# Newbie with decaying plants



## sans_souci79 (Jul 21, 2005)

Hi-- boy am I glad I found this site! I hope someone can help my poor plants. I'm new to plants and while I think I did my homework before putting plants in, there's definitely something wrong. When I put new plants in (esp Moneywort and Anubias) within a day they start turning brown at the tips of the leaves and then the brown spreads inward to the stalk and eventually eats the stalk too (this all takes about a week). Some of my moneywort survived and grew nice roots but are basically green sticks at this point. I have a couple plants that look like variegated grass (sorry I just don't know the name) that don't appear to be affected. Here are my specs:
29 Gallon
pH 7.0
Flourite and gravel substrate
Fertilizer= root tabs and weekly fertilization with liquid fert. with water change
I'm using a single grow light in combination with natural light (I know that encourages algae but I don't have any currently and won't mind cleaning up after it when I do)

When I set this tank up about 1.5 months ago I wasn't thinking and used one dose of that 'perfect pH' phosphate buffer but have done several water changes (one a week) so that can't be it can it?


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## SnyperP (Dec 10, 2004)

What is the watt rating on your two lights?


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 23, 2005)

Light is key i found, i went from 1 wpg to almost 4 wpg. My plants did well for a while but then started to die off again. I currently turn only one light on at a time (one side inthe morning, one in the afternoon, overlap for 3 hours). I have also swtiched to dry ferts. Its only been a week, but there is already a noticable increase in plant growth and health.


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## sans_souci79 (Jul 21, 2005)

I honestly don't know what the wattage is. I bought the bulbs that were for growing plants. I don't think it's the light because of the way they are disintegrating, but what do I know?! You all probably know better than I do. I looked at teh tank again after I posted my plea for help and noticed that on the Anubias that I planted two days ago the veins have turned yellow and the chloroplasts in between the veins are still kind of green. Is this a help?


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 23, 2005)

Most bulbs have the wattage on them, somewhere near the ends. I would look there. Dont worry about not knowing, ive been working on a tank for a year and just recently found the forums. ](*,) this is so much cheaper than listening to my LFS


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## JeffB (Mar 24, 2005)

This is a good site for plant symtoms http://www.aquabotanic.com/diagnose.htm see if it helps.


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## sans_souci79 (Jul 21, 2005)

Thank you everyone! I was aghast to search my lamp over and find that the wpg were way low! And perhaps I'm low on nitrates (I didn't buy that test kit because I thought there'd be plenty of that just from the tank cycling). What is the ideal for wpgs? How do you know if plants are wanting more CO2? Is there a formula for CO2 where you can feel fairly sure you won't kill all your fish? Will a tank of fish provide enough CO2 themselves or do you still need to supplement?


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## ctmpwrdcamry (May 23, 2005)

Currently i would not worry about C02, thats where it gets expensive.  The more light you have the more C02 you will need. Even with a full bio load of fish (1 inch of fish per gallon) my nitrates were still low.

A good, low light, low mantinace set up is about 1.5- 2 wpg. Do a search for low light plants. If you got to www.plantgeek.net they have a nice easy to fallow section with a bunch of plant info.


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## sans_souci79 (Jul 21, 2005)

Also-- this website ( http://www.algone.com/plant_health.htm ) suggests that leaves turning brown is a result of excess phosphates in the tank. How does that happen? Is that just another way of saying the pH is high?


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## JeffB (Mar 24, 2005)

To much phosphate is attributed to overfeeding. You should also research Tom Barr's EI (Estimative Index) method (Minimum water testing needed ).


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Sans... From what you have posted already I would say you have a lack of light and a nutrient deficiency.

_What is the wattage on your bulb_?... The light fixture that comes with the tank will not be significant to grow plants.

_What are your phosphate and nitrate readings_?... N03 needs to be kept around 10ppm and P04 around 1ppm.

_What ferts are you dosing and how often/much_?... You need to dose micros & macros along with iron.


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