Multiple plants melting

[Bayareafishnewbie]

New aquarium owner here. I have a ten gallon with gravel substrate and only a single betta fish. Ammonia was 0.25, nitrite was 0, and nitrates were 40.

About 4-5 weeks ago I ordered a Vallisneria, red flame sword, and a pogostemon stellatus “PG”. They were all healthy looking initially but over the course of the last few weeks, the vallisneria and PG both are looking terrible. Both seem to be melting away. The Vallisneria has two runners but even those are starting to melt. Both plants appear very faded in color. I’d been leaving the lights on the aquarium hood for about 8-9 hours per day. The red flame sword is growing new leaves every week or so but have noticed that some older leaves are starting to have yellow or rust colored spots. Is this normal?

The crypt lutea I also got around the same time seems to be fading better as it has some new leaves and appears to still be a vibrant green. 

I have root tabs which I’d used once and have dosed Easy Green about 3 times since I got them.

What am I doing wrong? I feel very discouraged now and I’d just ordered three more plants last week. I hope they all make it!

[TheSwissAquarist]

Most plants melt back to create different leaves that are more suited to the water where they live. Are there any new shoots coming up around the base of each plant? Any fish that could be eating the plants ? 

[Bayareafishnewbie]

@TheSwissAquaristthere had been new shoots and new runners but they’re also showing signs of melting or yellowing. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. 😔

[TheSwissAquarist]

Have you made sure to take them out of their pots? PSO is usually quite a hardy plant. Are any other plants showing signs of this? 

[Bayareafishnewbie]

@TheSwissAquaristthere had been new shoots and new runners but they’re also showing signs of melting or yellowing. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. 😔 Should I reduce light, should I dose more fertilizer?

@TheSwissAquarist yes, the vallisneria is planted in gravel substrate and the PSO was planted shallowly in the gravel substrate but have since allowed it to float as of today. I took it out of the tank to remove the melted leaves. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

This may help:

[TheSwissAquarist]

Has there been any change @Bayareafishnewbie? 

[Bayareafishnewbie]

Hi @TheSwissAquarist, no unfortunately. They are both looking rather sad. I’m going to insert another root tab under the vallisneria. I added one yesterday underneath the red flame sword and dosed some easy green after a partial water change. 
 

btw, I just noticed your profile picture. I have a Dalmatian as well!

[TheSwissAquarist]

Try turning the light up; it seems a bit dim. 

On 9/11/2023 at 6:28 AM, Bayareafishnewbie said:

have yellow or rust colored spots. Is this normal?

 

On 9/11/2023 at 10:43 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

This may help:

Looks a bit like phosphate deficiency, but I’m not sure…

Have you got any idea @Dark River Aquatics @Mmiller2001?? I’m a bit stumped! 

[TheSwissAquarist]

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/plant-nutrient-deficiencies

[Mmiller2001]

I’m not great with Vals, but when I leave them alone, about 3 months later they’ll explode. I’d forgo root tabs with your current substrate and go full water column dosing so your able to keep P and K higher without having super high NO3. Keep everything consistent, dosing and water changes. I’d bump the light up a smidge as mentioned. Not much, go up slowly.

[Bayareafishnewbie]

Thank you both @Mmiller2001 and @TheSwissAquaristfor your guidance! I’ll try increasing lighting and regular doses of easy green. It has ambient light from a north facing window that’s about 3 feet away from the tank and I had been leaving the lights on during much of the workday and early evening hours. Maybe I overdid the lighting?

[Mmiller2001]

You would have algae everywhere if there was too much light.

[Rube_Goldfish]

What make/model light do you have? You mentioned the light being under a hood; did the light come as part of a tank kit or did you buy it separately? My preliminary guess is inadequate light.

[Bayareafishnewbie]

Hi @Rube_Goldfish it was the light that came with the hood that was part of the TopFin 10 gallon starter kit. I was leaving the lights on for upwards of 10-12 hours per day and the tank does sit about 5 feet away from a north facing window. My myriad of “bright light” houseplants seem to thrive in a similar spot close to the tank. I’m very puzzled as to why this is happening suddenly since the plants seemed to be doing well the first 3 weeks. Nitrates continue to measure in at about 30-40ppm using the freshwater API test kit. I do a 25-33% water change every 2-3 days. 

[Tanked]

I can't help too much as I am having the similar problems with Italian Val, PSO and Amazon Swords.  The PSO is the only plant that has melted.  I have been lucky to not have any crypt melt. 

If I am reading this correctly you: have had the plants 4-5 weeks, are doing partial water changes every 2-3 days, and "I have root tabs which I’d used once and have dosed Easy Green about 3 times since I got them".

My best guess is that your plants are starving.  Unless you have reason to do otherwise, (ammonia?) I would start by cutting water changes to once every 4 days, and use Easy Green as directed.  If this works, when your plants recover, you may be able to cut back the water changes further.

 

 

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 9/18/2023 at 12:05 PM, Tanked said:

I can't help too much as I am having the similar problems with Italian Val, PSO and Amazon Swords.  The PSO is the only plant that has melted.  I have been lucky to not have any crypt melt. 

If I am reading this correctly you: have had the plants 4-5 weeks, are doing partial water changes every 2-3 days, and "I have root tabs which I’d used once and have dosed Easy Green about 3 times since I got them".

My best guess is that your plants are starving.  Unless you have reason to do otherwise, (ammonia?) I would start by cutting water changes to once every 4 days, and use Easy Green as directed.  If this works, when your plants recover, you may be able to cut back the water changes further.

 

 

Hi @Bayareafishnewbie , I'm still skeptical of the strength of your light, as I was generally under the impression that those sort of kit tank lights were only really capable of growing low light plants like Java fern, but I don't have any personal experience with them, and I'm assuming you don't have a PAR meter.

But I think @Tanked is really on to something here with regard to nutrients. Your nitrates seem sufficient, but you might be lacking in phosphates or potassium. Two questions, then: are you growing any algae, and if so what kind, how much, and where; and are you doing water changes every 2-3 days to keep the nitrates from rising above 40 ppm, or is there some other reason? What happens if you go a week without a water change?

[MattyM]

From your pics, it looks like you have really large gravel? Like bordering on small rocks. I wonder if the roots are having problems with that.