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I just started with planted aquariums. One tank, that I have had fish in for years but no plants, is doing great everything is alive, taking off and almost taking over. But the other is just dying. The tank that is struggling is small 3 gallons and new, I started it in March after a class beta fish came home in a sad glass fish bowl. I first planted it with some Java Fern in September and the plant just got a bunch of brown holes. At that time I wasn’t adding nutrients. In January, I bought more Java Fern and Christmas tree moss bridge and started adding nutrients but still everything is dying. Began testing water nutrients were low but I have been dosing with EasyGreen. Now nutrients are up but my plants are still dying. HELP ! 

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Edited by rae anne
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Another piece of the puzzle is...are you seeing any new growth?

The damage on the leaves won't go away...you'll have to wait for new leaves to form (Java Fern grows slowlyyyyyy...so, it's going to take several weeks for new leaves to be anywhere near as big as the old leaves)!  If you're dosing Easy Green...I bet you've got some new growth.

Out of curiosity...what are your tank stats?  I'm especially interested in pH and nitrates!

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The moss is showing some nice new growth, so that's a good sign. I think I see some smaller healthy looking leaves in the background on the Java fern also, so that's also a good sign. Plants need time to adjust to our tanks. Some do it well, others struggle. I've got four planted tanks that are seemingly identical and plants grow differently in each one.  I never know what will grow where, so I try something in one tank and if it does well, great. If not I know not to try it there again. I think your plants will do fine though. The moss is clearly putting out new growth and dieback is not uncommon in mosses when moved.  

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10 hours ago, Betsy said:

Another piece of the puzzle is...are you seeing any new growth?

The damage on the leaves won't go away...you'll have to wait for new leaves to form (Java Fern grows slowlyyyyyy...so, it's going to take several weeks for new leaves to be anywhere near as big as the old leaves)!  If you're dosing Easy Green...I bet you've got some new growth.

Out of curiosity...what are your tank stats?  I'm especially interested in pH and nitrates!

Tank stats for PH it seems to be 7.5 -8ph normally at 8 . Higher than my other tank at 6.5ph. The Nitrates are low but better 20-40 normally. Lower than my other tank. The light is a little 6inch LED set up that came with the tank. Kind dim compared to my other tank. New growth is popping up in the Java Fern but it quickly gets the brown spots. I am on a mission to have a planted tank for this Beta fish. He lived so long in an empty glass bowl he deserves this. 

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Do you know what your water hardness is, and are you growing java fern and the Christmas moss in your other tank?  I've had more trouble with Java Fern and the Christmas moss bridge than anything else (crypts, anubias, val, dwarf sag, swords, etc), so I guess my first thought is--maybe those plants just happen to be the ones that aren't going to thrive in your particular water?  My Java Fern always ends up looking just like yours--I have very hard water and 8-8.2 Ph.  

After my Christmas Moss bridge failure (I had 2 in 2 different tanks), I read that Christmas Moss doesn't much like high Ph water.  I got some local Java Moss from a hobbyist and it's done MUCH better for me.  

I used the bridge base and made an anubias arch instead 🙂

Of course if these same types of plants are thriving in your other tank...you probably don't have the same issue I have 🙂 

 

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The hardness in the struggling tank ( I am just using the API Test Strips so I don't know how accurate they are) - KH is 120-180 and GH is 180.  The awesome tank is totally different KH is 40 and GH 60.

Yeah, I have Java Fern and the Moss Bridge in both tanks. The awesome tank is larger and also has several other types of plants sagittaria, cryptocoryne, and anubias all of them are just beautiful. Totally hooked on planted tanks now.

Maybe I need to try different plants. An anubias arch sounds lovely. I don't understand why the tanks are so different. I wonder if it has to do with the substrate. I got some basic fine gravel from the local fish store but maybe it is causing the condition differences. Strange.  

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