[FrightyDog]

Well my plants have not been doing very good lately. They are in gravel with PLENTY of light, but they are having troubles. Dying, withering a bit but still surviving. The biggest problem other than that is why i made this post. The anubias has this growth on it that looks like an algae flower? Here are pics. Please help. I use no fertilizer, and my fish don't bother plants.

 

[SpyceyMeatball]

Get a sharp pair of scissors and prune those bad boys. Normal for some leaves to fall off. Doesn't look like disease. Disease/lack of nutrition would show as yellow mottling on leaves. I would check water params to be sure. Something is probably off with the chemistry...if pruning doesnt help I mean. Other leaves look pretty healthy.

 

[SpyceyMeatball]

.....and I just thought...don't bury your anubias. But your not "aNOOBius" and probably have it attached to a rock or driftwood...right?

 

[Boredomb]

Plenty of light and no fertilizers can be a recipe for algae. Which is what you have going on here. What size tank is this? What kind of lights do you have? How long are they on during the day? Does the sunight hit the tank?? Can you post a pic of the whole tank?

 

[FrightyDog]

.....and I just thought...don't bury your anubias. But your not "aNOOBius" and probably have it attached to a rock or driftwood...right?

uhh i am a noob. anyways i have a 10 gallon. no sunlight. they are on from 7am-10pm. they are 4.5 watt incandescent hood. the filter is a hang on type crap and i would love to replace it. here is a pic.

 

[FrightyDog]

My boss said That excel by seachem Would Be Great

 

[sandybottom]

get a better lightbulb 6500k cfl or a good led. use old clean toothbrush to clean anubias leaves.

 

[Boredomb]

You gotta be careful with Excel its some pretty nasty stuff. It can be harmful to some plants too.

My suggestion here would be to reduce the lighting period to around 8hrs a day. Also make sure the light bulbs are around 6500 Kelvin as mentioned already. I would also get a glass scrubber and clean the glass as it looks to have algae on it too. Then would rub off any algae off on the plants that will come off.

At this point I would also suggest some fertilizer such as Seachems Flourish Comprehensive plant supplement. Its a really well rounded pre mix fertilizer that you can pick up at the store. Follow the direction for that size tank and dose once a week.

As for the Anubias make sure the rhizomw isn't burried and it will be fine in the gravel. The rhizome is the part where the leaves come out of from the top and the roots come out from the bottom.

 

[FrightyDog]

I'm not Sure about the Wattage, But i Read a Review Online that said that is the most the hood could handle. but they are very powerful. as to glass it is overdue for a water change that i am doing today. i will try thst flourish thing Tuesday And update this Thread. as to the anubias, those are the white stuff right? and as to pruning as someone said, what do i cut off? i admit i am a big noob at planted tanks. oh and shoukd i change my fulter or something? it is a hang on and it sucked up a plant and the filter pad turned green so maybe thats why there is algae growth? idk but i dont trust the filter, uts powerful though

 

[sandybottom]

incandescent lights are not very good.go with compact flourescent bulbs 6500k between 7-10 watt.trim the dead/dying leaves off of the plants. only the white roots of the anubias should be planted,the green part that the leaves come from is the rhizome.this should be above the substrate.

 

[FrightyDog]

I trimmed off the dead ones (mostly, some looked half alive). I will research what brand to get though. and That is what is happening. A bunch of green stuff leaves an inch gap from the leaves to the substrate

 

[FrightyDog]

The lights i have are 25 watts

 

[sandybottom]

i am a bit confused,you posted that you have a 4.5 watt incandescent hood. now you post that your light is 25 watts?can you clarify?

 

[FrightyDog]

I just copy and pasted from my aquarium log. They give you 4.5 watt bulbs (for each bulb). But those burnt out. So I bought 25 watt bulbs (for each bulb) giving a good 5 watts of light per gallon.

 

[sandybottom]

are these still incandescents?

 

[FrightyDog]

I believe so. They are not LED thats for sure.

 

[sandybottom]

that is a lot of light that your plants can not really use. it is the wrong spectrum.that will give you nice algae though.

 

[FrightyDog]

What do you suggest then?

 

[sandybottom]

2 6500k spiral compact flourescents 7-10 watt.

 

[FrightyDog]

What do those look like? Are they energy saving ones? Can I get a link to some specific ones or something?
Edit: Like these
COMPACT FLUORESCENT BULB 15 WATTS 6500K MINI SPIRAL CFL DAYLIGHT FULL SPECTRUM COLOR ENERGY STAR LIGHT BULB 10, 000 HOURS - Amazon.com