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RE: plants turned brown

staffordmom — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:38:57 GMT

Nope, they were both attached to driftwood with a rubber band.

staffordmom

RE: plants turned brown

Fishatty — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:11:27 GMT

You didn't by chance bury the Anubius and Java Fern's rhizome (the thing that the leaves and "roots" grow out of) in the aquarium gravel? These plants must be secured to an object, such as a rock or piece of driftwood. You can tie Anubius and Java Fern to the object with simple sewing thread or a piece of nylon fishing line.

RE: plants turned brown

staffordmom — Thu, 15 May 2008 16:29:27 GMT

I bought better lighting today ( a double linear strip, with an 18 watt Colormax Full-spectrum T5 Flourescent Lamp and an 16 watt 6700K Plant Lamp T5 Flourescent Lamp) and also bought some new plants today. Hopefully my plants will do well with the new lighting.

staffordmom

RE: plants turned brown

staffordmom — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:55:47 GMT

Thanks David,

If you think they'll do ok with the light I have I'll try them again, only not adding anything this time.

staffordmom

RE: plants turned brown

David Lass — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:50:44 GMT

Glad I've convinced you to keep live plants. The ones you mentioned have the lowest light demand of any plants, and I'm surprised they turned brown. If I were you I would just try them again, leave the light on for 12 hours a day, and don't add anything in the way of additives. Those plants are slow growers, and they should get the food that they need, with the amount of light you have, from the fish and the fish foods.

RE: plants turned brown

Hailey — Sun, 11 May 2008 19:27:00 GMT

It depends entirely on the plants. Some plants do well with only one watt per gallon, but others may need upwards of four or five. Here is a list of low light plants that should grow (though very slowly) with at least 40 watts of light on a 40-55g tank. http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=1&filter_by=2 I wouldn't go with less than .75 watts per gallon with any plant (except perhaps java moss...that stuff is unbelievable) if you want it to actually grow and not just survive.

RE: plants turned brown

sharonM — Sun, 11 May 2008 18:32:37 GMT

I have been following this thread as I have the same problem. Exactly what amount of watts is needed in a tank 40-55 gallons to effectively grow plants? I have the exact same bulbs on my hood.

RE: plants turned brown

filipem — Sun, 11 May 2008 06:03:34 GMT

20 watts of light is not much light for a 29 galllon. Normally a good rule of thumb it to have a least 1.5Watts of light per gallon. you have about half of that. You may need to upgrade your lighting to grow those plants. If you decide to upgrade your lighting, please think about what type of plants you will want to keep in future. Upgrading lights can get expensive.

Perhaps buying a mulitlpe bulb fixture would be best. That way you could run the watttage you need today and add bulbs for other plants down the road. Try Craigslist there are usually a lot of people selling ligthing systems for cheap, or if it's a new set-up ask the LFS your bought it from and return it or trade it in for a bigger system. I have two lighting fixtures that I have no use for because I did not want to spend the money for a powerful system up front.

On the flourish.. I wouldn't use it for now. If your plants are not getting enough light they will not be able to use those ferts.

RE: plants turned brown

staffordmom — Sun, 11 May 2008 04:54:15 GMT

It's a 29 gallon tank. The light is a Coralife Colormax 24 inch 20 watt flourescent freshwater aquarium daylight lamp. It's a full spectum light that simulates the sun at high noon. I leave it on for 12-14 hrs a day.

staffordmom

RE: plants turned brown

filipem — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:13:28 GMT

What kind of light do you buy? incandescent bulb, florescent strip or compact florescent? Also what it the wattage and the size of the tank. normally those plants really do not need any additives or ferts to keep alive

plants turned brown

staffordmom — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:41:42 GMT

Hi,

I got 3 plants when I set up my tank about a month and a half ago, a Java Moss, a Java Fern and an Anubias. The Java Fern & Anubias turned brown which I read somewhere was from too much iron. I have a single daylight bulb which the guy at the lfs sold me. I was going to forget live plants and just go with plastic, until I heard Davis Lass say he's a firm believer that fish do best with live plants. So, I guess I'll give live plants 1 more try before I go to plastic. I was using Flourish which the guy at the lfs sold me. This time I think I'll try without adding anything. Any ideas on why plants would turn brown?

staffordmom