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Sick plants...HELP

4K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  Angel079 
#1 ·
We have resently set-up a 180 litre (50gallon) tank...with external 800L/hour filter, a 40watt ultraviolet tube & a 40watt red tube our fish are happy and health but our plants aren't looking very good. One has lost pretty much all its leaves and all have a brown tinge. We feed them API leaf zone once a week is this enough? any other suggestions would be great...
Thanks in advance
 
#3 ·
i would suggest changing your lights, and changing your fertilizer. use Seachem comprehensive it has 17 nutrients that the plants need in it. feed one cap full once a week for ever 50 gallons of water. plus for any swords use a stick fert in the gravel near the root of the plants. also remember some plants will loose their leaves to acclimate themselves to the new water conditions
 
#4 ·
Agree with former posts. The main problem that must get fixed is lighting.

Plants ned blue and red light, and the easiest way to achieve this is full spectrum tubes rated around 6500K. They are significant in the blue and red but also include green which balances the otherwise "purplish" tone and the colours of plants and fish appear natural. As you have two tubes, a full spectrum plus a cool white would be best. But full spectrum alone will also work fine.

Byron.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Ultraviolet!?

Swap them for any other bulb and you should be away. Even "warm white" 3000k bulbs would be FAR better than them.

Actually warm lighting makes for good plant growth, depending on the plants, due to the accentuated reds. Aim for something at the 6500k mark with a high CRI (and good PAR ratings if you want to get into that)..
 
#6 ·
Apart from the change of light suggested above already.

What plants exactly do you have in the tank?
What's your temperature in this tank?
 
#7 ·
were not exactly sure what the lights actually are...we whre just guessing it a 4 ft aquarworld refector light which has 2 40 watt lights...one gives off a natural warm light and the other one gives off a blue light...not sure if that helps??
and the water temp is 26-27 degrees
 
#8 ·
Turn off the power to your lights, unscrew them you will find a name on the bulbs, that'll help determine if they need replacement or not ( 9 times outta 10 bulbs coming with the fixtures as standard set do indeed require replacement for proper plant growth).
 
#10 ·
the marine blue is not good for freshwater aquaria. as byron stated go with a full-spectrum and a cool white bulb. a good full spectrum is a lifeglo 2 or try the coralife nutra grow

Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Coralife Nutri Grow Plant Lamp

Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Zoo Med Tropic Sun Fluorescent Bulbs

this is the setup i recently ordered. it is in the mail.

also i would get some seachem flourish comprehensive supplement for the planted aquarium. follow the directions on the bottle and you will be golden.

Supplements for Healthy Planted Aquariums: Seachem Flourish
 
#11 ·
this needs to be said here and i will live by this untill i die. i have a amazon sword and java fern in my tank (easy care plants) i use a complete liquid fert and root tabs and use a actnic bulb and a 300k builb both are about 40 watts.

everyone is correct about plants needing a good mix of red and blue wavelengths in the light. however this can be achived by buying regular household bulbs, you dont need to go out and spend 4327189372198 dollars on a single bulb when you can spend less than 10 for a good size one. when shopping for regular household light's (Floro t8's) you want to look at watt per gallon. i use a like a 40 watt actnic and a regular household light and the plants are fine dont belive everything you hear not to say some mebers are wrong here but some also are stuck in their ways and wont ever change. if you like i can delve deeper into this if you like


P.S Only light at a Wavelength of 254 nm has germicidal effect AKA Ultra Violet lights and yes these will blind you for about half a day i learned this the hard way.
 
#13 ·
I just want to add I have the Coralife on both of my planted 20 gallon tanks and I am very pleased with the plant growth as well as the way it looks. I also use the Flourish fertilizer both liguid and tablets in my tanks and my tanks are doing splendid. I have a variety of Swords, Wendit, Varsela, and others that I can't recall right now. LOL
 
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