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Why is my Dwarf Aquarium Lily turning green and dying?!


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Hey guys so I’m not quite sure what’s going on here.. I’ve been keeping fish for years and years but in the past it’s been mostly malawis or large American cichlids so I never did much with live plants. This tank however is my first real attempt with plants. After watching every plant video from Cory that I could find, I settled on trying out a dwarf aquarium lily. There is also guppy grass and some dwarf sag that seem to be doing fine. Over the past few days though, the lily bulb suddenly has green stuff growing on it and it seems to be killing off the shoots/leaves. I’ve had the bulb for 2 weeks and I thought it was doing great, sprouted very quickly. Now though I’m concerned this green stuff is going to kill it off. Is this some form of algae or maybe Cyanobacteria? I’ve never had to deal with Cyanobacteria before. Any help would be greatly appreciated since it seems to be spreading and killing the young leaves quickly. I want a chance to see this plant all large and beautiful.
 

tank is 30 gallons

fish stock:

-1 male/female pair of Laetacara curviceps (dwarf acara)

-10 brilliant rasboras 

- some ramshorn snails

PH is always right around 7.2-7.4

ammonia & nitrite are both zero 

nitrate is around 10-20ppm depending on how close it is to water change day.


root tabs for dwarf sag and I also dose a bit of easy green after water changes. 
The light is a hygger 24/7 planted LED and runs for about 10 hours a day. 
 

here’s some pics. Pic of the lily bulb in question, and the male Laetacara because I love to show him off lol. Thanks everyone! Hopefully it’s not too late to save this Lily!!

 

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B7C2249B-9D67-421E-9A89-4811FBD56BB9.jpeg

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Can you put a root tab under the bulb? That might help. I have had an aquarium Lily now for over 4 months now from The Co  Op and mine took some to get going. I remember there being a fuzzy kind of algae on the bulb. It eventually went away. All the initial leaves and lily’s died back now thicker wider leaves are growing. Yours might just need time. 

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I second the root tab under the bulb. I've got a nymphaea rubra and yeah, it thrives and has the best leaf coloration with regular tabs added, so I'd imagine a dwarf aquarium lily would be the same.

Doesn't look like cyanobacteria on it to me, possibly a bit of green hair or fuzz type algae. Plus if you had cyanobacteria you'd smell it from the tank - a rotten spinach smell, no mistaking it.

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On 9/11/2022 at 1:06 AM, Jenja said:

I second the root tab under the bulb. I've got a nymphaea rubra and yeah, it thrives and has the best leaf coloration with regular tabs added, so I'd imagine a dwarf aquarium lily would be the same.

Doesn't look like cyanobacteria on it to me, possibly a bit of green hair or fuzz type algae. Plus if you had cyanobacteria you'd smell it from the tank - a rotten spinach smell, no mistaking it.

Just out of curiosity how often to you stick root tabs around/under your nymphaea? I feel like I must be going crazy but I put two co op root tabs underneath the bulb a little over 24 hours ago and I swear it looks like somehow the amount of small leaves emerging has almost doubled!! The green color has gone away considerably as well from the bulb. I’m pumped!! Didn’t realize this could happen so quickly. I want to get this thing on a regular schedule with the tabs.. I know there are lots of other variables that determine how often someone would need to dose with root tabs (nitrate levels, lights, ect.) but what’s a rough estimate? Every month? Sooner/later than that? Thanks so much Jenja and you too Kurt! 

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Every 1-3 months - it's very much a when I think of it/notice it needs it, than a regimented schedule for me. As you can see the plant will show you clues, just watch for them and add as needed.

Here mine is at the moment (excuse the overall grungy-ness I'm due for a good vacuuming, this week actually):

IMG_20220912_223658_kindlephoto-1316821241.jpg.51552cd243f118d72215b649329cc068.jpg

It is due for a tab, as you can see the main bulb's leaves are fairly green. I'm not sure if it's because I switched to the Easy root tabs back in June and it needs them a bit more frequently, or if it just has expensive tastes and prefers the Fluval root tabs. I marked my two baby plantlets that have sprung up without any intervention on my part. Number 1 is about 6 months old, and number two is maybe a month and a half (or at least that's roughly when I noticed it's not part of the initial bulb). Not sure if the dwarf lily spreads similarly (I think it's in the same family, so it should be a possibility, maybe? Someone experienced with your variety would be able to give us a more definitive answer, hopefully).

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