jack--sos

i have had some live plants in my tank for 3 weeks and they have never really addapted to it, they have rooted but some of the leaves are turning brown. i have some other plants in, but am not sure of the names, one was red and became a quick snack for my for my buenos aires tetra and another that is a snack now but just surviving. can anyone help me and give me some advice on what to do?

thanks
jack

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ask91888

There could be a few reasons for your plants dying...first of all, what kind of lighting do you have? I know from experience that some types of swords don't do good in low lighting at all. Second, are you using any fertilizers? They aren't necessary to growing plants, but they do help me a bunch.

Also, if I see leaves getting totally brown like that, I just trim them off when I do a water change. I usually leave a leaf with a small spot or two, because it can still help the plant.

jack--sos

it says on it Arcadia FO-15 , which is gobolydeygook to me but under there it says plant growth lamp so that could be a good start :P

i am not using fertilizers however

mathas

That's a 15W bulb. How many bulbs are in the fixture?

ask91888

If there's only the one bulb at 15W, and your tank info is accurate (19g), than you are looking at pretty low light (~.8 Watts/Gallon). There aren't a whole lot of plants that will survive at that light, let alone thrive. There's a section in the sticky on low-light tanks (here it is: General Guide to Low-Light Planted Tanks ) which is really helpful.

Also, it looks like you have the same type of gravel as I do, and I have been told that because it is larger, it is better to add fertilizers (I'm not really sure of the reasoning/ thought process for this, but I don't think that fertilizers could really hurt). I use the basic Tetra Flora Pride (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...01&pcatid=4701) and it works pretty well for me.

Butterfly

Ask911888- the only reason I can think of for the comment about your size gravel is that nutrients may be flowing around your plant roots and out again instead of hanging in the gravel for your plants to use.
Root tabs would be a good solution for you both Most swords need plant tabs around the roots since they are heavy root feeders not leaf feeders.
Carol

pepetj

I had the same problem with locally raised Swords. I purchased imported Black Amazon Swords and did several adjustments to keep them healthy:
1) Increased the Watts per Gallon (DIY-lighting upgrading) from less than 1WPG to close to 2WPG
2) Improved the substrate with Eco-Complete (100% in one tank; mixed with 40% sand in another, as bottom layer)
3) Injected CO2 through a commonly used DIY system (two 2L soda bottles with a mixture of yeast, baking soda and sugar; one 20oz soda bottle as gas separator; one mini-reactor).

Before I did this, my swords and other mid light plants kept on dying.

Note: Another effective way of adding CO2 without all this hassle is by adding Seachem's Excel (hope I'm not mis-spelling it).

Pepe
Santo Domingo

ask91888

Hmmm...interesting. I have never even heard of root tabs before. Thanks for the info, I'll make sure to pick some of those up!

jack--sos

Thanks everyone, i will try and get a bigger watt lamp, however i am hopefully getting a 60 gallon present from santa so i may wait untill after the holidays to buy a new bulb and substrate. i will look for some fertilizers next time i go to my LFS

Butterfly

Seachem flourish are good root tabs just bury them(1 or 2) close to the roots.
Carol