Some planted tank questions...

[Nexangelus]

So I've recently converted my 10 gallon housing a betta, 4 tetras and 2 Albino Corys into a "heavily planted" aquarium with Flourite Substrate and the following plants:

5 pots dwarf hair grass (broken apart - planted)
1 Bunch Bacopa Australis
1 Red Wendti
1 Java Fern
1 pot dwarf baby tears fixed to a piece of redwood
1 pot glossostigma elatanoids just for kicks and experimentation
1 Spiralis
1 large bunch of parrotgrass

As you can see, it's pretty well stocked. I was wondering if it was normal to have some initial dieoff. A leaf of the Wendtii wilted and died and the Spiralis has a stalk or two that appears yellow. Is it common for plants to die a bit when they're introduced?

The two that appear the most unhealthy are right next to each other. Could they be leeching nutrients from one and other?

Everything else seems healthy besides those two. The baby tears are rapidly beginning their climb across the driftwood and I believe I saw a runner or two sprout from the hairgrass, even though all the wool could not be removed.

Additionally, what do you recommend dosing? As of right now there's a pretty good amount of flourish fertalizer tabs planted near every cluster of plants, and I dose about 1 1/2 caps of Flourish Excel daily. Should I be adding anything more, or do my plants need to be spaced differently? Here's a picture for reference.



Thank you in advance for any help or insight you have to offer!

[Wyvern]

I find sometimes with new plants I have plants that do die off a bit. Just remove the yellow and dying leaves. But it might be that you are missing something, what kind of lights do you have and how long do you leave them on? I had my vallis and bacopa m, go yellow on my, since the root tabs are hard to find I just dose with flourish, but decided to add some nails that I left over night in water directly to the substrate by the roots - 2 days later the plants started improving so they had a lack of iron.

Remember plants stress as well when moved to a new environment. Just keep an eye on it and then maybe ask PewPewPew what to do if all goes wacky :D

[Nexangelus]

Thank you for the reply, Wyvern! How silly of me to forget the lighting... I seem to have rambled about everything but one of the most important components! I have 4.8 WPG. It's a 24 x 2 light with two 10,000k bulbs, one daylight, one pink flora. I'm thinking the lighting is sufficient but could it be TOO much? I have yet to determine a length of time that works for me - generally leave them on 10-12 hours until someone tells me differently.

The tabs I have claim to supply Iron, as does my substrate (Flourite) so I'm thinking it's not a matter of iron deficiency, but I will definitely store that knowledge for future encounters.

I'm sure hoping it's just stress causing this. I decided to trim down the Dwarf Hairgrass just now, as I noticed it was looking a little brown. Do you by chance know how deep each of those should be planted?

Thanks again! I'll try out the Flourish product you mentioned - I've read good things about it and I believe it can be administered with Excel, so it would be perfect.

[Wyvern]

Im waiting on pay day to get my excel :P Its one of the most expensive products around here but so worth it.

My brother jsut uses Flourish in his 2ft tank with a 10 hour photoperiod. Im changing mine to that as well now. Since his plants have almost doubled in size! Start with a 10hour day, for at least a month. Since your lights are more than strong enough. Check what happens. If you think they need more light - add 30mins per week till your at 12hrs.

Hairgrass - its actually advised to trim it before planting it. I just cover the roots in the substrate. Cut the grass short - 2cms above the roots max. That will force the plant to send out more roots and it will settle into the gravel easily. Also it will promote the growth rate on the hair grass. I am doing an experiment with it now, I have 2 pieces in my tank - one trimmed and one not. The trimmed one is now about a week old and is already rooting nicely. Oneday I will have my hairgrass carpet!

[Nexangelus]

Wyvern, for starters I'd love to see a picture of your tank when you have the time.

Could you explain the term "photoperiod" in a bit more detail. I'm new to plants, both aquatic and non. I'm psyched to have finally gotten a light recommendation that's not "Well, it's different for every tank..." I'll definitely be trying 10 hours a day. I think I've gotten a little too much light in the last couple days (fell asleep with the light on) which may be the cause of my problems. I noticed there's some browning grass in there too... Uh-oh....

I took your advice (learned from another forum) to trim it and I cut it down real low, about 1cm or so, if I recall my conversions correctly. The only difference between advice is that they recommend planting it deep, as they say it develops a complex root system. I'd say mine fall more into medium depth right now - just kind of pushed them down into the soil with my finger, maybe an inch or so deep. Should I pull them towards the surface more?

