# Plants in trouble



## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

Well I had a 5 day power outage, the temp in the tanks dropped below 40F for 3 days at least and now my plants are in terrible shape.

Anubias leaves are all melting off and no new growth in 10 days. Nana and Afzelli
Crypt Lucens is turning yellow and no new growth.
Bacopa Australis seems to be ok with some new shoots but might lose the main stem. 
Ludwigia Repens losing leaves but seems to have weathered the best. 

Is there anything I can do to help them recover? Some of the anubias rhizome are nothing but rhizome now. Others are close enough as the last leaves are rotting slowly but surely. Should I dose a high level of something to help them recover? Maybe some extra potassium, nitrates or something else? 

Oh and don't worry about the fish, needless to say after 3 days at that temperature they didn't make it.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Well, there isn't much you can do except to provide optimal growing conditions and see what recovers. Be sure to remove anything that is dying since it will do nothing but add to your troubles. Be very, very patient with the anubias & crypts. It might be months, but they'll probably recover eventually.


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## Adragontattoo (Jun 3, 2007)

I had an anubias get mowed down to just the Rhizone by a Green Severum, it kicked around the tank for about 2 years before the severum finally decided to eat it completely.

The Anubias may well come back if you give it a chance.

The crypts will probably melt away and come back.

Give both plants a chance and dont do anything special IMO, let em have a chance.


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

I have high hopes they will come back it looks so bad I almost have to cry when I look at the tanks and how pathetic the plants look.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Umm, the dead leaves have to go. They'll do nothing but encourage algae growth. The rhizomes might make it. Hopefully you'll see some new growth soon. No offense, but of all of the current issues in your tank, I'd have to say the most pressing concern is the substrate. 99 out of 100 dentists agree that clown puke has no place in a planted tank (or perhaps plants don't have a place in clown puke). The second thing I'd recommend is to get some new plants. As soon as it's warm enough, I'll be glad to donate a huge bunch of trimmings if you'll just cover the $$ of shipping.


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## Jimbo205 (Feb 2, 2006)

Well, even if he doesn't like bright colors for gravel (maybe he has never watched the TV show - Ugly Betty); you can't beat that deal.

I think almost every aquarist has had at least 1 aquarium with bright colored gravel in it. For a contrast between 2 very different (natural vs BRIGHT) take a look at page 98-99 in an article by Paul Demas in the Feb 2008 Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine. Everyone has their own taste in colors and substrates.

If a 10 Gallon tank is the only one you have to work with, the challenge is much more 'tight'. 
If it is one of your tanks, your options are easier.

A huge bunch of trimmings from guaiac boy is well, huge! (My kids could swim in one of his tanks.  )


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

There's no need to dose anything. If there was no light for five days, the plants didn't use anything during that time. You may actually have a buildup of nutrients due to decaying plant matter. Since you don't have any fish, you can try increasing your CO2 (if you are using it) a bit more than normal but there are no guarantees this will work. 

Definitely trim off the dead and/or dying leaves. I have found that dead and/or dying leaves will be the first place algae will rear it's head. You may want to do a good water change also, concentrating most of the water removal from the surface of the substrate. This will help to remove any decaying matter that may have fallen between the gravel and isn't visible.

You can try and save the Anubias by taking a razor blade or sharp pair of scissors and 'nicking' the rhizome, i.e. just break the skin. You should see some new growth from these points fairly fast if you are using CO2. Crypts will be crypts...whether they melt or not is up to them 

You can float some of your stem plants and maybe get them to recover faster, though they may grow with a curve in the stem. The H. difformis (along with your Bacopa and other stem plants) will recover quicker if it can get more light.


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

Thats a good idea to float them. I never considered it but will be letting them float in a few minutes. I removed a majority of the leaves but I didn't want to leave naked rhizomes. I will go thorugh and see what new starts I have and go from there. If any new leaves are starting from the rhizomes then I can confidentally remove all of the dead leaves. Unless youthink it is safe to remove them and anyway and leave nothing but rhizome? 

As for the substrate, it is gonna be changed. Nice analogy, clown puke. Never heard that one before. Thinking about going with sand in one tank and large gravel, maybe marbles in another. I want to switch to Rasboras and Kuhlii loaches for the tanks and one would serve as a breeding tank. Might even break down and switch to a 20 long instead of 2 10's but haven't decided yet. I have someo one is gonna send me a bunch of MTS for the sand. Hopefully I can keep them alive this time. 

