Tony.Bates Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Hi Everyone Well my new tank is coming along nicely, I've added some Neon Tetras and a couple of BN Cats to get things started. The fish seem to be doing well, but i'm having issues with my plants. The plants went in about 10 days ago, I have between 5 and 7cm of gravel in the tank (its probably of a medium to fine coarseness). I'd say probably half of the leaves have fallen off, and there is loads of junk stuck in the leaves of the plants that still have them. One plant fell to bits entirely and was just left with a stick! :roll: Help! What can I do to help my plants out? Temperature is steady 25.5, PH of 7.2 Trites and trates are still not registering on my test kits. :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 How long had the fish been in there before the plants went in. Had the tank had any fish in it previously. I have found this can happen in tanks that are relatively new and also in tanks that have been well cleaned, as there are no nutrients in the gravel for the plants to absorb, therefore they struggle to survive and stasrt to break down. Also what plants are they, as they may not be true aquatic plants at all. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polgara Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 I've found that just about every plant you buy from a LFS dies when you first put it in a tank and then re-grows from the stick... most aquaruim plants arent grown in water, they are grown in a room that always has a fine mist of water thru the air so they are not used to being submerged completely, so most of the time they die off and then regrow from there. best place to buy plants is off other hobbiests, cause 9/10 times their plants are submerged and even a cutting from them will grow faster than a plant from a LFS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony.Bates Posted September 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 The plants went in about a week before the fish did - I'm not sure what plants they are, I got them from The Goldfish Bowl in Hamilton - being new to the hobby I just asked for a selection of plants. The plants were in a tank of water at the Goldfish Bowl, so I'm not sure if that is the problem? Is there something I can add to the tank to supply nutrients? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 you can add fertiliser sticks or balls to the base of the plants, but if the fish have been in there a week, you will be getting a sort of sedimentary layer forming in the gravel that they will start feeding from. Also make sure that it's just the roots that you have planted, as some plants don't like having the base of the stem pushed into the gravel and they rot out due to having no circulation round it. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 22, 2005 Report Share Posted September 22, 2005 Once the nutrients start building up you shuold find the plants send out new growth again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helena Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 Hi Tony I had the same problem. I was given a booklet Seachem H2grow fresh water planted brochure. I found it very informative so have started using seachem flourish and flourish iron twice a week. The plants started growing really well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted September 23, 2005 Report Share Posted September 23, 2005 you can also use chelated iron, diluted in water to add iron to the tank. i found out about this from Cees via Jude. thanks guys B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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