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Hi, I have a 55 gallon tank in which I have been keeping a java fern for the last 4 months. It is tied to a piece of wood and was growing very well. Recently however, the broader leaves of the plant have started to turn completely brown. This has been happening to one of my amazon sword plants as well, though the rest of the plants are doing quite well.This actually started happening after I increased the lighting of my tank from 20 watts to around 40 watts. Is this happening due to the increased lighting or some defeciency in the water? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hi,
It sounds like a nutrient deffiency.
Check out this site, and you might also "BookMark" it for
the future:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm

Another version from a different site:

http://www.otoaquatic.com/nutrient_deficiency.asp

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

It would help if you provided us with a full water peramiters, and more info about your tank. Are you using any fertlisers if so what are you using and how much do you use per week?

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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Sounds like a Nitrate deficiency. It will effect older leaves first. The incresed light will increase the demand for nutrients hence the shortage showing now.

---

Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

CO2, as the plants grow and become larger, they also need more nutrients and use up more CO2.

Being able to adjust these parameters is a key, or you can make sure you add the upper ranges of nutrients and CO2(EI methods) to begin with rather than "just enough" methods.

This allows more play and freedom in dosing.

But both plants will show signs of decay when the CO2 is low, also, if the growth of some plants is "smaller" rather than stunted, that's a good sign it's CO2, not NO3.

Adding KNO3 is easy though and then you can rule that afterwards by watching the plants.

Then if it still presist, then you are likely seeing a CO2 issue.

Pruning and maintaining and stable slower growing tank (lower light etc) is wise if you prefer a "just enough" method for obvious reasons that seem to elude some that argue for such methods ironically.

Regards,
Tom Barr