New planted 25g already having issues, need advice please

[Kilgore]

Hello,

Please forgive the long post but I want to give as much info as possible in order to get an answer that is as accurate as possible. I have a newly planted (less than 2 weeks old) 25 gallon aquarium measuring 24" high x 20" long x 12" wide. Today I noticed that quite a few of my new plants have leaves that are becoming transparent and/or turning brown/gray and mushy - leaves dissolve in my hand when I go to remove them. In particular this seems to be affecting the tips of my vals, most of the leaves on my Bacopa (a reddish plant, perhaps it needs more light?), and the lowest leaves of my pennywort. So far so good on the swords and others.

From the reading I have done so far, this could be either lack of light and/or lack of trace elements/nutrients. Given my tank specs (see below), which do you think is the cause? Although I know very soft water can give plants trouble with lack of calcium and magnesium, it seems a little early for trace elements and nutrients to be the cause, unless lack of nitrates can affect a plant in less than 2 weeks? Please let me know if you have any advice. And yes, I realize I am suffering from “too many plant species syndrome,” but really, I think it looks nice. No digital cam or I would post a picture. :{

Current water specs are:

Water temp: 78 – 80 *F
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5-10 ppm
Hardness: very soft (30 ppm)
Alkalinity: very low (lowest on chart)
pH: 7.0

Other details:
2 x 15 watt fluorescent tubes (Coralife Trichromatic and Nutrigrow bulbs, both 6700K)
15 lbs Flourite plus generic gravel substrate (2-3 inches deep)
Fertilizing with Seachem Flourish, once per week
Eheim Ecco Filter 2232
22 various fish, all under 2 inches long – Hatchets, cories, neons, otos, zebra danios

PLANTS:
1 Spider Onion - Crinum calamistratum
1 Red Melon Sword, potted - Echinodorus barthii
1 Radican Sword, potted - Echinodorus cordifolius,
1 Jungle Val
1 Anubias barteri, potted
1 Echinodorus bleheri "Compacta"
1 Dwarf Hair Grass, potted
1 Narrow-leaf Chain Sword, potted- Echinodorus tenellus
1 Bamboo plant, on driftwood - Bolbitus heudelotii
2 Cryptocorne balansae
2 Brazilian Pennywort - Hydrocotyle leucoephala, (but more like Cardamine lyrata, IME)
2 Green Cabomba, bunches - Cabomba caroliniana
2 Bacopa caroliniana, bunches
4 Banana plants - Nymphoides aquatica
4 regular Valisneria, bunches
Small amount of Water Sprite and Water Lettuce (floating)

Also, I am thinking of switching to compact fluorescent, do they make them for 20" long tanks? I haven’t been able to find them. Assuming I can find them, would I need to consider adding CO2 in that case? Thanks in advance for all of your help.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Have you tried dosing K? it's a very important macro that doesn't seem to find it's way into tanks on it's own. It is definately in line with a macro deficiency. The lower leaves falling off is indicitive of insufficient light getting to them. doesn't always mean you don't have enough light, just that the way down is blocked by other leaves.

Yes, they make 20" CF fixtures, they are a quad bulb (96w). You will definately need Co2 with a fixture that strong.

 

[Simpte]

I'd second K and it wouldn't hurt to add a bit more N. 96 watts over a 25 watt tank is asking for trouble if you are not perfect on your CO2 and lighting. You could retrofit one strip with a 36 watt pc fixture and keep another 15 watt of NO over the tank for a nice balance of lighting with even DIY CO2 or flourish excel.

 

[Purrbox]

I'd say that insufficient lighting for you plant choices is a large part of the problem. There are a couple of other options I've seen for a 20" tank. Here's a single CF fixture (40w) and a double CF Fixture (80w). With the double fixture you could use a 50/50 bulb, the actinic isn't considered usable by the plants so it would give you 60W and pretty close to Medium light. You should also take into account that you have a fairly tall tank, and that means that less light is going to make it to the bottom of the tank.

