Plants dying

[Eaton]

Hi so I kind of have a planted aquarium with wisteria java fern java moss vallisneria and amazon sword and they are all either rotting melting and leaves dying. Whats interesting is the bottom leaves of the wisteria are melting off but its top leaves are flourishing at the top almost covering the whole surface. Is the problem the lighting because i only have one Aqua One Tropical Aquatic Tube T8 18W when theres supposed to be two tubes in the lid in a 90 litre tank.

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[Ksway]

Lighting is definitely on the low end, also t5 and t8 need to be replaced at least every year. Your plants are not that demanding though. Are they new plants ? What is your substrate and how long is the light on for?

 

[Eaton]

oh i didn't know they had to be replaced why is that? I have had the wisteria for about6 months the amazon sword 9 months the vallsineria 12 months the java fern 6 months and the java moss 3 months
I have another tank with led lights and there was a java fern in there but i switched it to the 90 litre tank where it started dying so i put it back in the tank with the leds and its growing really well now that happened with the java moss amazon sword and wisteria
oh and the substrate is gravel with api root tabs and the lights on for about 9-10 hours

 

[Ksway]

I believe they just lose their strength after time (would have to look up the exact technical reason lol), I use t5 myself and replace every year and the difference is huge. So plants aren't new so shouldnt really be melting back. You had all the plants growing under the led then switched them to the 90 Litre ? If so they can just be adjusting to the new environment.

 

[Eaton]

no they were in the 90 litre and were dying then i switched the amazon sword and a bit of the wisteria and java moss into the led tank where they grew HEAPS better and looked more vibrant and were not dying

 

[JavaMossMan]

Then its the light and I agree when I used to use non led lights I replaced them every year (as that is also my understanding that bulbs are no good for growing plants after one year.).

 

[Eaton]

So I’m buying a new light should I replace the old light with the new light or put it next to the old light

 

[JavaMossMan]

Are you buying a new bulb or a new light fixture?

 

[Eaton]

Well I actually bought a cheap led light that I’m going to fix into the hood

 

[JavaMossMan]

I believe all those plants should grow well with a cheap led light. I have all those plants in my tank with the exception of wisteria and they grow well using a nicrew led light (dimmable) which I have set at 3/6 brightness. I had wisteria too and it grew as well but I think I was low on potassium and it died off.