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I got some elodea 5 days ago and it doesnt look too good. The leaves have started to go brown, and fall off.
I think i planted them incorrectly.
How do u do it correctly?
Here r some shots of it

It's best to peel off the leaves off the bottom two inches of stem (or however much of the stem will be buried.). Those leaves will just rot anyway, so there's no point in leaving them on the plant.

Other than that, the only thing I can think of (and sorry for yet again answering while still waking up ) would be the possible addition of fertilizer tabs or spikes under the gravel.

It's not uncommon for a plant to wilt after being planted. It's the same as in your regular outdoor garden... plants don't appear to be as perky because they've been disturbed and are going to put all their energy into making sure their root structure is going to hold them in place and feed them. Appearances are less important than a good foundation at this point in a plant's existence.

I'll leave the more coherent responses to those who are actually awake... and not running late for work! Eep! *runs* Good luck!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

desiredusername,

Elodea, or Egeria Densa and Egeria Najas, are not very good rooters to begin with, they do much better when floating. In addition, if you have a rather weak light source (I don't know if that is the case in your tank) then the lower parts may turn brown when - for example - planted too densely and not enough light can reach the bottom parts. Also, these plants are not too wild about too much Flourish Excel in the water column (normal doses may be fine though, I heard) as they tend to melt away.

Hope this helps a little,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

If you have a bucket with gravel you can put them outside for a month or so, and then they'll have a good root system and flowers, just an idea because thats what happens in my pond.

-Vincent

thanks for replies every1,
i will replant them then.
BTW the tank has about 1wpg and standard fert dosage

it may not be the light at all, it could be the ferts taking a toll on the elodea

-Vincent

desiredusername,

Not to throw you a curve here, but when you say "standard fert dosage", what does that mean? There are quite a few standards out there, just to name a few:

- recommendations of the manufacturer
- Estimative Index
- PPS
- Fellow Hobbyists

So, only if you want to, we could talk about the ferts a little (Budzilla hinted towards an invlovement of the ferts as well). Here is a set of basic questions that need to answered to get started:

- What ferts do you use (for the water and the substrate)?
- How often and how much do you use?
- Do you add a carbon based product to the tank (like some form of CO2 or maybe Flourish Excel), and if so then describe how you use it.
- What light do you have (as in type and K rating)?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club