plants turning to mush

[Nathan]

ive recently had to move all my plants due to adding a large peice of driftwood. before they were just planted and was using seachem flourish once a week. there was no co2 system and most of the plants were photosynthesizing in the tank with oxygen coming out of the leaves.

ive added fert tabs for some of the plants and some of the leaves have been dying and turning to mush (due to high temp, im assuming) and i have also added a co2 system, and none of the plants are bubbling

any ideas?

nathan

[Nathan]

the plants are starting to die off now, im not sure why, any adivice or ideas as how to fix it?

nathan

[OscarManAlpha]

G'day Nathan,

Can you provide more info please.

What size is your tank ? Dimensions and how many liters ?

What lights do you have 1xfluro ect ect.

What temp is your tank ?

What is your PH and what is your KH ?

How many hours do you have your lights on ?

What species of plants do you have ?

Any chance of a photo ?

Cheers,

Mark

[Nathan]

the tank is 3 ft long, 140l. the temp is 29-30 (has discus in it). the ph is 7-7.2, kh not sure dont have a testing kit for it. 1x fluoro 30w t-8 its on for 9 hours a day. also have a yeast co2 system on for 9.5 hours a day. the plants that seem to be dying are the hygro and rush especially, also amazon sword, i also have crypt and annubias but they seem to be fine. ive been using seachem flourish and also have seachem tablets 1 between 2 of the bigger plants.

i think thats it


nathan

[Nathan]

sorry aslo im using a subtrate sorry cant remember what its called

nathan

[nicholas76]

that is a really nice red earth substrate!

shame you cant recall the name

say Mark, is there such thing as a good quality cheap substrate??

noticed those nice black coloured ones are like $69 for 5 kg,,,, dang id go broke trying to fill my new tank!

[Nathan]

the stuff i bought was $30 a kg im pretty sure!

nathan

[OscarManAlpha]

Nathan first off nice tank and lay out mate.

It seems you are keen to get those plants on the go.

From what I can tell your limiting factor here is the lights.

May I suggest you add another 2 strips of fluro.

If budget is a concern I would go for the Aqua One 3ft double, it comes with some tubes included in the price, they are decent and will work.

After 9 months to a year you can replace, with tubes of your choice.

You can run your lights and Co2 for longer periods. Once you get the lights try 10-12 hours.

You may want to add some more bunch plants ( try some Wisteria and hygrophilia polysperma )

All so make sure you do regular water changes ( Amano changes the water 1/3 once a week and on some tanks he changes water once a day also a 1/3 ). Thus you can avoid green water and brush algae.

As far as the liquid ferts I would keep adding them once you get the lights. Just follow the manufactures recommendation.

Do not add any more root tabs for a while. Once the lights are sorted out the Swords will respond. Observe them and if you see they need a boost ( you will know when ) add a ½ or whole tablet depending on the plants size.

As far as the rush is concerned, it may not be a true aquatic plant the one you have.

Once you get the lights on update the pic's after 10 day's.

I would love to see the results.

HTH

Cheers,

Mark

[Nathan]

thanx mate yeah ill look into the lights, ive been wanting to get a lot more plants for the front area more crypt and chain sword, any other plants you could suggest that would look?

but as the rest havnt been going to well then i didnt see the point in buying some plants thatl probly die.

yeah im pretty keen on this tank as its probly the last tank that ill have in the house so i want it to look good, anyway yeah ill have a look around for the lights probly on the weekend, as the light i have now is pretty crappy but wasnt sure if its do the job or not (obviously wont)

thanks again mate
p.s im running a uv steriliser thatl help with algea control to certain degree wont it? anyway the water changes wont be a problem
nathan

[OscarManAlpha]

Nathan the lights are avilable on line if you don't have a reasonably priced retailer in your area.

They go upto $160 or more in some shops so check online first for prices.

The lights being your limiting factor keep the one you have just add a 3ft double.

Then you can grow those plants.

A friend of mine bought plants from a sponser of this site and they were perfect and a great price, extensive range aswell ( APW ) .

Many of the those plants will grow under 3 lights in your tank.

Just remember to add some stem plants. Alway's good as they give you instant ( well almost ) feedback as to how well the Co2 ect is performing.

Also while choosing the plants you can browse onto the tropica site for more info on lighting requirements ect.....

HTH

Cheers,

Mark