]

Would adding nitrogen in a shrimp planted tank hurt the shrimps?

 

[aqua_chem]

@Aqua-Chem: So nitrate/nitrogen, phosphates, and sulfates. Shouldn't the tap water have most of these? Or is it because my nitrates are so low? Would upping the dose of Flourish Comp help? Should I dose nitrogen too?

Nitrogen, phosphates, or potassium actually, although I do not think that it looks like potassium deficiency.

Phosphate and nitrogen deficiency always look so similar to me. Nitrogen usually manifests as a slow yellowing of the leaf followed by it melting/falling off, and phosphate is usually the forming of larger holes in the leaves that first show up as yellow spots. Of course, it all depends on the plant...

 

[librarygirl]

Thanks Blert and Aqua_chem. I haven't done a nitrate test tonight but usually it's about 5, no more. I change water twice per week so maybe I'm taking out the little bit of nitrate that manages to accumulate. My water is soft so I do two pwc a week to prevent any PH crashes. My tap water has 0 nitrate.

It does look like either phosphate or/and nitrogen. How would I put more of these into the tank?

I also bought Seachem Flourish tabs for the swords. I just got them last night and it took a few days for them to arrive so some of the leaves are melting. Would these tabs be ok for them? Would this be enough with an increase in Flourish Comp to add more nitrate/nitrogen and phosphates in or would I need to add something else?

 

[rkilling1]

Thanks Blert and Aqua_chem. I haven't done a nitrate test tonight but usually it's about 5, no more. I change water twice per week so maybe I'm taking out the little bit of nitrate that manages to accumulate. My water is soft so I do two pwc a week to prevent any PH crashes. My tap water has 0 nitrate.

It does look like either phosphate or/and nitrogen. How would I put more of these into the tank?

Why do you suspect that you tank's pH would crash if you didn't perform two PWC a week? I mean do you have any data that shows this happens?

Ferts, either purchase liquid ferts or purchase dry ones. I perfer dry ferts and should just buy a starter kit for the dry ferts.

Here is a place that someone recommented in an earlier post:

Micro & Macro | Aquarium Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums

 

[aqua_chem]

Flourish doesn't really have much for nitrogen or phosphate in it. Seachem does make a line of P and N only ferts, which might be good for a smaller tank like this. I wouldn't rely on root tabs as the sole source of nutrients, but that's just me.

Have you considered buffering the water a little more? Crush coral in your filter or something along those lines?

 

[librarygirl]

Thanks again to you both.

It probably won't crash if I didn't do a water change, but I've noticed mid-week that if I test PH it starts to drop slowly, so I assumed it would be a fairly significant drop if I held off on the water change. I could try testing PH daily though and hold off on the pwc unless I see things are dropping.

I do have CC in my filter, only a few pinches, maybe I could try more.

Thanks for the link. Maybe I'll try those dry ferts instead rather than adding two different ferts (Flourish Comp and Seachem N and P). I"ll look into both and decide. Thanks again for all of your help.