Plant problems

[baylee767]

My foxtail green and anarchis is in ruins.

I got them shipped in a week ago. The tank is cycling so there's plenty of ammonia for the plants. I have 2 CFL's, both 14 watts. Kevlin rating is 5000k (A bit low, but I thought it would work...)

I planted them in the substrate. As expected a few days later the leaves were turning brown as they adjusted.

ANARCHIS: The top half turned completely green and I cut that and created a new bundle and planted it. It's still doing great. The bottom half has stayed brown this whole time (The leaves not stem).

FOXTAIIL: This one is in much worse condition. noticed the bottom was turning brown, so I cut it in half and created a new bundle. Today I reach in to strip the leaves, and pull out rotten broken brown stems with withered leaves. The stem was useless.

What's wrong? Is it too much of a change? I do 8-10 hours of light a day.

[Oldfishlady]

Not enough light is getting to the bottom of the stems and not enough of the the right color spectrum....I would try and find at least 6500k bulb and increase the photo period to 12h...you may need to remove the shield between the light and water to get better penetration....foxtail needs more light and sometimes they can be hard to grow to start no matter what.....I would not add any ammonia to the tank either even if you are cycling...this may kill the plants...the decomp of the plants will provide the needed food for the nitrifying bacteria....plants are a life form after all.....use a small pinch of fish flakes a couple of times a week for plant food can also help....any livestock in the tank?

How far apart are the stems planted?

[baylee767]

Okay sorry to revive an old thread /= but I'm giving up on the foxtail.

Tha Anarchis finally turned green, it can manage with my lighting. The foxtail, every time I create a new bundle, the bottom of the stems rot. I'll just have an Anarchis forest with the other plants that are doing well. The foxtail green never did good...