Plant leaves turning brown from tips and edges

[BrycePilaf]

Hi everyone,

I bought a used 55 gallon freshwater tank a couple of months ago. It came with 2 medium to large angelfish as well as a community of tetras, albino corys, and 2 bristlenose plecos. It also came with a lot of Anubias species, crypts, an Aponogeton, and some driftwood. I'm new-ish to aquariums (had one in high school) and new to aquarium plants.

Aside from some MAJOR crypt melt that I had after I got the tank (they were out of the water for a few hours and really wilted), I haven't had many problems with the plants. They've been putting out new leaves regularly. I have been using Aquarium Co-op root tabs. I think the crypt melt caused a spike in ammonia and later on, nitrates--my nitrates were around 80 ppm a couple weeks ago, and my pH has been as low as 6.4 (my tap water, and another aquarium, are around pH 7.5). The crypts and Anubias had been doing fine but I have been having issues with getting newly planted Val and Pogostemon (from Aquarium Co-op) to grow or not lose leaves. I thought maybe the low pH and high nitrates might be affecting the new plants, so I'd been doing 30% water changes every 2-3 days to bring down the nitrate levels and raise the pH. 

However, after a few days away last week I came home to see that many of the leaves on the crypts and Anubias were starting to turn brown/black, starting from the tips and edges. The crypts were just given root tabs so they *should* be good. I occasionally dose with a bottle of SeaChem Flourish that I got from the previous owner. I had bought some Easy Green but haven't used it yet because of the high nitrates in the tank. My light is a generic looking Aqueon light that came from the previous owner; it's been used to grow these plants for a long time.

Could the high nitrate level caused the browning of the leaves? My nitrate levels have been 20-40 ppm for the past week now. I'm not sure if the browning leaves are the delayed result of the 80 ppm levels from 2 weeks ago, or if something else might be causing it. 

I'm a little concerned because the Anubias in particular have never showed problems until now. I don't want to have my plants die on me. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[gregoryord]

Is your Anubius planted under gravel ? I am not an expert but I think the runner at the base of the Anubius has to be exposed to light . They are very hardy and very slow growing so it takes a long time to see a change in them . I am pretty sure that nitrates won't harm anything but fish . Nitrates are plant food minus all the other minerals you get in easy green . The only experience I have is with the Anubius none of the others.  So I would say if it is buried pull it up and attach it to driftwood or rocks.  Be careful driftwood can lower PH . Too many water changes can harm plants by removing minerals and nitrates.  Things the plants need . Hope this was helpful . Remember it could take a long time to see change in Anubius they are slow growing but hardy plants. 

[BrycePilaf]

On 11/4/2021 at 10:14 AM, gregoryord said:

Is your Anubius planted under gravel ? I am not an expert but I think the runner at the base of the Anubius has to be exposed to light . They are very hardy and very slow growing so it takes a long time to see a change in them . I am pretty sure that nitrates won't harm anything but fish . Nitrates are plant food minus all the other minerals you get in easy green . The only experience I have is with the Anubius none of the others.  So I would say if it is buried pull it up and attach it to driftwood or rocks.  Be careful driftwood can lower PH . Too many water changes can harm plants by removing minerals and nitrates.  Things the plants need . Hope this was helpful . Remember it could take a long time to see change in Anubius they are slow growing but hardy plants. 

Thanks for your reply. The Anubius runners are not under gravel, and some of them (I'm guessing it's A. nana petite) are on one of the pieces of driftwood. It's really densely growing on the driftwood, I've never been able to actually see the runners, so I suppose it's possible the runners aren't being exposed to light. However, it was that way when I got it and only now am I seeing any leaf browning.

I have been suspecting high nitrate levels as the possible cause of the leaf browning based on some google research I've done, and based on the high nitrate levels I've had. However, I have also thought that maybe the frequent water changes could be part of the culprit. My rationale for the frequent water changes has been to reduce nitrates and increase the pH. I'd bought 2 Pogostemon stellatis octopus plants about a month ago and put 1 in my 55 gallon and 1 in my 20 gallon tank. The plant in the 20 gallon tank (with a pH of 7.5 even with driftwood and nitrates never over 40 ppm) has been growing great--the 1 in my 55 gallon (with pH as low as 6.4 and nitrates as high as 80 ppm) has new green shoots but the lower leaves have been melting. So, I thought maybe the lower pH might be causing the new plant not to thrive. 

Maybe I'll hold off on further water changes for a bit and add some of the Flourish or Easy Green and see if that helps.

[gregoryord]

You can get a buffer or crushed coral to increase PH . Also too much CO2 will lower the . I have killed off all my plants keeping my water too clean they are part of the cleaning crew. I would think the Anubius would be the last to go . Just the little I know . You probably already know . Hang in there and good luck . 

[Patrick_G]

So it’s just the Anubias and Crypts that are getting brown? The crypts have melted and grown back or is it plants that never melted in the first place? 
Can you post some pics? 

Edited November 4, 2021 by Patrick_G

[BrycePilaf]

Sorry for the delay, work has been busy. Here are a couple of pictures.

Everything's been getting brown to some degree, but I've been most concerned about the Anubias because I've not done anything to them since I got the tank. The crypts melted back right after I got the tank and put on new growth afterward. I moved some of the crypts a few weeks ago (and a pleco dug one up) so I can't be 100% certain if my moving them caused their leaf browning or if it was something else. But the Anubias have been in the same spot the whole time.

One other thing to note: the Anubias had the blackbeard algae when I got the tank. It has not spread to any other leaves or plants since I got the tank and I don't have any other algae problems. 

 

[Patrick_G]

My guess is the problems are mostly from moving the plants around and an environment with new water. If I was just looking at the pics and didn’t have the background info I’d think Nitrogen deficiency, but it seems like your N is at a good level. In any case I’d do a water change and switch over to easy green. It’s much more concentrated than Flourish. That should help rule out any other possible deficiencies. 
For the BBA on the margins of the Anubias you could try spot treating with Seachem Excel or Easy Carbon. 

Edited November 5, 2021 by Patrick_G

[lefty o]

i think where you now see the yellowing on the anubia leaves is from where the BBA was attached to it. not much can be done about that as the BBA causes damage to the leaves under where it is.