Help Low Maint. Plant Dying! - New to Planted Aquariums

jindu · 03-27-2011, 07:09 AM

good morning all,

Thanks for your help in advance

I have a 10 gal medium to heavy planted (Anubs and crypts)
Substrate is dirt (potting soil) with gravel on top
I have DIY co2 (2 bubbles/sec) going into a small powerhead for dispersion.
Using a 15W flourescent tube 12 hrs/day, no probs with algae
Been running like this for about 10 days.

The plants came from the classifieds and they all looked pretty well taken care of. They arrived on Wednesday, so they have only been in for about 4 days.

Params are Ph=6.8; temp 68 degrees F; ammonia = 0, nitrite = 0,
nitrate =15.

this tank prev was setup with just rocks and two fish, and yes the filter had bacteria in it.

Can you give me some guidance as to why the nitrates went south and the plants do not look healthy at all, crypts have started melting, the leaves on the anubs are curling at the edges.

Thanks,

J

PS. Sorry I do not have pix but Im sure you guys know what Im talking about

**davemonkey** · 03-27-2011, 09:15 AM

Crypts go through a melt when they are moved or their conditions change. Give them time and they will come back. Anubias can go through transition problems as well, but mostly if they were grown emersed.

A 10-day-old soil tank is going to be releasing ammonia. Your test reads no ammonia, which leads me to believe your biological filter is converting the ammonia quickly to nitrites and then nitrates (as well as the plants utilizing it) but you have low light, so the nitrates as not being used up. Keep up with regular water changes (every other day or maybe every 3 days the first week, then gradually taper down to once per week and then down to once a month or as needed).

jindu · 03-27-2011, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davemonkey

Crypts go through a melt when they are moved or their conditions change. Give them time and they will come back. Anubias can go through transition problems as well, but mostly if they were grown emersed.

A 10-day-old soil tank is going to be releasing ammonia. Your test reads no ammonia, which leads me to believe your biological filter is converting the ammonia quickly to nitrites and then nitrates (as well as the plants utilizing it) but you have low light, so the nitrates as not being used up. Keep up with regular water changes (every other day or maybe every 3 days the first week, then gradually taper down to once per week and then down to once a month or as needed).

Dave... the ammonia, at one point did read 2-3 ppm (although I did not add any into the tank). I will keep up with water changes and continue to monitor and post,

Thank you