# Dirted tank disaster.



## Pareeeee (Jun 22, 2006)

Back around October I dirted my 33 gallon tank in the hopes of having even more success aquascaping.
I've always seemed to have a green thumb when it comes to aquarium plants...until now.

I bought Tropica aquarium soil which worked great at first:









Then a ton of my fish died...and I had an algae bloom...BUT that's not my problem now, finally after several months, my fish are doing well again and algae is mostly under control.

Now my big problem is that *my plants are all dying* and I have no idea why!  I've never had this problem in over 10 years with gravel...

Water parameters are near perfect, dosing with CO2, Aquaclear 500 filter, 80 watts of lighting. Dosing periodically with Flourish liquid plant fertilizer.

It looked like this when I first dirted the tank:









Now it looks like this...brown and dying and ugly:









Crypts are melting


















Vallisneria is disintegrating









I wish I never dirted my tank!

Please help me!


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

I would test the water for all the tests they make at the hobby level. Including:
NO3
GH
KH
pH
PO4
Fe

Also, how much fish food are you adding to the tank? 
How often and what volume water changes?
What does the tap water test? (Or, if you are using some other source, what?)

How much CO2? How are you measuring it?

What kind of light? (fluorescent, LED...) What wavelengths? What PAR?

Which Flourish product are you using? What guaranteed analysis?


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## neilshieh (Jun 24, 2010)

While it would certainly be helpful to know every parameter, you don't necessarily have to provide an exhaustive list. That said you still need to give us more info to work with. 

The plants you have planted are easy plants so it may point to an unbalance in something really basic. Have you made any recent changes in your dosing regime? Sudden temperature changes with a water change? Has your tap water changed recently? I doubt the fault is the soil, to me it looks like some parameter changed really quickly triggering the melt. When did the melting start?


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## Maryland Guppy (Mar 5, 2015)

Pareeeee said:


> Water parameters are near perfect, dosing with CO2, Aquaclear 500 filter, 80 watts of lighting. Dosing periodically with Flourish liquid plant fertilizer.
> 
> Vallisneria is disintegrating
> 
> Please help me!


Some thoughts here.

Dosing with CO2, does this mean Excel? Some complain of valls melting with Excel.

Water parameter changes can send crypts into a melt stage.

Water appears tannin stained as well, driftwood???

80 watts of what? If it's LED on a 33 gallon 4' tank that's a lot of light.

Flourish liquid plant fertilizer? Which one? Assuming Flourish Comprehensive. Micro fert only.
Flourish comp does not meet all that the plants require.
How much do you dose?


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## silversea (Nov 2, 2013)

Did you change 50% of the water every day for at least the first week after adding the aquasoil? If it is anything like ADA aquasoil, (that is what is generallly recommended on many forums) due to the release of ammonia, which would cause your plants to brown and melt.

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