Plant help please? Dying plants.

hI everyone. I am a total newbie with plants and am having some issues. It is a 10 gallon with shrimp and a betta, will be adding more fish soon. I got some plants almost 2 weeks ago. I purchased 3 anubias (I think?) and they are losing some of the new leaves growing. A handful of african water lettuce, they lost SO many roots the first few days. Roots are okay now but some of the leaves are turning pale and deteriorating. I have some pothos sticking out the back near my filter, so just their roots are in the water. Idk what plant is in the front left, but the leaves are dying. Not sure what is in the back right, seems to be the only one doing okay. It is heated to 80, filtered, use Carribsea eco-complete planted aquarium substrate, and I add Seachem flourish for the plants.
Tank:


Front left plant:


Anubias (?)


Water lettuce (dead/half eaten leaf above pink plant. Lots of these have been found)


Plant in back right. Only one doing okay.

 

The plants that you have in your tank are Anubias, Bacopa, Water Lettuce, and Hornwort. I don't recommend using Eco Complete for growing rooted plants as they are inert. Instead, I recommend getting aqua soil such as ADA, Tropica, UNS, and so on. Another alternative for growing rooted plants is organic potting soil capped with sand or gravel. As for the plants dying, do you know if the plants are grown emersed?

 

Root tabs are an option too. It's not unusual for new plants to 'melt' at first - give it a couple more weeks see if they start to grow back.

 

The plants that you have in your tank are Anubias, Bacopa, Water Lettuce, and Hornwort. I don't recommend using Eco Complete for growing rooted plants as they are inert. Instead, I recommend getting aqua soil such as ADA, Tropica, UNS, and so on. Another alternative for growing rooted plants is organic potting soil capped with sand or gravel. As for the plants dying, do you know if the plants are grown emersed?

Thank you for giving me the names of the plants. Unfortunately Eco Complete is what I have for now, I do not have the time or money to get anything else and change the substrate again. Just spent a lot of money on this tank and the current substrate. Anything I can do instead? Can I mix the eco complete and soil? I have a 10 gallon with just eco complete that I could add soil to, getting ready to add plants and hardscape soon. By emersed do you mean were they grown completely under water? They were completely under water when I got them at the store. A guy I met at the store is giving me a ton of plants and a plant grow light for free, so I am also trying to prepare for that.

 

Root tabs are an option too. It's not unusual for new plants to 'melt' at first - give it a couple more weeks see if they start to grow back.

Thank you. It is very worrisome for me finding all this dead plant matter everyday. How do I use root tabs? Just stick it directly under the plant root?

 

Thank you for giving me the names of the plants. Unfortunately Eco Complete is what I have for now, I do not have the time or money to get anything else and change the substrate again. Just spent a lot of money on this tank and the current substrate. Anything I can do instead? Can I mix the eco complete and soil? I have a 10 gallon with just eco complete that I could add soil to, getting ready to add plants and hardscape soon. By emersed do you mean were they grown completely under water? They were completely under water when I got them at the store. A guy I met at the store is giving me a ton of plants and a plant grow light for free, so I am also trying to prepare for that.

You use OPS and cap it with Eco Complete. Emersed growth means plants that have grown out of water.

 

The plants that you have in your tank are Anubias, Bacopa, Water Lettuce, and Hornwort. I don't recommend using Eco Complete for growing rooted plants as they are inert. Instead, I recommend getting aqua soil such as ADA, Tropica, UNS, and so on. Another alternative for growing rooted plants is organic potting soil capped with sand or gravel. As for the plants dying, do you know if the plants are grown emersed?

Crispii,

Shouldn't that anubias be raised up so the rhizome is above the soil?

 

Crispii,

Shouldn't that anubias be raised up so the rhizome is above the soil?

The rhizome does not look like it is buried.

 

The rhizome does not look like it is buried.

Thanks. It looked to me like it's right at the top of the substrate and I didn't know if that's okay or not. I planted mine with the rhizome just above the soil and the roots have pushed it up probably an inch or so in the couple months it's been in the tank.

 

You use OPS and cap it with Eco Complete. Emersed growth means plants that have grown out of water.

Okay thank you for the info