# Plants still dying



## George02 (Jan 11, 2007)

Hi,

I was hoping you guys might be able to help me. I have a few plants 2 anubia plants, some java moss; I had those for a couple months now; and also a couple of what I think is Cabomba Green (Petsmart was selling it as Java Fern) which I bought a few days ago. I have a dual bulb compact fluorescent Light System: 1 bulb is 65watt dual actinic 420NM+460NM and the other bulb is 65watt Dual Daylight 6700K + 10,000K I run both bulbs for about 12 hours a day for total of 130watt.
I started injecting CO2 via Hagen Plant Grow Natural System with CO2 (nothing fancy), I've also been adding some Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Leaf Zone Aquarium Fertilizer.
I have regular aquarium gravel and I do 10% water change every Sunday. Occupants are 7 guppies (2 males and 5 females) and 1 Otto
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10
Ph - 6.4 - 6.6
Kh - 9ppm

After having Cabomba Green plants for a few days, they are pretty much all but dead, anubia plants are turning more yellow every day and Java Moss is not growing.
Also, I'm being overrun by brown algae.

Please help.


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

The first thing I would look to do is change out that actinic bulb. It does little for the plants. So while you may have 130 watts over a 55g tank, it really isn't what the plants are getting.


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## George02 (Jan 11, 2007)

TurboMkt, I'm not sure I understand. I'm very new to the plant world. What's so bad about actinic bulbs? Also, I do have regular dual 6700K + 10,000K bulb that works at the same time. So even if I turn off that bulb, I would still have 65watts for 20 gallons of 6700K and 10,000K

This is a 20gallon tank, not 55.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Leaf Zone is not a complete fertilizer. It is mostly a source of iron and potassium. You still need nitrates and phosphates in order to grow plants. It looks to me like the added plants, which are much faster growers than the ones you started with, depleted the water of nitrates and/or phosphates, leaving all of the plants starved. You can buy KNO3 and KH2PO4 very cheaply from Aquarium Plants, Aquatic Plants, Planted Aquariums, and Aquarium Plant Fertilizer, and dose them using the easy to follow EI method.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Welcome to APC! 

Here's some good reading on planted tanks to give you a good grasp of the basics:

Rex's Guide to Planted Tanks

DFW Aquatic Plant Club Articles-- Beginner Basics: Introduction

Enjoy...


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

George,
I didn't see anything stating which tank it was, so I assumed with 2x65W bulbs it was the 55g.

For a 20g tank 65W should be plenty of light. 

Laith has pointed you to a couple of good resources.


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

Hi George,

Actinic bulbs do not emit wavelengths that are really usable by plants. You are correct that your dual sunlight bulb is providing all of the light that you need. I wouldn't use more light than this over a 20 gal, especially without a fertilization regimen. You're in for tons of algae, if you do. You can probably just turn the actinic bulb off ansd save some electricity. 

Here is a guide to planted tanks that is very informative and has helped me greatly. Rex's Guide to Planted Tanks

Good luck with your tanks!


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

You might want to replace your gravel with something like Eco-complete, Flourite, FloraBase, or Schultz's Aquatic Soil

Not really an absolute necessity, but if you're new to plants, those substrates will aid you a lot in getting great plant growth. 

If I understand correctly, actinic bulbs don't provide the wavelengths of light that are necessary/most efficient for photosynthesis. I think you'd be better off with just that one 6700/10000K bulb going, or even replacing it with a pure 6700K bulb, since that has been working for me from experience on my 20 gallon.

Great to see that you're injecting CO2. Later on you might want to change to a DIY 2L bottle (directions are stickied on the equipment forum) since it'll last you about a week longer and give you better output. Like hoppy said, Leaf Zone isn't a complete fertilizer, so you'll need to purchase the KNO3 and KH2PO4, along with something that can provide micros, such as CSM+B or Flourish. In some tanks if you have enough fish, their poo will provide all the nitrates and phosphates your plants need, so you'll only need to provide potassium and micros, but your tank doesn't look to be able to do that.

