new plants are all dieing

joe1992w

i bought 6 small aqaurium plants and put them in my 2 week old fishless cycling tank, when i bought them from the shop they all seemed healthy enough, now today 2 days on they all look in a bad way, leaves are going translusent and falling off and the once green healthy leaves are going the same way or wilting, i can't provide names of the plants as they weren't given at the store they were simply named fresh water aquarium plants and the guy was helpful enough and i explained my rig and he recommended the plants i got.
What could this be? what am i doing wrong? i have been rying to give them 8 -12 hours of light a day in an attempt to salvage them. any help would be great


Also i am running a 400L/H filter with spray bar with no other aeration i am lookign at buying another 650L/h power head with venturi and running them at different ends of my 100l 3ft tank would this casue too much current for a community tank of live bearers?

Byron

Hello and welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping.

Can you post photos of the tank with the plants? Without knowing what they actually are, it is difficult to suggest remedies. Also, can you give us your water parameters? Temperature, pH, hardness if you know them.

Two other things will be important long-term, though not likely to have affected the plants in two days. First is light; can you tell us what you have? Be specific; if fluorescent, how many tubes, and what are they (this is printed on one end of the tube). And are you using any plant fertilizer?

On the filtration, one filter such as you have in a 36-inch tank is more than adequate for livebearers. And the plants do not appreciate getting beffeted around either, it affects their nutrient uptake.

I'll offer what I can on the plant problem when I have the above info, and photos please.

Byron.

joe1992w

thanks, whilst i'm getting photo's you can have my parameters, ph is 8.2 reading from my api high range ph test kit and i have very hard water but i haven't a test kit for the values so here's a link to my water supplier for my area
http://www.yorkshirewater.com/extra-...&lng=-0.377182

no fertiliser as the guy said because my ammonia nitrate and nitrite were soo high i wouldn't need it for a while

bulbs are " classica FY 30" the full 3ft length of my tank 1 bulb it is a bright white light with a blueish tinge if that is any use

Anubis

Post some Photos so we could Help you identify them and Know what The Problem Is.

Byron

The Yorkshire water link recalled to mind your earlier thread, so I've reviewed that. The filtration issue was answered in that thread, nothing about plants though.

I did a Google search and can't find anything on the lights. You'll have to give me more info, from the carton they came in, or see if something is printed on the tubes at one end, it usually is. I need everything there.

I'll wait for the photos before more comments.

joe1992w

i appreciate you all trying to help but there is nothing else printed on the bulb, i have disconnected it and looked everywhere, also i don't have the box it came in so i cannot give you any more details on the light, the last picture is the leaves i have collected from today alone

pics are here

joe1992w

a gogole search returned this, possibly my bulb althouth mine doesn't seem pinkish

Byron

The dish of leaves are from the Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis) which is the worst in the photos, although the Egeria densa, the stem plant in the middle photo of lower row next to the Wisteria, seems to be falling apart too. This latter plant prefers cooler water, so this may be due to the temp. I would leave it and see, understand it may not make it but it might.

On the Wisteria, I would leave this (continue to remove dead/separated leaves). This does occur when it is moved, I have had this myself, and it always rebounds. A significant change in water from the store to your tanks can cause this. The light has a major part in this plant, and it will need nutrients as it is a fast grower.

The Ludwigia plants in the top three photos look OK to me. Liquid fertilizer will be helpful, do you know what your local stores carry? You're in the UK so some things are different from what we have available in NA.

We still need to sort out the light--your link in the subsequent post was missing.

joe1992w

thanks, and sorry for my stupidity the link is here http://www.classica-aqua.com/product...=6&id=5&lan=en
and my tank has been 25-26 degrees c whilst the plants have been in, too warm? thanks for your help

Byron

The "Natural Daylight" tube should be perfect. You've linked the "Tropical Sunlight" which is going to give a purplish hue. You mentioned two tubes, one white and one blue; you may have one of each of these now, in which case that will work. But two tubes over a 3-foot tank is a lot of light, and this creates problems because there have to be sufficient nutrients to balance or algae will take hold.

Now that we've gone this far, I would suggest a good comprehensive plant fertilizer (liquid). Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium is about the best I've used. There is one available in the UK, name slips my mind, that I looked at for another member a while back and I thought it would be OK. Have a look for the Flourish, if they have it, get it; a half-teaspoon once or maybe twice a week in a 30g is all you need so it lasts a long time. If you can't get Flourish [and make sure it is the exact name I gave, Seachem makes several plant products in the Flourish line] let me know what you can get, with a internet site link just in case and I'll take a look.

You are going to need fertilizer with this much light. And I would have the light on for 9 hours each day; a common lamp timer from the hardware store is the best way to get this. With the fertilizer this should work, although if algae develops you could reduce the duration. I suspect you can't remove one of the tubes and still have the other light; most fixtures need both tubes in. But you could try this and see, as one tube (the natural daylight) on for 12 hours would prob be fine.

The temp is fine for tropical community aquaria. Just be prepared to lose the Egeria, though again it may rebound. This plant is sometimes used in Goldfish tanks due to the cooler water.

Byron.