New 65G Planted Aquarium: How Are My Plants Doing?

I have 10 week new planted aquarium with fish and I cannot tell if the plants are on a good path or showing signs of poor health. I have read that new plants will often end up being trimmed back to allow healthier new leaves/growth to come in.

Stats:

• kH 6
• pH 7.4 pre-lights, 6.8 at last light
• 75-76 F
• CO2 3.5bps on with the lights (reaching about 25ppm at peak)
• Lighting 5000k, 27W, 10 hours
• Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0 - .1, Phosphate 0
• Fertilizer: 2x/week Flourish, 2x/week Pottasium, 1x/week Iron (all Seechem products)

Exhibit A:

See picture of Buce below. I has been in the tank for 4 weeks. Some yellowing leaves but some new green/reddish leaves coming in. Several (new) leaves beginning to unfold. Algae growth seems under control.

I assume this is doing well?

Exhibit B:

I added 4-6 Java ferns on 3 different occasions. These are the basic Java Fern 5-8". They have stayed green with a little browning, but some are rapidly growing offspring (two pics below). The offspring look healthy - great color, long furry roots.

But is that algae on the roots?

Do I remove the offspring and plant them?

Is this a sign of stress or health?

Exhibit C:

The last pic shows one of my smaller Trident Java Ferns (they might actually be Petite, I got them mixed up). Out of about 6 plants a couple are starting to get tips melting away, brown spots, and algae collecting. Snails love eating the algae off of them.

Are these plants struggling or is this a case where I have to trim and wait for new growth?


// I recently got back into the hobby after 20 years and so much has changed! Any feedback/advice welcome.

 

The buce looks healthy. A bit of yellowing is normal when it's still new to the tank.

When a java fern is rapidly producing offspring, it often means the plant is stressed. It's likely just because it isn't quite established yet. That just looks like detritus on the roots, you probably don't have to do anything about it.

To replant the young ones, just wait until they've got some decent size, and you can remove and replant them.

A bit of dieback is completely normal before the plants establish themselves. I would just wait for it to recover.

 

Thanks for the reply. So what I am hearing is just be patient, keep the parameters stable, and see how things progress week over week.

//First time trying plants and it is much different than assessing fish health.

 

Thanks for the reply. So what I am hearing is just be patient, keep the parameters stable, and see how things progress week over week.

//First time trying plants and it is much different than assessing fish health.

Yeah, just keep things stable, and it should be fine.

 

I have 10 week new planted aquarium with fish and I cannot tell if the plants are on a good path or showing signs of poor health. I have read that new plants will often end up being trimmed back to allow healthier new leaves/growth to come in.

Stats:

• kH 6
• pH 7.4 pre-lights, 6.8 at last light
• 75-76 F
• CO2 3.5bps on with the lights (reaching about 25ppm at peak)
• Lighting 5000k, 27W, 10 hours
• Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0 - .1, Phosphate 0
• Fertilizer: 2x/week Flourish, 2x/week Pottasium, 1x/week Iron (all Seechem products)

Exhibit A:

See picture of Buce below. I has been in the tank for 4 weeks. Some yellowing leaves but some new green/reddish leaves coming in. Several (new) leaves beginning to unfold. Algae growth seems under control.

I assume this is doing well?

Exhibit B:

I added 4-6 Java ferns on 3 different occasions. These are the basic Java Fern 5-8". They have stayed green with a little browning, but some are rapidly growing offspring (two pics below). The offspring look healthy - great color, long furry roots.

But is that algae on the roots?

Do I remove the offspring and plant them?

Is this a sign of stress or health?

Exhibit C:

The last pic shows one of my smaller Trident Java Ferns (they might actually be Petite, I got them mixed up). Out of about 6 plants a couple are starting to get tips melting away, brown spots, and algae collecting. Snails love eating the algae off of them.

Are these plants struggling or is this a case where I have to trim and wait for new growth?


// I recently got back into the hobby after 20 years and so much has changed! Any feedback/advice welcome.

Good Evening D6Veteran,
I would say give it some time. Your plants like anything else in your new tank is going through an adaptation period. Most aquatic plants are no exception to this rule. The great majority of the are grown immersed an so their leaves which they have when you buy the plant is not their aquatic version / type; so during this adaptation period those aerial leaves ( grown above the water) will die off and new aquatic version / type will grow. This change requires a lot of energy and time. So I would say allow your tank at the very least 90 days to go through this period. While you are waiting ensure your give them the proper level of nutrition ( I am referring to your plants, some will absorb the nutrients from the water column through their leaves, others will be heavy root feeders and thus, will absorb most of their nutrients through their roots within the substrate.
So a little patience and a lot of vigilance on your behalf should helped them go through this transition. If you need any additional help feel free to reach out and I will gladly help you in any way I can.

 

Backblast72 thanks so much for the detailed and thoughtful reply!