meesheelly Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 Hey guys i was just wondering if anyone could tell me why my plants keep melting. Its a 4 ft 200 litre tank, I have daltons propagating sand as my substrate, I have 108 Watts of lighting and my blue hygro, ambulia, valis, tiger lotus are all melting. The java fern, crytps and cardimine seem ok tho? I also have green algae growing on my rocks and i bits of black and brwon algae starting to appear as well. Ive been dosing flourish excel, to no effect. Any ideas??? :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 are they plastic if so then turn down the heater. :lol: :lol: maybe the plants were grown out of water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 What do you mean by melting? Are they stem plants that are rotting off at the base or are the leaves rotting off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 i think the whole plant is disintergrating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 I think you need to dose more specialised ferts, rather than just flourish excel. PMDD would be a good start, and maybe make a DIY co2 setup.... Perhaps do some reading on dosing, on planted forums like www.plantedtank.net or aquatic plant central Also, pics would help diagnose the problem. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted April 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 rotting at bases and leaves. ill try and get some pics tomorrow I have set up a DIY co2(doesnt seem to be going very well though :-? ) I think it may be frets or too much of something in there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 High Phosphate and/or high Nitrate can cause plants to melt. Do you have a test kit you can measure either of these? If you don't want to fork-out for these, some LFS will test the water for you for a small fee. Ring around first to find out who will do it. In the early stages of a tank setup, it's good to have the test kits so you can keep an eye on the levels and they'll help you learn what effects them. You'll learn ways to control the tank how you want it. Not knowing what effects what means you're running blind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 10, 2007 Report Share Posted April 10, 2007 havent tested my water for months and months :lol: you can learn how to tell when you need a water change and if somethings wrong. but i just change the water everyweek regardless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted April 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 its been setup for bout 3 months, ive been doing weekly water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted April 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 you cant really see it in the photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted April 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 Nitrate is at 10. Dont have a phosphate test, but i will see about getting this done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 11, 2007 Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 if the plants get moved around too much there roots start to rot, and proper lighting helps keep the leaves nice and green. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted April 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2007 I havent been moving them. My lighting isnt great but it should be ok cos there is plenty of green algae on my rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steves Killies Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Hi Meesheely, could it be the flourish excel which is creating your problem? Ive used flourish to remove green hair algae in a planted tank before,knowingly that it would destroy all the val plants i had in it. I didnt have any of the other species of plants which are melting that you do,but the val sure did melt having added the flourish. Maybe you could stop using it for a while and see what happens,or lower your dosage ie:you.. MAY.. be double dosing it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted April 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Hmmm The hygro and stuff was melting before, i thought flourish would help, but the val has started melting since i started using the flourish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Cabomba is not always an easy plant to grow either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted April 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 so whats the verdict??? Do i get a phosphate absorber and give that a go? Or should i think about ferts? Or should i pull it all apart and re do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Growing a number of types of plants in one tank is a compromise like keeping different types of fish. Some will do well and others may not. Sometimes you can do what you think are all the right things and the plant still does not like it. I would keep the plants that do well and not worry about those that don't, particularly if you are using flourish. If cabomba is not happy try ambulia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantman Posted April 12, 2007 Report Share Posted April 12, 2007 Hi meesheelly, just a few inexpensive suggestion: Lighting: if more than 8 months old, you might want to change the tube. or you may want to increase one or two more hoursin your timer. or position it near a window water change: change it twice a week with 40% new water. for 3 weeks and see if there is any improvement. then go back to normal water change. fertliser: reduce your dose by half and dose every time you change the water. i suspect the plant has only being in your tank for a month or so. they are readjusting to your tank. florish excel help in growing healthy leaves but the root are not adsorbing the nutrient. made sure your gravel is a good 3 inches in height and have a good level of dayton aquatic mixed. if you have cories, or pleaco or botton feeder, you might want to put them in a seperate tank for a while until you plant staberlise with its root system. have a look at my aquatic landscaping. hope i did not confuse you. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bli Posted April 13, 2007 Report Share Posted April 13, 2007 I just got back from a few days away and my twisted val has completely disintegrated. It use to be one of the most prolific plants in my 70g tank and now all that is left is a big melted brown mess. I have been increasing my flourish dosage to rid the tank of thread algae but it seems I have killed the val in the process. All my other plants seem to be fine (fingers crossed). So i guess its off to the LFS tomorrow to replace the gaping hole at the middle back of the tank. Anyone got any good ideas of a plant that would do well here? Currently I have ambulia and rotala as my background plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplecatfish Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 I once had a snail problem that I thought was melting until the snails grew to a size that you could see them. The other possibility could be water hardness, if your water is too soft for some plants, water changes will make the melting worse. But the first thing I would look at is the lighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted April 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Well last week I stripped the tank. I found that my piece of driftwood was a bit smelly so i replaced that with a different pice of wood. I chucked all the yuck plants and put in some fresh ones. A week down the track everything is going fine (touch wood). Do you think the wood could have been doing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantman Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 where did you get the wood from? if by LFS, it will be ok, if from the nature, you might want to boiled, salted and sun before using it. changes are that your water system is not well maintain. the old wood is fine, just give it a good rinse and sun. don't point your one finger at the wood because 3 are pointing back at you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted April 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2007 The original wood was from the beach, and i soaked and suned it before use. I like the new wood better now anyway. I stripped the tank as: *it wasnt snails *I dont think it was the water hardness as my other tank has some of the same platns and they have been thriving. *Dont think it was lighting as they are new lights and I have less per litre on my other tank and things are fine. *I think the flourish may have hurt the val but the other plants were bad before i started using the flourish *I do a weekly water change and tests showed water quality wasnt a problem. *The tank has been running for over 3 months so it wasnt new tank problems *I have aquatic mix and prrpagaing sand in both my tanks, so i dont think substrate was a problem. *I have clown loaches but the plants were coming up as the had obviosly rotted through. *I have ambulia, not cabomba. So the only thing i could think to do was to pull it all apart and start over. The only thing i could think of that could have been causing problems was the wood, as it may have been leeching something into the water. Im happy with what ive done and im keen to see if it solves the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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