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In my 18inch tank, my Cabomba seems to be dieing. The leaves are turning clear and are disappearing. I dose the tank weekly with Sera's flora ferts, and the lighting is 2 X 30watt plant tubes. Currently housing 8 bn babies and guppy fry. I currently got 2 seperate bunchs...one seems ok, but the other is looking bad.

Just wondering what is the cause of this and how can i fix it.

Regards
Mango

Might it be temperature shock?

Hi,
If you left them as you got them and just "stuffed" the
ends into the tank, then you should take them out and
see if you can recover some of them. Chances are that if
they are as bad as you say, you will lose the whole bunch.

When ever you purchase a bunched plant from the LFS, always
separate them into single plants (carefully remove the
lead band or rubber band), rinse them under running water,
then snip the bottom 1/2 inch off with something sharp, and
then plant them in groups of three where you want them to
grow. Do not disturb them for at least two weeks to allow
fresh roots to begin to grow and anchor the new plants.

In your current case, remove the plants from the tank, and
snip off the soft, faint colored parts, and then replant
the fresher green parts. You may get some to recover.

Keep your lights on for at at least 10 hours a day, and
probably not more than 12. You dont tell us the capacity
of the tank, but you have 60 watts, divide 60 by the
capacity of the tank to determine the watts per gallon.
With Cabomba it should be 3+wpg, although some folks do
manage with 2wpg in shallow tanks.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 25-Apr-2005 19:32

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The dimensions of the tank is Length: 18inchs, Width: 9.5inchs, Height: 12inchs.

Tank Capacity:
Litres: 33.63
US Gallons: 8.88
UK Gallons: 7.4

Lighting is 60watts...

60/7.4? = 8.10w/gal?

I dont know if my calculations are right, but everything thing else seems to grow very well, only the cabomba seems to be dieing. One bunch is growing nicely, and the larger bunch seems to be dieing. They are planted in bunchs of 3 in 2inch gravel. They have long roots now, just have problem with the leaves.

i have given up on fine-leaved plants... everytime i try, i fail... haha always shed leaves and then just dies

or soft n nasty stem/roots then it just floats around and then dies..... arrrrg

only thing that lives is hornwort, which is so nasty when it floats on surface, almost doubles everyweek... yuck

What kind of lighting are you using to get 60 watts over an 18" tank?

If you are using the incandescent wattage to calculate you may have a LOT less light then you think.

---

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.

I have 2 X 30watt plant fluros @ 6500K each, Its actually a 4ft lighting over 2 tanks. Is that still considered as 60watts?

Basically no as not all the light is going into the tank.

---

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.