sinibotia
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hello everyone, I'm back with plant problems! I'm starting to think that I should just stick to fish.
My tank is a 10 gallon with a Finnex Stingray 20" LED. From my understanding that's enough to grow low and medium light plants. I've got java moss, java fern, and one dwarf chain sword.
I'm dosing the tank every day with API CO2 booster. I've also dosed with Flourish Comprehensive and Leaf Zone- as directed, and then more as it seemed like it was needed. The dwarf chain sword has an API root tab right under it.
The java moss seems fine, and the dwarf chain sword looks ok. But my java fern- which is what I have the most of- is having all kinds of problems. I've got black lines showing up on some leaves. Other leaves are bending and shrivelling. The tips of many of them are turning dark green which I've read is a phosphate problem- but despite adding enough Comprehensive for a 60 gallon tank this week, they're still dark green. All of the new leaves are shriveled and misshapen, and some parts are turning brown.
The only two things I can think is that the big cave in the middle of the tank has a ton of brown algae on it- but I like the look of it that way. Could that be consuming all of the nutrients? There's also some algae on the glass and sand but not all that much. The other thing is that my tank is somewhat close to a window, enough to get some sunlight. Are my plants getting too much light from that and then not enough nutrients? Or maybe my light is on too long- I leave it on for 14-15 hours a day (basically when I'm awake).
This is my first planted tank and for all my knowledge with fish I'm an idiot when it comes to plants, so please scold me gently for whatever I'm doing wrong!
My tank is a 10 gallon with a Finnex Stingray 20" LED. From my understanding that's enough to grow low and medium light plants. I've got java moss, java fern, and one dwarf chain sword.
I'm dosing the tank every day with API CO2 booster. I've also dosed with Flourish Comprehensive and Leaf Zone- as directed, and then more as it seemed like it was needed. The dwarf chain sword has an API root tab right under it.
The java moss seems fine, and the dwarf chain sword looks ok. But my java fern- which is what I have the most of- is having all kinds of problems. I've got black lines showing up on some leaves. Other leaves are bending and shrivelling. The tips of many of them are turning dark green which I've read is a phosphate problem- but despite adding enough Comprehensive for a 60 gallon tank this week, they're still dark green. All of the new leaves are shriveled and misshapen, and some parts are turning brown.
The only two things I can think is that the big cave in the middle of the tank has a ton of brown algae on it- but I like the look of it that way. Could that be consuming all of the nutrients? There's also some algae on the glass and sand but not all that much. The other thing is that my tank is somewhat close to a window, enough to get some sunlight. Are my plants getting too much light from that and then not enough nutrients? Or maybe my light is on too long- I leave it on for 14-15 hours a day (basically when I'm awake).
This is my first planted tank and for all my knowledge with fish I'm an idiot when it comes to plants, so please scold me gently for whatever I'm doing wrong!