# Fungus in new setup



## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

I setup a new tank and for some reason a few of my plants are succumbing to fungus/mold. In particular I got 3 stems of ludwigia senegalensis and some rotted and molded as expected with the submersed to emersed conversion, and the rest I saw beginning growth at the nodes but then over the course of 1-2 weeks they slowly succumbed to fungus and mold as well. I also had a stem of Nesaea pedicellata "Golden" and it grew but then succumbed to mold this weekend. I'm really bummed because i know it'll die. 
Tank has a 23 watt daylight bulb over it. substrate is turface on top of sphagnum moss. misting occurs every few days when i venture a trip into my plant room. I have HC, Ludwigia red, hygrophila brown, rotala singapore, bucephalandra, anubias, etc. all growing fine but these two still died. Any thoughts? the fungus is this fuzz that has like white spores.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

forgot to mention the tank has been running for 2 months now?


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Don't know the cause but Otocinclus do eat a lot of fungus types, cleaned two types of fungus on my wood in a matter of days.


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

this is an emersed tank so ottos are out of question LOL


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Is it really, really humid?


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

I don't have a hygrometer but maybe? should i open the crack more to let more air flow?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Probably. Even without a meter, you can gauge how humid it should be. I think that if the glass is usually all fogged up, that's too much. _Hygrophila difformis_ growing submersed-shaped leaves while emersed? Too much humidity. Outside of transitioning plants that really need high humidity as they transition, there's no reason to keep it that way.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

On the other hand, with Bucephalandra and Anubias in the setup, you do need the extra humidity... IME neither genus (especially Anubias, though) does well in lower humidity. I don't think you _can_ actually have too little humidity in an aroid setup... you may want to keep those in a separate setup and reduce the humidity a bit for the other plants.

I also don't think it's a coincidence that the two that succumbed are the most delicate, finicky plants on your list. Any slight imbalance could cause a bit of wilting in those species, and from that point, a fungal infection has free reign to kill of the weakened plant. A healthy plant isn't just less susceptible to fluctuations in conditions, it also has a better immune system to fend off problems like fungus and bacteria.

I can say that my Nesaea pedicellata, the parent of your cutting, is prone to the occasional random dieback. I've yet to correlate it with any particular change, but generally a bit of foliar fertilizer spray and some TLC cause it to bounce back just as healthy as it was before in a couple weeks. It likes to scare me into thinking it's gonna die and then promptly recover. Best as I can figure, it's just really sensitive to some stimulus or other.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

If you adapt them, you can keep _Anubias_ in low humidity; I had one that was basically a house plant. The waxy cuticle on the leaves was very thick.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Really? Maybe the open air in my house is just too dry, then—I never had any luck adapting them in a less-than-totally-covered tank... except when they were in the greenhouse over the summer, but since that was essentially humidity central, it probably doesn't count LOL.

My buces do seem to really appreciate their super-humid setup, though...


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