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Wow, am I ever getting discouraged. We got our plants last Thurs and our first 2 fish (swordtails) on Fri. The male sword is already dead and the female is on her way out. My plants are slowly disengrating (sp?)! What's the deal. I bought all low lighting plants, so they should be ok with the lighting. I put in fertilizer balls around as many of them as possible?

We are slowly discovering just how toxic our tap water is.......we have found that the ammonia in our tap is 3.0. So on Sat. night we put in ammonia block and cleared that out. Our tap also puts out 8.4 pH, so we tried to lower it with distilled and that did not really help so we also put in ph down tablets which has lowered the water to 7.5-7.8.

My total alkilinity is still VERY HIGH - 300 KH
and I don't know why or exactly how to bring it down..

MY QUESTION TO YOU ALL: What do you think exactly is hurting my plants........and what would you do to save them??

Tinfil

Hi Tinfil

Question for you: What kind of plants do you have? Most plants are grown emersed (which means part under water and part out of the water). When we buy them and completely submerge them the old leaves and growth tend to die off or melt off before the new growth starts in. Don't be discouraged, just give them time to settle in.

It's also possible that you bought a certain kind of plant that cannot be grown underwater - that needs to be at least partly out of the water to live. A lot of chain LFS sell these types of plants. It would help a lot to know what kinds you have exactly.

Bottom line - it's not your water that's hurting them, the ammonia would actually benefit them because plants can use it as food.

3.0 coming out of the tap seems pretty high... are you sure that's correct? In anycase, you'll need to build up that bio-filter before you fish can do well.

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Back in the saddle!

Here's my list:
I ordered them online at freshwateraquariumplants.com
and they all really looked nice when I received them.


vallisneria tortifolia "corkscrew" - these are doing the worst! leaves look like they are disengrating with holes in the leaves

cryptocorne wendtii "red", "green", and lutea - looking like they are slowly dying.

Java Fern - doing reasonably well, few leaves turning brown

anubias Nana - doing very good

sagittaria pusilla "Dwarf" - some leaves look ok, others turning almost transparent then dying.

sagittaria subulata -looking pretty good

Tinfil

Last edited by tinfil at 05-Dec-2005 13:17

Also forgot to ask, how much lighting do you have on the tank?

The melting is normal for the vals and especially the crypts. Crypts are notorious for melting when disturbed. Once they shed their old leaves leave them alone and they'll grow in just fine. Same thing with the vals, let them settle in and they should be OK.

Depending on the lighting, the corkscrew vals and the sag pusilla may give you some trouble...

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Back in the saddle!

ok, that makes me feel a little better that the melting is normal......

my lighting is (<1 wpg)...low I know....

so do I trim off all of the dead looking stuff??

Thanks for writing back!

tinfil

my lighting is (<1 wpg)...low I know....

Hmm, that IS going to cause trouble for a few of those plants. If you're able to upgrade your lighting, i would suggest doing so. Doesn't need to be a huge upgrade, just 1-1.5 WPG of flourescent lighting.

The java fern, anubias and crypts will be fine with the lighting as is. The dwarf sag may be OK, you can give it a try. The vals... of course you can give them a try but don't get your hopes up for them. Corkscrew vals I've read can be a little more light hungry than other types.

I would let the leaves melt for another day or so, then pick them off. Watch as the new growth comes in. If leaves start coming in pale and thin then there's not enough light for them and it may be best to remove the plant entirely.

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Back in the saddle!

The above statements are very true. With most all plants you will get some die off when newly planted. Especially if you are ordering them through the mail.

Also, the plants you listed will be fine in the hardness and alkalinity you listed. As for the ammonia, the plants will do fine in it as well, though the fish may not. Plants use ammonia as a fert.

But, the plant die off will add to the ammonia levels. As the dead leaves are rotting organic materials. Especially if you have a substantial amount of them all at the same time.

It will take weeks and maybe even months for some of them to settle in to their liking. If the crypts completely dissappear, don't pull them up and throw them away, as many times they will come back. This is quite common with crypts.

HTH......

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There is always a bigger fish...

do you trim off just the dead part of the leaf or take off the whole leaf and stem (crypts)

for the vals, do you trim them all the way down to the bottom of the tank?

tinfil

The vals, just trim off the dead part. As with all plants, the leaves will eventually completely die. So it is up to you as to how much you want to trim and leave a partial leave there, or take the entire bad leave out. Some plants however, as is the case with the val, will die if you trim all the leaves back. So it is best to trim the bad part till you get some nice growth. Always try to leave some leaves on the plants. Never trim them completely back of all the leaves.

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There is always a bigger fish...