Lighting or melting? This is driving me nuts.

[Breazy419]

Hello! I'll keep this short and sweet especially as a first post 😃

 

3~4 weekish old tank
Aqueon 14 rimless
Aqueon Planted LED (13 Watt 800 Lumes)

Light now for 8 hours
Fluval Stratum
Ph steady at 6.6.
Ammonia <0.25ppm
Nitrate 0
Nitrate stready @ 5ppm
gH ~ 120ppm
kH ~ 30ppm
25~30% water change weekly
Seachem Flourish

No algae issue yet.

1 betta, 2 Annbius nana, Java ferns and Anacharis..

Within a week, my Anacharis has gone from perky and floating to weak and falling apart... I had this issue in the past but I believe that a combination of over dosing iron, light and other factors caused it to die in my last tank... I have the Aqueon LED light which says its 13 watts at 800 lumes or 63 PAR at peak.

1.) I'm thinking to first start with setting the light at 8 hours and going from there. My Annbius Nana is also now showing a very very light yellowing in certain areas, and a couple Java ferns have dark green tips..

2.) My other thought could be a Nitrogen(?) Deficiency but im also concerned that the kH drops off and could be causing an issue, as I've read that Anacharis do not like low kH levels. I will be picking up a kit for that, along with possibly Seachem Equilibrium. My tap water comes out a little high, so I'm guessing the Stratum is acting as a buffer as it always did.. which I wish I knew beforehand lol.

 

I did just make an order here with Aquarium coop to hopefully get things set.

Edited October 3, 2022 by Breazy419

[JoeQ]

I vote nitrogen (along with maybe other nutrients). Reason I say this is from experience,  I had horrible melt with AR, I fussed with my light for weeks. It wasn't until I started supplementing nitrogen did I see new growth. 

[Gannon]

This is just kind of what has always happened to me with anacharis for some reason. It does bounce back though usually in my experience. Maybe they just don't adjust very well to new tanks much like crypt. 

[Breazy419]

On 10/3/2022 at 9:05 AM, JoeQ said:

I vote nitrogen (along with maybe other nutrients). Reason I say this is from experience,  I had horrible melt with AR, I fussed with my light for weeks. It wasn't until I started supplementing nitrogen did I see new growth. 

When I dose nitrogen, is there any other nutrient I should also dose for? I hear dosing just one thing like that is extremely difficult 

On 10/3/2022 at 9:40 AM, Gannon said:

This is just kind of what has always happened to me with anacharis for some reason. It does bounce back though usually in my experience. Maybe they just don't adjust very well to new tanks much like crypt. 

I added more anacharis last night but ill leave the old in for now hopefully they do...this happened last time in my last tank

[JoeQ]

On 10/3/2022 at 10:36 AM, Breazy419 said:

When I dose nitrogen, is there any other nutrient I should also dose for? I hear dosing just one thing like that is extremely difficult 

Adding a single nutrients isn't as hard as its made out to be. The Flourish you are dosing does not contain nitrogen which is one of the main nutrients plants need. At 5ppm, thats barely enough to grow algea, let alone grow a complex, nitrogen hungry plant like Anacharis

[Breazy419]

On 10/3/2022 at 10:55 AM, JoeQ said:

Adding a single nutrients isn't as hard as its made out to be. The Flourish you are dosing does not contain nitrogen which is one of the main nutrients plants need. At 5ppm, thats barely enough to grow algea, let alone grow a complex, nitrogen hungry plant like Anacharis

Not to sound like an "ass' but it does contain nitrogen just maybe not enough, I didn't realize it needed extra.. I thought this was supposed to be an easy plant? 😂

 

Any suggestions on raising the Nitrate ppm slowly? I was concerned prime would lower it so I only add it to water I'm putting in, not the actual tank.

[JoeQ]

On 10/3/2022 at 11:12 AM, Breazy419 said:

Not to sound like an "ass' but it does contain nitrogen just maybe not enough, I didn't realize it needed extra.. I thought this was supposed to be an easy plant? 😂

 

Any suggestions on raising the Nitrate ppm slowly? I was concerned prime would lower it so I only add it to water I'm putting in, not the actual tank.

I actually just read back and saw that you have ammonia.  The first thing I would do is achieve a test with 0 ammonia,  0 nitrates before dosing anything, make sure you have a good cycle going. (There is a plant in cycle method but im unfamiliar with dosing during plant in cycles) Then see where your nitrAtes are. A simple rule to help you remember nitrites from nitrAites is: My plantes ATE my nitrAtes! Then if they are consistently 5ppm or below, id supplement Seachem nitrogen to bring it up to 10+ppm ~ 20ppm. If it makes you more comfortable,  just add half a dose and test an hour later. 

Edit; also Imo typically easy plants is code for plants that do better in an over stocked tank that never gets water changed on account of their ability to quickly absorb an incredible amount of nitrates.

Edited October 3, 2022 by JoeQ

[Patrick_G]

I would probably just get a comprehensive fertilizer like Aquarium co-op Easy Green. That way you'll be covering all the nutrients your plants need, and you won't have to play a guessing game of what to add. 
 

 

[Breazy419]

On 10/3/2022 at 12:41 PM, JoeQ said:

I actually just read back and saw that you have ammonia.  The first thing I would do is achieve a test with 0 ammonia,  0 nitrates before dosing anything, make sure you have a good cycle going. (There is a plant in cycle method but im unfamiliar with dosing during plant in cycles) Then see where your nitrAtes are. A simple rule to help you remember nitrites from nitrAites is: My plantes ATE my nitrAtes! Then if they are consistently 5ppm or below, id supplement Seachem nitrogen to bring it up to 10+ppm ~ 20ppm. If it makes you more comfortable,  just add half a dose and test an hour later. 

Edit; also Imo typically easy plants is code for plants that do better in an over stocked tank that never gets water changed on account of their ability to quickly absorb an incredible amount of nitrates.

I love your ideas, and what you're saying makes complete sense. I just ran an ammonia test and these are the results: 

 

im gonna go the nitrogen route and just see what happens... I havent done a water change since the nee anachrias has been floating and so far so good..

[JoeQ]

On 10/3/2022 at 1:02 PM, Breazy419 said:

I love your ideas, and what you're saying makes complete sense. I just ran an ammonia test and these are the results: 

 

im gonna go the nitrogen route and just see what happens... I havent done a water change since the nee anachrias has been floating and so far so good..

For your bettas sake, ammonia = water change 

[Breazy419]

On 10/3/2022 at 1:20 PM, JoeQ said:

For your bettas sake, ammonia = water change 

Yes! I'm on it!

[Breazy419]

So here's an update... the new anacharis have been in for about 2 weeks and appear to be thriving... completely unsure what actually killed/melted the first batch. 

Nothing has changed really, just added new fertz yesterday and have kept the light consistent. 

 

Gh is still through the roof while kH is 0-1°

Edited October 12, 2022 by Breazy419