Lastly, do you know the effects of too much light, or Excel? I fear my tank may have gotten too much of both, as someone suggested I double dose on it. That seems to be when my problems started... Also, do you know how to properly dose Excel? Should I be using a needle to inject it directly towards the plants, or just dumping a capful in? Sorry for all the questions, just want to make sure my tank doesn't die!

[Wyvern]

Ok now its changed a bit since I took this pic. The two plants on the left by the filter intake has been removed since they just didnt survive - lasted a week then they melted. Im still a noob when it comes to planted tanks but I love it. I cant afford flourite at the moment but am talking with my LFS to see if we cant make some sort arrangement (aka when he cleans his tanks to give me some of his peatmoss and flourite).

I also moved the one hairgrass to the back under the fake stump aswell. To cover the gap the plants made. My Vallis is mad tho, I had to take out about 6 offshoots this week alone that I gave to my fish store. It grows like a weed! Im waiting on them to get me a few other plants, and then I will add them in, especially since my bacopa is still struggling. As you can see Im just using plain gravel (river gravel that was sourced from a local farm - they rinse it well then sundry it before selling it to us fishkeepers.)
The sword in the foreground is my pride and joy tho. Ive had it about 2 months and its already 4 times the size it was when I got it.

As for the depth of the hairgrass, I suspect that differs from person to person. I am short :P So I couldnt get it in that deep, but mine seems to be happy so I dont mind, if you find that yours is doing better deeper I will bribe my brother with Jelly babies to get him to replant it for me :P

As for excel - I will just be following their instructions carefully.
On initial use or after a major (> 40%) water change, use 1 capful (5 mL) for every 40 L (10 gallons*). Thereafter use 1 capful for every 200 L (50 gallons*) daily or every other day. Dosing may be slowly increased in high-growth aquariums. For smaller dosing please note that each cap thread is approximately 1 mL.

I dont think it would have done that much harm except you fish might have suffered a lack of oxygen if you dont have just betta's in the tank. Normally you might have gotten an algae bloom from to much lights and excel and your fertz.

Lower your use of the excel. Only 1ml per day. I use a needle but its just because it is easier to get my dosages right. Altho with seachem I have heard there is no such thing as over dosing. If you feel that you did over dose - give it a day or two. Or else do a 25% waterchange and just add conditioner and not excel.

[Oldfishlady]

Some plants are grown at the nursery emersed and once they are submersed the emerserd growth will die and be replaced with submersed growth....all normal.....so it is common to have some die off or melt....most of the aquatic plants have two forms of growth...emersed and submersed.......

With your vals, crypts, hair grass...make sure the crown is a above the substrate some....these plants do best when planted too shallow than too deep.....
Java fern.....the rhizome should be above the substrate
The stems can be buried or something placed on top of the stem until it roots or even floated....

Lights.....although 10,000k is okay...it is not the best for plant growth-that color spectrum can cause leggy growth and algae.....6500k will provide the best color spectrum for bushy plant growth....since you can use two tubes...I would change one of the 10,000k out and add a daylight 6500k and bulbs need to be changed out every 6mo-1yr with planted tank....

Photoperiod...the amount of time the lights are on...for planted tanks 10-12h....its a balance like with anything....if you start to see algae...increase the photoperiod....the plants need to out compete the algae and by decreasing the PP it can slow plant growth and give the algae a boost......

Your tank looks great......

[Nexangelus]

Ah, that's probably it. I'm seeing tremendous growth in my parrotgrass, Baby Tears and Red Wendtii. The dwarf hairgrass seems to be the only problematic plant - presumably because they're grown emersed in the nurseries and maybe because I planted it too deep. Still have yet to see any changes in the Bacopa (front right) but it looks healthy for the most part. The java fern is fixed to an Abalone shell via rubber band - rhizome isn't covered. :)

Thanks for the lighting recommendation. I don't think I can afford that bulb at the moment, but will definitely try it out if I start having problems/slow growth or a bulb dies. I have no problems growing at the moment, probably because of my absurd WPG and use of fertalizers. Plants have only been there 5 days and there's already been noticeable growth. Even for someone as impatient as I am, it's a very pleasing pace.

Ah, okay. I think I get it. I guess I'll keep my lighting on for 12 hours a day, since I'm seeing growth and have zero algae so far.

Oh, thank you! It's definitely still a work in progress. I want those dwarf baby tears to creep along the wood faster, and for a lush carpet of hairgrass to fill in - then I'll be content with it. :)