I think my plants are all dying.

beetlebz

+1 on waiting. someones signature here says clean aquarium water is the best medicine, but patience is just as important :) ive often made the mistake of freaking out when adding new plants and them quickly dropping like flies, but the truth is you will lose some. When I add new plants I ID them and try to make sure my ferts will work for them. if not I grab one that does the job. More often than not the place will bounce back with appropriate nutrients. It wont be a jungle over night!

im fighting the urge to rip out all the plants in my 55 and start over again because all my new plants look sickly, but they will be fine.

aunt kymmie

It's 1077's signature line and I love it. It's so true. Someone else has something to the effect of "nothing good happens fast in an aquarium", which is also true. Beetlebz is right, patience is key. It will turn around!

Angel079

I'd also urge for patience.. Think about it these plants went from soft to harder water, from low lights to higher lights, from no ferts to quite some ferts, from stable system to new set up, from in the tanks to shipping..... I mean there's hardly anything more left that hadn't been done to the plants. I gave away plenty of the pennywort & rotala so far and never really seen this extent of melting going on neither from the same source plants here, but just have patience.
Rotala, Pennyowrt, Narrowleaf chainsowrd & Hygrophilia all grow real quick so I'd just scoop out dead leaves and let them be.

Inga

Yes, I am trying to be patient. I have calmed down some. Whatever will be will be in the plant area. I was just in full panic mode because all of them seemed to be dying on me. The Valis all but disappeared now but the other plants are hanging in there so far. Hopefully in a couple of weeks this will all be laughable. I am forever picking out dead bits of plants but doing so carefully so as not to upset or uproot any of the ones still hanging on.

I am sure the fish are doing some degree of damage to the Pennywort as they spend about 90% of their time in it or under it. It is like a shiny new toy for them, I guess. I am down to a much smaller amount of that then I started. Hopefully it will hang on since they certainly seem to enjoy it.

My remaining Blue Gourami hangs out in the Rotala and even though it is sparse yet, it certainly offers some cover and security for him. I think once it fills out, it will really look great.

sik80

Some of my plants took months before they stopped looking sickly an shedding leaves. My Java Moss and Vallis both took 2-3 months before they started growing well but there's no stopping them now

Inga

Well that is certainly encouraging. I hope mine take off as well. I am looking forward to heavily planted tank with happy fish that don't feel the need to chase or harass each other. I know the Barbs will be the exception to that rule as it is just who they are. There chasing seems to be uneventful though, just like nit picking kids.

Byron

Perhaps with each other, as they are programmed that way. But other fish in the tank can be quite stressed by their very presence even if nothing "occurs" that you can see. A quiet peaceful fish placed into a tank with a predator will be highly stressed even if that predator never attacks. Dr. David Sands did experiments with Corydoras in the 1990's and proved that when a "false" predator (a wood replica) was in the tank the Corydoras sensed "danger" and they exhibited their natural defense strategy which is to remain absolutely motionless; if that doesn't work, they dart around trying to escape. With live fish there is the further issue of pheromones released by the fish, and other fish pick these up in the water (one reason for regular water changes, to clear them out). I would be very careful what you combine with Tiger Barbs, they are by instinct pretty rough fish.

Inga

I agree. I looked to 3 different sources to find out if Gourami would be alright with Tiger Barbs and all agreed that yes, they would. So far, the Barbs are not the issue, they chase each other but for the most part leave the others alone. Big Bertha, the Gold Gourami seems to be the issue. She chases them on occasion, and they might turn around and chase her back for a foot or so then give up. She however or he, what ever the case may be, chases everyone.

I fear that i have purchased a play ground bully type of fish. I am hopeful that as the plants grow up, they can feel more secure in the tank. I hate that the learning process is so often at the expense of the fish. I was so happy and proud that I made it through the cycle process without a loss of fish life and now, I find I have a different problem. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid in owning fish.

Angel079

The only other thing I could think of on the plant matter is the Temp the tank is set at as they're tropical plants?

As for the Barbs-Gourami....I have 2 tanks with Tiger barbs and one 55g is shared with Kissing Gourami; even thou there's never been a single issue to this day and everything in this tank is very relaxed, I'd never go for this mixture of fish again cause chances of it going wrong are just too big IMO if I could I'd give up the Gourami today.

Inga

I hear you Angel. I would never have thought about Gourami but they sort of talked me into it saying they were peaceful but less likely to be picked on by my picky Tiger Barbs. I have enjoyed them a great deal for the past several weeks but now... I am ready to deep fry one of them.

Maybe in my quest to have a peaceful tank, I should get rid of ALL the fish and just enjoy the look of the aquatic plants. lol

I always say I love nature and I do, but I really have difficulty with the whole "survival of the fitest" thing.