Jillis

Piscesgirl,
Help!! My plants are rotting away just one week after planting them! Here's what I have, 4 gallon nano, normal looking gravel (3cm in depth), purple looking lights, a bunch of 'nana'(that's a plant's name right?), tiny fern stuck to a small rock, a tall grass-like plant, another one with single round leaf on a long stem, an air curtain (slow fine bubbles) and a normal filtering system. I've tried CO2 tablets from my LFS but my plants are still 'yellowing'. I must have done something wrong. Please enlighten me? Thank you very much.

The very inexperienced
Jillis

Piscesgirl

Hello Jillis, glad you found APC. My first thought is the 'purple' lights -- do you know if this is a fluorescent light fixture or not?

Praxx42

I bet it is. I have a NOF tube from an All-Glass fixture that is quite old and looks purple. Time for a new bulb!

Oh and welcome to the party, Jill.

Jillis

Hey thanks for replying. I have no idea if it is flourecent, it came with the nano. And I left out in my last mail, I have 50 neon tetra. Tank temperature is always at 29 degrees. The guy at my LFS said to look out for 3 things in order for plants to thrive. They are temperature, CO2 level and proper plant lights. Is that right??

Praxx42

He forgot fertilizers. We can probably help you out with those as well, but we'll need some specifics about your tank (size, total amount of lighting/watts, water parameters, etc.).

What nano did you buy?

Piscesgirl

Hello again, Jillis.

I think you mentioned your tank is 4 gallons, but does that mean have 50 neon tetras in a 4 gallon tank? That seems like an extraordinarily large biomass in a 4 gallon tank.

Are you aware of the nitrogen cycle? Would you happen to know if you have an Ammonia reading?

Jillis

Hi all,

Oh dear this is so embarrassing! I am sounding like an idiot . I'm not aware of nitrogen or ammonia level. In fact of any other readings I should know. Is there a formula for setting up a proper planted tank(with a lot of neon tetra)?
Please explain like I am a 3 year-old. Should I reduce biomass? How many fish should I have then?
I really appreciate your help. Wish I could buy you guys a cuppa but Singapore is just not that near. But if you do come here, you know who your tour guide is!

The Thankful
Jillis

Piscesgirl

I wouldn't say there is a formula per se in setting up tanks, but I certainly 50 tetras is a lot of fish even for a larger tank. It is important for you to test Ammonia and NitrIte. Are you doing water changes for this tank? How frequently?

Jillis

Hi Piscesgirl,

How do I tell if I've got enough ammonia and nitrite? I plan to transfer 10 of those neons to another smaller tank. Will update you again if things start to look up. Thanks for your time, appreciate it.

Happy scaping,
Jillis

Jillis

And oh yes, I am changing 20% of water once a week.