Anyway, good luck


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## George02 (Jan 11, 2007)

Thanks for the replies guys. I have read the articles you all posted. I do have more follow up questions now.
First, a really dumb one. How do I know which bulb is actinic and which one is normal?
I assumed, I would get enough nitrates just from fish waste; I have 7 guppies and 1 Otto. I guess, that's not enough.
Which fertilizers should I get besides Leaf Zone, since that's not enough? I also bough Seachem Flourish but didn't use it yet. Basically, is there a comprehensive list of fertilizers I should have assuming my tank alone doesn't provide enough?
Erijnal, I did think about replacing my substrate but this would essentially un-cycle my tank, since the majority of bacteria lives in my gravel.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

If you prefer to use name brand fertilizers, you can use the Flourish line. You would need Flourish (traces), Flourish nitrogen (nitrates), Flourish phosporous (phosphates) and Flourish potassium (potassium). The Leaf Zone could be used instead of the traces and potassium Flourish products, but I'm not sure that Leaf Zone is a complete trace element mix. The cheapest and easiest way to fertilize is to use Greg Watson's dry bulk chemicals for fertilizer - KNO3 for nitrate and potassium, KH2PO4 for phosphates, and any of the trace element mixes, from Greg's CSM+B, which is dry, to Tropika Plant Nutrition Liquid, to Flourish, to any of many lesser known trace mixes.


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## Kelley (Aug 27, 2006)

The actinic bulb is the one that produces the really blue light.


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## George02 (Jan 11, 2007)

But wouldn't a 10,000K bulb produce blue light too?


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

It might. Or it might look stark white. But the other half would have little to no "blue" to it.


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## Satirica (Feb 13, 2005)

You should just turn off the blue bulb -- don't bother to replace it. You have way, way too much light for a new tank and a new person to planted tanks. Half your current light level is going to be hard enough to keep up with.

You should reduce your photoperiod to 8 - 10 hours a day. Probably 8 in the beginning until you get everything running well.

Anubias are low light plants, and java moss also likes low light. Dropping the light by half and shortening the time period should make a difference very quickly. 

You don't need to change your substrate -- plain gravel grows plants just about as well as anything else. 

Do get fertilizer. I agree wtih Hoppy that Greg Watson ferts are cheap. If I were you I'd start out with his first recommendation -- the Seachem product line. It comes with directions which you should follow. After you get the hang of it you can easily switch out to Greg Watson's stuff. 

Cut the light in half, cut the photoperiod, add fertilizer and your tank should turn the corner. Let us know what you decide to do and what happens. It will probably take a couple of weeks for you to see improvement. If your plants are burned from light exposure they may look worse before they look better.


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## George02 (Jan 11, 2007)

I will do what you guys suggested. I will turn off the actinic light and cut the time to 8 hours. For ferts I got Leaf Zone and Seachem Flourish and I'm still injecting CO2
How often should I be doing water changes now? I've been doing 10% water change once a week before plants.


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## George02 (Jan 11, 2007)

Also, I'm running a Penguin 150 filter with Bio Wheel. Will this filter affect the ferts in any way?


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## Satirica (Feb 13, 2005)

The BioWheel will tend to cause the CO2 to escape from your tank. I'd take it off and run the rest of the filter.

I don't know what is in Leaf Zone, but Flourish is just a micronutrient mix. You need that, but the plants need nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, too.

If you aren't over dosing any ferts -- and if Leaf Zone is a micronutrient mix you might be -- the 10% weekly water changes are fine.


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## George02 (Jan 11, 2007)

Satirica,
here is what Leaf Zone contains, according to API's site "Contains chelated iron and potassium essential for lush green leaves."

So if I have Iron, Potassium and micronutrients, I still need to be adding Nitrogen and Phosphorus. And those are available through Seachem line of ferts.
Am I correct?

Thanks a lot.


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