Kristina Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 We purchased some Pothos from Home Depot, rinsed the roots really well and they have been in the little plastic holders (roots only) in our aquarium for about 2 months. The plants are growing great; however, the roots appear to be rotting? They used to be white and now they are black and pie6 ces keep falling off. Yesterday, out of no where, our water turned cloudy. Ammonia and Nitrites are 0 ppm, nitrates = 20 ppm. 50% WC every two days. We have 2 Fluval 407's running and and airstone. Our tank is 55g and we have 6 discus, 6 Harlequin Rasbora's. 5 cardinal tetras, two columbian zebra plecos, 5 black neon tetras, 3 juli cory's and 1 panda cory. I'm wondering if these pothos roots are rotting and that is why we have this bacterial bloom. Any suggestions on how to get my clear water back would be welcome! Should we break off the rotting roots, get rid of the pothos all together and propagate for new roots? We have a UV filter but I have't added that to our aquarium as I'm not sure of the effectiveness. It's the Eliminator by Aquatop. It says it is an internal filter with UV and helps with algae blooms, but I don't think this is algae. Will it hurt if I put this filter in my aquarium just to see what it does, if anything? Thanks in advance for any help on how to get rid of this cloudy water! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyM Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 That is very strange - when I started my pothos they were rootless - just clippings. Maybe try taking out the pothos, finding a few strong/long branches and clipping the roots and any rotted parts off and trying that way? I'm guessing you're right and the cloudy water is coming from the rotting plant material, but not sure w/o seeing things. As an experiment you can put a rotting part into a glass of dechlorinated water and see if it turning cloudy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 Hopefully this video helps, it helped me this weekend with my bacterial bloom. I doubt rotting plant was the main cause, it could have just been a coincidence in combination with other happenings. In my case it was from over cleaning, I added a handful of bio media from another tank and by morning it was gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristina Posted August 7 Author Share Posted August 7 On 8/7/2024 at 5:01 PM, MattyM said: That is very strange - when I started my pothos they were rootless - just clippings. Maybe try taking out the pothos, finding a few strong/long branches and clipping the roots and any rotted parts off and trying that way? I'm guessing you're right and the cloudy water is coming from the rotting plant material, but not sure w/o seeing things. As an experiment you can put a rotting part into a glass of dechlorinated water and see if it turning cloudy. Thank you for your response - here are a few pictures so you can see the cloudiness as well as the rotting roots... I've also included a picture from day before yesterday when my aquarium was crystal clear like it normally is. On 8/7/2024 at 5:35 PM, JoeQ said: Hopefully this video helps, it helped me this weekend with my bacterial bloom. I doubt rotting plant was the main cause, it could have just been a coincidence in combination with other happenings. In my case it was from over cleaning, I added a handful of bio media from another tank and by morning it was gone. Thank you for this! I just watched it and I did do my 50% water change evening before last and then the cloudiness was here less than 24 hours later. We took the driftwood out for about 15 to 20 minutes as it was time to vacuum the side of the tank where it normally sits. It may have killed off the bacteria from the driftwood. We will add prime and we have seachem's pristine and stability as well which is what we have on hand. I can add those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 (edited) On 8/7/2024 at 6:30 PM, Kristina said: Thank you for your response - here are a few pictures so you can see the cloudiness as well as the rotting roots... I've also included a picture from day before yesterday when my aquarium was crystal clear like it normally is. Thank you for this! I just watched it and I did do my 50% water change evening before last and then the cloudiness was here less than 24 hours later. We took the driftwood out for about 15 to 20 minutes as it was time to vacuum the side of the tank where it normally sits. It may have killed off the bacteria from the driftwood. We will add prime and we have seachem's pristine and stability as well which is what we have on hand. I can add those. Monitor your water parameters, but besides that I'd take a hands off approach. You need to let the bacteria repopulate surfaces which takes time. 50% Water changes most likely isn't helping IMO. Beautiful tank btw! Edited August 7 by JoeQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristina Posted August 7 Author Share Posted August 7 (edited) On 8/7/2024 at 6:40 PM, JoeQ said: Monitor your water parameters, but besides that I'd take a hands off approach. You need to let the bacteria repopulate surfaces which takes time. 50% Water changes most likely isn't helping IMO. Beautiful tank btw! Okay, will do - with the discus, I find if I do less than 50% every other day, my nitrates hit 40ppm daily instead of every two days. What would you suggest for my water changes? And thank you! I want bigger so I can have more plants! I'd also like to do CO2, but struggle already with my pH for the discus so I'm a bit nervous to jump into that. Edited August 7 by Kristina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 On 8/7/2024 at 7:52 PM, Kristina said: Okay, will do - with the discus, I find if I do less than 50% every other day, my nitrates hit 40ppm daily instead of every two days. What would you suggest for my water changes? Not knowing anything about discus, My first instinct with any tank would be A LOT more plants!!! Particularly floaters that absolutely love nitrates!!! With that said, I been trying to solve my brothers nitrate problems in his cichlid tank with plants. Needless to say its not going well.......... 🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristina Posted August 8 Author Share Posted August 8 Yes! We are saving for a larger tank so we can do that! I would love a tank that has carpeting plants and lots more plants just in general! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 Looks to me like you got plenty of room in that tank for both planted & floating plants. If it were mine id have that surface mostly covered in frog bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristina Posted August 8 Author Share Posted August 8 Will that withstand the 86 to to 88 degree water temp? I struggle to find plants that will take the high heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 On 8/7/2024 at 8:23 PM, Kristina said: Will that withstand the 86 to to 88 degree water temp? I struggle to find plants that will take the high heat. I can not say for sure but frogbits ideal temp is 64~80 so maybe? Have you considered duckweed? Its upper temperature limit is a staggering 104 degrees!! 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristina Posted August 8 Author Share Posted August 8 I will look into the duckweed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JE47 Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 On 8/7/2024 at 6:07 PM, JoeQ said: Its upper temperature limit is a staggering 104 degrees!! True, also once attached to your tank it is never saying good-bye 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woowala Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 Vallisneria? I've never kept it so others might chime in and say it definitely won't survive 86 degrees, but I know it's got a pretty wide temp range. Also it's a CAM plant so it'll uptake CO2 at night when it's most available and might help mitigate daily pH swings in a low kh discus tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristina Posted August 8 Author Share Posted August 8 On 8/7/2024 at 10:50 PM, Woowala said: Vallisneria? I've never kept it so others might chime in and say it definitely won't survive 86 degrees, but I know it's got a pretty wide temp range. Also it's a CAM plant so it'll uptake CO2 at night when it's most available and might help mitigate daily pH swings in a low kh discus tank. Thanks! I'll research that as well. On 8/7/2024 at 10:49 PM, JE47 said: True, also once attached to your tank it is never saying good-bye 😂 That's what I'm finding online! Yikes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted August 8 Share Posted August 8 On 8/7/2024 at 10:49 PM, JE47 said: True, also once attached to your tank it is never saying good-bye 😂 These claims are grossly exaggerated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JE47 Posted August 9 Share Posted August 9 On 8/8/2024 at 3:06 AM, Kristina said: That's what I'm finding online! Yikes! JoeQ is right these claims are ab exaggeration while duckweed is small making it slightly more difficult to remove it can be done it just requires some diligent work to remove. I have duckweed and really enjoy having it would recommend as one of the easiest floaters to grow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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