Also, what is you Phosphate level? With insufficient phosphates your plants wouldn't be able to make use of the Nitrates and would worsen the problems caused by insufficient lighting.

 

[malkore]

I agree, insufficient lighting for most of the plants you've selected. I cannot recommend purrbox's linked fixtures because they are 50/50 daylight/actinic bulbs, so you'd end up spending another $20 for the correct bulb if you ever wanted to go 'high light'

I would suggest one Coralife 65w freshwater aqualight, and a set of the mounting legs so this 24" fixture fits more nicely on your 20" tank. Its also a lot cheaper than $124 for the dual 80w fixture (http://hellolights.com/241xcofraq1x.html). With that lighting, you'll need DIY CO2, excel or both if you like.
You'll also need to dose NPK separately, which I recommend Gregwatson.com for those ferts. You can use florish comprehensive for a trace mix, or Plantex CSM+B.

 

[Purrbox]

Malkore - do you specifically not like the fixtures themselves, or is it just that they don't come with the appropriate bulbs right out of the box? It seems that 75% or better of the higher light fixtures are geared towards SW instead of FW planted, so having to replace bulbs is pretty common from my understanding. If you're able to get the fixture locally, I know at least one of the LFS near me is willing to swap out the bulbs for FW friendly bulbs. Of course the increased cost at the LFS may outweigh the savings of not having to buy the replacement bulbs.

 

[savga]

Lack of calcium causes twisted and curled new foliage and stunted growth. I had that problem with my soft water. Intead of tring to dose Ca and Mg separately I just started adding RO Right with the water changes to bring up Ca, Mg, and Kh in a balanced way. It worked great.
I don't think that is your problem though. Most likely lighting especially since it is a tall tank.

 

[Kilgore]

Oops - I listed my measurements wrong (don't kill me)... my tank is actually 24 inches LONG by 20 inches HIGH. Makes it easier to find a good fixture, at least. So it is not quite as deep as I previously stated - will that make any difference to light issues? I don't know my phosphate levels but I will order a testing kit today of you think it really matters.

I was thinking of using Seachem Equilibrium - will that help my soft water... or should I just plan on dosing trace elems separately? Which is more important - potassium (K) or phosphates? I know my nitrates are low since it is a new tank, but I didn't think lack of nutrients would affect these plants in less than two weeks - seems more likely that low light is the culprit.

I like that Coralife 65w freshwater aqualight, but what color is it really? I have a black setup currently, and since it is in my living room, it needs to look nice.

Finally, with one light, will plant placement/fixture placement be an issue, or will the light spread adequately throughout the tank?

Thanks again everyone for all your help and excellent advice.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

The coralife fixture is silver. it actually looks really nice and I would recommend it if your tank is 24". it should do well. You will need Co2 with it as it will drive your lighting into that kind of territory

I would recommend a phosphate test kit, if only to know what your levels are. it becomes important as you push up the light levels. you need to keep nitrate at a minimum of a 10 NO3:1 PO4 ratio.as for which is more important? both are macro nutrients so they are of equal importance, but K is generally the one you need to add, Phosphates find their way into your tank through food, carbon and other stuff. Most people find themselves having too much.

If you are using flourish brand ferts. I would recommend using Flourish, Flourish Potassium and Flourish Nitrogen.

 

[Kilgore]

Well, this hobby sure is getting expensive! Luckily most of it is an initial investment rather than a regular expense. Unless you count the desire to purchase more and larger tanks as a "recurring expense," that is.

I went ahead and purchased the Coralife Aqualight 65 watt PC fixture, some Flourish Excel, a cheap CO2 injection system with bubble counter/diffuser, Flourish Nitrogen, Flourish K. I have always had too many phophates due to farming in the area, so I will wait on the phosphorous. I am out another $100 bucks or so but hopefully my plants will flourish now. No pun intended.

Thanks to all for your wonderful advice!