I will definately take the trimmings, it needs to warm a tiny bit here first or they would freeze in shipping. My local post office is terrible and I have had plants sit in their trucks for 2 days. 

I have done 2 huge water changes and gravel vacced as well as possible. I even moved everything but the Bacopa caroliniana, thought it was Australis, the Bacopa has a huge mass of roots and I didn't want to uproot it if I didn't have to. Would it be better to uproot it and let it float or leave it alone? 

I will post more pics later after I trim all the dead leaves off the rhizomes that I dare to.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Do what you feel most comfortable with concerning the Anubias. I, personally, would remove all the dying leaves and let the rhizome sprout new ones. I'm pretty sure the rhizome will recover just fine but use your best judgment. A little more info on your tank setup (size, lighting, CO2 usage, fertilization, etc) would make it easier to help  Plants in general are pretty hardy as long as their needs are met and Anubias is one of the hardiest. 

If you go with sand, stay away from the play sand. It is too fine for our needs and tends to compact and become anaerobic too easily. Something similar in size to Tahitian Moon Sand is about the smallest grain size I would use. Pool Filter (Silica) Sand is a good choice but may be difficult to find this time of year. 

As far as shipping is concerned, I'm sure Guiac Boy can get an insulated box from work. Using a heat pack is a big help but it will probably increase the cost a bit due to the price of the pack itself and the extra weight. I've shipped plants and shrimp all over the country using this method and not had any problems, yet 

I would probably leave the Bacopa planted. The B. caroliniana is the hardiest of the bacopa species in my experience. Since it is growing new sprouts, you may just want to cut the main stem if it looks really bad.


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

Tanks are 10 gallon tanks with a standard shop light, two 40 watts bulbs, one is a daylight bulb, 6700K and one is a plant gro bulb, don't know the K rating, I think it is like 3700K but does a great job of growing my plants. They need to replaced as they are old but they work well in that combo. Substrate is a mix of LFS gravel, clown puke, and river run gravel. I dose EI for fertilizers, KNO3, K2SO4, KH2PO4, MgSO4, and CSM+B as well as some Calcium citrate or calcium carbonate in standard pill form. I also put in generic plant tabs, mainly iron for the roots. No CO2 right now. I tried DIY and my levels were so irradic it made things worse. I grew a tank full of BBA instead of my plants growing. At least I now how to grow it if I ever need to. :???: 

The good news is it looks like every one of the Anubias are gonna make it through. I have new leaves on all but one of the now naked rhizomes except for one and it looks like I have a shoot coming out of that one.

Ok, now about the sand. My LFS has reptile sand and that is it for sand short of play sand locally. I understand the need for larger sand but how do I tell if the sand grains are as large as I need them? I am not afraid to take a 50 lb. bag of play sand and sift out the larger particles to get the substrate I want or need. I would love to get Onyx black sand for the plants but I would have to either drive 100 miles to get it or order it online and get soaked for shipping. Either way it will be expensive. Moon sand would be cool but same problem.


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

This one is my First Rhizome from my Anubias Nana, I thought for sure it was dead but as you can see on the right side, 
I have one new leaf coming out so maybe it will survive. This one rhizome sprouted another 17 inches of rhizome 
and gave me one of the largets specimens I have ever seen. 








Ludwigia Repens is recovering nicely. I put the main stem in the substrate and it seems to be doing the trick with the new offshoots. 








Bacopa Caroliniana is doing ok, always my slow grower but seems to have come through like a champ, 
even the dead looking stem has some new growth on it. Go figure. Guess my luck holds out again.








The 2 nana on the right were naked and I thought might have died not 4 days ago. Now they both have new leaves coming out. 
The 2 on the left faired a little better with at least one leaf in tact which seems to have been a big advantage as both are getting
a second leaf where the lone remaining one was.

There are some signs the Crypts are starting to come through with some really short leaves coming up. I really need to cut them
down completely and just leave the healthy leaves but my plants look so bad right now I haven't brought myself to deface them yet.


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

Well all the dead leaves are gone.


























I don't know what is going on with the Anubias Nana. The ends I expected to grow new leaves but there are new shoots growing all over the place all along the length of the rhizomes. I am hoping that they will at least be new leaves and hoping beyond hope they will all be new rhizome splits. If they turns out to be splits then the one si have will make for some huge centerpieces in about 6 months or so. I will have to start trading them as I will run out of room. I guess I may learn something from this after all short of having patience and keeping up hope.

