Planted aquarium help

[Dave G]

Hi.  This 10 gallon tank is my first and is about 3 months old. I am brand new to the hobby.  The plants in the photos show leaf damage and I wanted to learn if it is a result of too much light, not enough nutrients or something else.  I am not using co2.   Thanks 

[Taco Playz]

How long ago did you purchase the plants?

[Patrick_G]

The AR plant does like a lot of light and can be a bit finicky. Can you post your water parameters, what kind of light you're using and what type of fertilizer. 

I think @Taco Playz question is also pertinent since plants have an adjustment period when introduced into a tank and some need to convert from being grown in air to being grown submerged. 

[Dave G]

I will get the names of the plants to help, getting an actual water test tonight.  Of the 4 plants in the front of the tank 1st on left was added just yesterday.  The 2nd and 4th are approx 3 weeks in tank. The 3rd one was cut from the 2 i bought together about 5/6 weeks ago. (that is the tall red stemmed plant)  I cut tone of the red stemmed plants in half to see if i could get new plant about a week ago.

This tank has a fluvel plant and grow light .  I just did a test strip.  No Nitrate or Nitrite (do water changes evey week), GH is at the top of the range (at least 300)  KH is medium (below 120) and the PH is 7.8 or so.   The GH just seems really high but i have limited context to what the figures actually mean.   Fertizlizer is from Aquarium Co OP 

[Patrick_G]

I think you're on the right track. A couple of thoughts:

-I see some staghorn algae on all the plants. This leads me to think you should cut back on the lighting intensity and period. I should help with the initial algae outbreak.

-You’ll want to raise your nitrates. Nitrogen is the most important nutrient for plants. You can do this by adding more fertilizer. 

-I’ve been told that plants do better in soft, slightly acidic water, but before you try and lower your GH or PH I’d sort out the light and fertilizer. 

-Time will help a lot. Be patient and don't change to much at once. Some plants will do better than other in a given tank. I like to put my efforts into the ones that thrive! 

[nabokovfan87]

Are you by chance dosing iron for red plants?

[TeeJay]

Yes with plants I have found that patience is the key. I have had my tank set up for 5 months and first time with live plants. Some do better than others. Even when you do see melting and dying back alot of times they will come back with new growth. There is a sweet spot in finding right amount of brightness and for how long. For me personally I only do about 8 hours of light a day at 75 percent brightness. And fertilize once a week. 

[Dave G]

Thanks,  i am finding the science of this process to be a fun puzzle.  The art of working with patience and accepting that it takes time and has beed a good lesson.  I looked at my settings and was running 10 hours of light so i scaled that back to 8 hours and knockdown the brightness a bit as well using the Fluvalsmart app.