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I have two crypt wendtii red plants in my 10g with 2wpg. They have been growing great for awhile. I have had one for about 6 months and added the other just 3 months ago. They grew perfectly and turned their reddish color. Then about a week ago I noticed they were very green again. I didn't think anything about it though. A couple days ago I noticed the leaves were dying. I guess this is melting...it sure looks like they are. I have not moved them or done anything to them. I gravel vac about once every two weeks and change the water once every two weeks.
The fish in the tank are one male betta, 8 neons, and two ottos. I also have tons of small pond snails and small ramshorn snails that I can't seem to get rid of. I think the ramshorns killed the crypts because I noticed some small holes in the leaves before they started dying off.
The other plants in the tank are wisteria, rotala indica, bacopa caroliniana, dwarf sag, and an anubias nana. All of these plants are growing fine. The stem plants actually need trimming. Nothing else seems to be dying off like the crypts.

Here is a before picture...I think I took it about a week ago..maybe longer:


Here is the picture I took earlier today:


(See all the snails??...I have been trying to hand pick out the larger ones..but I still find eggs everywhere! ]:|)[/font][/font]

I checked my water and found 2-3ppm of ammonia, between 0 and 0.25ppm of nitrIte, and 40ppm of nitrAte. Could the ammonia be killing my plants?? I did a 50% water change and posted my readings and questions in the water quality forum.
If not the ammonia then what would cause them to melt?

Last edited by GirlieGirl8519 at 07-Jan-2006 15:52

*Kristin*

GirlieGirl

I don’t know what causes your crypts to melt, but holes in leaves are also be a sign of lack of Potassium. Maybe you can try to investigate if this can cause melting.

Did you upgrade the light just recently? Just a thought.

Ingo

EDIT: Where does all the ammonia etc. come from?


Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 07-Jan-2006 16:41

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LittleFish: I have not upgraded the lights.
I am trying to find out what is causing the high ammonia also. I apparently also had a drop in pH according to my test kit. I am trying to figure out all of this in the water quality forum.
One cause of the ammonia could be a dead neon I found yesterday morning. It looked like it had been dead for a few days. I look every day and count the fish, but with all the plants..sometimes I can't count all the neons.
Everything is going crazy in the 10g.

The pH problem could be from a piece of Malaysian DW I put in the tank about a week ago. Not sure though.

I think the holes were from the snails.

I use liquid ferts. They include Potassium, Iron, Flourish, Excel, and Nitrogen. I usually go by the schedule on the Seachem site, but I have been missing a few doses lately.

*Kristin*

Are they giant ramshorn snails?

Giant ramshorns are prolific plant eaters and will destroy a planted tank if not extremely well fed. Mine will take giant chunks of java moss out if I forget his weekly algae pellet.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

I don't know what a "giant" ramshorn looks like. The biggest ones are only an inch long. They multiply like crazy and I can't seem to get rid of them. I do think they are eating my plants though. The crypts are the only ones that have died though.

*Kristin*