Will keep everyone updated as to what the new shoots turn out to be.

Also, can someone give me some help with my Bacopa Carolianiana and my Ludwigia Repens? Do need to soften the water or do something special to help them? They do not seem to getting new roots aside from the new shoots? They seem to be slowly melting and when I plant the new shoots and roots the roots die or at least they turn brown and gunky.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

If _B. caroliniana_ and _L. repens_ aren't doing well it isn't because of a water hardness issue. These two plants are very adaptable. New roots take at least two weeks to form. It's pretty common for lower leaves to melt away if they have insufficient light. What lighting fixtures do you have?


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

fish_4_all said:


> Ok, now about the sand. My LFS has reptile sand and that is it for sand short of play sand locally. I understand the need for larger sand but how do I tell if the sand grains are as large as I need them? I am not afraid to take a 50 lb. bag of play sand and sift out the larger particles to get the substrate I want or need. I would love to get Onyx black sand for the plants but I would have to either drive 100 miles to get it or order it online and get soaked for shipping. Either way it will be expensive. Moon sand would be cool but same problem.


Do you have a hardware store around? #3 blasting sand used in construction for sand blasting paint off bricks and such is a good size and cheap. If there is construction around then with a little research you might be able to find a place to buy this gravel. It's a good size for planted tanks and it's inert like the gravel you have now, but a little smaller


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

I have a standard shop light fixture with 2 40 watt bulbs over the top of 2 ten gallon tanks. When I calculated the lighting it was about 33 watts per tank. One is daylight 6500/k bulk, CRI 92 lumens unknown and the other is a plant grow bulb, 3500K (according to the manufacturer) CRI 88, lumens unknown. I know, not that much light for a 10 gallon but it works when I find the right plants. Can't grow Java anything for some reason but I could grow L. Aromatica when I had it. 

I looked at a couple different sands over the weekend and I didn't find anything that I felt was smooth enough to use for Kuhlii loaches. I want them to be able to dig and not wind up cutting themselves up from the sand. The reptile sand was a perfect size but it was way too sharp. I actually put a couple small holes in the bag just from rolling it in my fingers. Play sand was also way too sharp, I will see if I can find sand blasting sand locally but it will be a lot of looking.


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

Well it looks like all of the shoots are gonna be new leaves, most likely with the way they are growing they will be new rhizome splits. I can't get pictures right now, my cycling tank has decided to become a green water factory. Will get pictures when I can. I do know that in about 6 months I should have 6-10 Anubias Nana that are ready to trade for some other plants that will work well with my Kuhlis and rasboras. Some of them will be some really nice show specimens, I hope. 

The Bacopa is coming aorund nicely and the L. Repens is coming around although slowly. I have not been dosing as much recently in the other tank. I think now that they are recovering I need to add some root tabs and dose a little more. The oto should be fine with it as he was in there with high dosing in the past. Will just have to increase it slowly. The crypt Lucens is still pouting but starting to see some new shoots, yeah.


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## fish_4_all (Jun 3, 2006)

Well there is good news and bad:
The good news is that the Anbubias are all recovering nicely and as they get more roots they are sending out more small shoots which should be new rhizome splits. Also, the Bacopa is going to recover just fine or seems to be. Some new grwoth and the stems are still in good condition. 
The bad news is my L. Repens is not doing so hot. The old stems all rotted now and all I have is 5 small offshoots left of 9. There is some new root growth but I had that even on the ones that seemed to melt away. I hope they survive but not holding my breath right now. 

So far the Crypt Parva, thought it was Lucens, is doing ok. A couple new leaves but I expect it to melt a little since I have replaced the substrate and there isn't a whole lot of nutrients and mulm in it. I did give the cluster a couple of root tabs to help give it a boost so we will see.

The tanks are almost done cycling now, thankfully. I have been really depressed to look at empty tanks for so long. 

Will post new picks when I get them and can bring myself to take pictures of my now pathetic looking tanks.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

It sounds like some of the plants are recovering well. You might have better luck with the stem plants if you're able to upgrade your lighting. Shop lights are very good at illuminating a large area (like a shop) but they aren't very good at directing light downward into an aquarium.

I'll send you some plants in a couple of months once this &%$&%^%&* weather calms down.


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