Plants dying help!

[ScottyNPT]

Right guys I just added a few live plants into my tank and they all seem to be dying and not doing very good. I’ve added some fertiliser (don’t Know if it’s a good one), will they grow back and get better or do I need to take them out and put fresh ones in? Which is a good fertiliser to use? I still have algae growing to!

 

[Chanyi]

It's all emersed growth and will die back until the true aquatic growth replaces it. Once the leaves turn brown / show obvious signs of death, cut them and remove them from the tank.

 

[ScottyNPT]

It's all emersed growth and will die back until the true aquatic growth replaces it. Once the leaves turn brown / show obvious signs of death, cut them and remove them from the tank.

So I have to take them out and cut all the leaves off? They were fine in the shop tank

 

[DoraCory]

It looks like most of those are plants with roots under the substrate, so adding some root tabs to the substrate will definitely help them long term.

 

[Chanyi]

So I have to take them out and cut all the leaves off? They were fine in the shop tank

Plant suppliers grow plants emersed, to avoid algae / pests. Emersed growth will last underwater for a couple weeks, meaning they look good in the store, and then start transitioning once we get them into our tanks.

Leave them in place, as the emersed growth dies back, cut it away and watch for the new aquatic growth.

 

[ScottyNPT]

Ok thanks guys!

 

[jkkgron2]

Plant suppliers grow plants emersed, to avoid algae / pests. Emersed growth will last underwater for a couple weeks, meaning they look good in the store, and then start transitioning once we get them into our tanks.

Leave them in place, as the emersed growth dies back, cut it away and watch for the new aquatic growth.

Sorry for hijacking but do you cut the stem of the emerged leaf too?

 

[Chanyi]

Sorry for hijacking but do you cut the stem of the emerged leaf too?

Yes, any damaged leaves will not recover / heal, so you remove the stem + leaf.

 

[ScottyNPT]

I just give them all a little trim so see how they get on.

 

[jkkgron2]

Yes, any damaged leaves will not recover / heal, so you remove the stem + leaf.

Thanks, I’ve been having melted leaves on my new swords but wasn’t sure where to cut.

 

[jake37]

They can be a little pricey because of shipping but dustinfishtanks makes a point of telling you which plants they grow submerged and which are emerged. Most of their plants are grown submerged. I received an order from them and they were exceptional. The biggest negative is the total cost due to shipping. So far they are the only vendor i've found that actually discuss this emerged vs submerged issue.

Another thing you should be aware when selecting plants is many plants look very different depending on if they are grown submerged or emerged. So that ugly duckling in the ship my turn into a swan in the aquarium and vice versa. When shopping you should look for images of the submerged form.

 

[Mike1995]

Most aquarium plants have emersed growth when you buy them. You can get either aquascaping scissors from your lfs or online to trim them back or use regular scissors. You don't have remove them from the tank.
I was wondering tho, is the second plant pictured an aquatic plant? It looks kinda like a house plant.

 

[lobobrandon]

Just to make sure: Do not remove the entire plant to chop off a dead/dying leaf.

 

[UnknownUser]

I believe our very own Vishaquatics grows them completely submersed, but correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[Vishaquatics]

The third pic is a ribbon plant and is not an aquatic plant. I'd recommend removing it ASAP because it will rot in the water and will not grow back.

I personally do grow all of my plants completely submerged.

I think it's important to distinguish that most retailers don't sell entirely submerged grown plants. Unfortunately, most retailers who claim to sell submersed plants generally buy large amounts of emersed grown plants from wholesalers, then transition them for a couple of days/weeks to sell. The actual plant itself is probably 90% emersed grown and the other 10% is submersed new growth. So in this way, the retailer claims it's all submersed grown, when in reality the plant is not entirely submersed grown.

Some retailers that grow completely submersed plants include Hansaquatics and LiquidCreations. Great prices from them and they're hobbyist-owned online stores. Most of the plants come from a normal planted aquarium and all of the plants are grown entirely submerged.

jake37 I think I may have misunderstood what you said, but does the retailer you mention claim that it costs more to ship submersed plants?

 

[jake37]

No. I was commenting on the negative of using them as a vendor. I had one order with them and the plants i received were exceptional compared to other sellers i've used in the past. However, one purchase is not a definitive evaluation. For a lot of the plants they do indicate if it was emerged and if they have only partially grown submerged - or at least I've noticed that some description also cover this case. I was really impressed with the quality of the plants i received from them compared to some of the other places commonly recommended such as aquariumcoop and yourfishstuff. The biggest problem for myself is selection as iv'e started to look for less common plants or more specific plants.

jake37 I think I may have misunderstood what you said, but does the retailer you mention claim that it costs more to ship submersed plants?