Help! Nano plants wilting!

serenarenee

I have a 2 gallon tank with a few Anacharis, a moss ball, a Java Fern, a banana lily and a small plant that I can't identify... There are three guppies also.
The tank is fully cycled.
I have been doing 30% water changes ever week, and the replacement water has one dose of flourish in it. I have a 30 watt full spectrum above the tank, but not all of it gets in because of the glass distortion/distance. I leave it on for about seven hours a day and the tank is near a window but never gets direct sunlight.
The Anacharis is wilting and I can't figure out why (you can't see the wilt all that well from this photo but it is there....) and the Java Fern has black spots and small holes.
Also, the banana lily is growing very slowly and it's leaves are very small. I understand that banana lilies are supposed to have rather large leaves that reach the surface of the water sometimes...
What do I do?
Help me!

Attached Images

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thefishboy

looks very nice!! The plant on the right is Egeria densa i think!

Byron

First, may I welcome you to Tropical Fish Keeping forum.

The 2-leaf plant in front of the castle is presumably the one you can't identify; it is a crypt, probably Cryptocoryne wendtii, though I usually get the "w" crypts mixed up.

To the issues. What is the temperature of the water? Egeria densa, or sometimes called Anacharis, prefers cooler water so it does best without heated water, i.e., room temp.

The Java Fern looks pretty good in the photo; black areas usually mean ammonium (ammonia) or nitrogen deficiency; I had the same on mine when it was in an amphibian tank with no fish (one source of ammonia=ammonium, the other is bacteria). It may be getting too much light in balance, this is a shade loving plant.

Banana plants are not easy to maintain; they seldom last more than a year under even good conditions. Nutrients may be an issue with this plant too.

Given the setup, I would suggest a different bulb in the light. I have tried warm white over a tank and the plants clearly did not respond well as they do under cool white or daylight. A compact fluorescent bulb of 10 watts in a daylight with a Kelvin rating around 6500K would I am sure work better. That plus the Flourish Comprehensive should help the Java Fern and Egeria, and be fine for the crypt. The Banana Plant I doubt; you may want to consider something else. If you could find a Pygmy chain sword plant, that would probably do well.

We have profiles here, second tab from the left in the blue bar across the top of the screen, and there are some of these plants included. You can also click on the shade name in posts to see that profile for fish or plants.

Byron.

redchigh

I think the crypt is Cryptocoryne Petchii, but that's only due to its small size. If it grows tons more leaves and grows much bigger than it is now, then we can try to ID it again.

I'm also wondering about the temp.. If it's unheated, the banana plant will be fine IMO. The one I have sprouts small leaves from the bulb, but then they get bigger.

Do you use water conditioner?
If so, you need to wait 1 day between adding new water and adding flourish comprehensive. (the water conditioner will neutralise some of the nutrients)

You may also want to rinse the moss ball out when you change water next.. Looks a bit dirty.

Blaxicanlatino

I agree with evewrything posted so far. The banana plant is very odd in my opinion. Ive grown banana plants before and under higher wattage (2 wpg+) it grows huge leaves that pay even reach the surface...but then at times the leaves then become small... my last banana plant did this then a few months after, the "bananas" all died off and the leaves remained tiny...eventually the leaves kept failing but the roots grew amazingly!

ive never had a nano tank b4. I think i might try soemthing like that sometime :)

redchigh

Maybe banana plants just need an extremely nutrient-rich substrate?

serenarenee

Thanks SO much for the advice! I have been adding flourish about every five days and waiting a day after water changes to make sure that the conditioner doesn't mess with it.
I have cut down on the light available with a lower wattage bulb and less time.
The crypt (it IS a crypt w.) has recovered and is doing well.

I added two amazon swords and have pruned vigorously: They remain relatively small but healthy. I couldn't find any pygmy chain grass but I hope to. Its gorgeous!

The Anacharis has recovered alright. I can't take the heater out since it's for a betta but it seems to be doing much better with the food.

The filter is out right now as the Betta is being treated for fin rot...
Thanks so much for all the helpful advice! I appreciate it so much!

(The castle had to go after the betta discovered that it could BARELY squeeze through the door and started doing it all the time. He was losing scales. He has no sense of self preservation.)

This tank is a work in progress but so much fun!

Attached Images

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serenarenee

If you'll notice the size of the castle door in the first picture, and the size of the betta in the second, you will see what I mean.