Plants slowly dying with LED hood.
- Thread starter FreshyFresh
- Start date
i am a firm beliver in dirt for a planted tank. everything that i have read and seen truely makes me belive lighting is not as important as common thinking goes. light is still needed obviously but u can get away with using less light then in a more high tech tank using ferts and co2 injection and so on. my plants were dying and going bad pretty quickly in my 20 gallon with t5ho bulbs. running over 2 watts per gallon using root tabs. i switched to dirt and they took off. i went for 2 months just out of curiousity with only one bulb on at a time which had the same wattage as my standard t5 i had before. plants still grew pretty good. so i strongly suggest looking into a dirt tank myself. cheaper, easier to maintaine, and less complicated. i would try that and use low light plants and see if it works. if it does try plants with higher lighting needs.
FreshyFresh - Plants need several different elements to thrive and grow. The plants you mentioned do well in very little light, and your substrate is ideal for them (for those that root). The fish you list in the tank should be providing all the nutrients needed with their waste.
The only thing that may be off is your carbon source.
You've never answered about your filtering (HOB filter, sponge filter driven by air or submerged powerhead, canister, etc). Also, do you use any airstones in the tank? If you are off-gassing your dissolved CO2, this will be a limiting factor in any plants growth. It is by far the most common reason low-light plants do not grow well. If the flitering metihod is off-gassing your CO2, if you can adjust the water return so it does not splash or cause too much surface aggitation, it will help keep the CO2 in the water. Another option is to use a product like Seachem's Flourish Excel. It is a carbon source that is a liquid, not a dissolved gas, so it does not dimminish with the type of filtering.
I've personally kepted java fern, java moss, duckweed, guppy grass and water wisteria (rooted and floating) with nothing but room lighting (nothing over the tank at all) and either no substrate or ordinary 'aquarium gravel' that you can find at any fish store, and those have grown fo rme.
Just trying to help solve the mystery.
I've kept several soil-capped-with-gravel or sand aquariums, both low light and more 'high tech,' so it can be done. In my experience, it can be a bit messy if you like to replant tops of stems, or if you have digging fish. I decided to not use soil for those reasons. It all depends on what you want. I like to grow plants and move them around, replant trimmings, etc. and getting the soil stirred up in the process did not appeal to me.
The only thing that may be off is your carbon source.
You've never answered about your filtering (HOB filter, sponge filter driven by air or submerged powerhead, canister, etc). Also, do you use any airstones in the tank? If you are off-gassing your dissolved CO2, this will be a limiting factor in any plants growth. It is by far the most common reason low-light plants do not grow well. If the flitering metihod is off-gassing your CO2, if you can adjust the water return so it does not splash or cause too much surface aggitation, it will help keep the CO2 in the water. Another option is to use a product like Seachem's Flourish Excel. It is a carbon source that is a liquid, not a dissolved gas, so it does not dimminish with the type of filtering.
I've personally kepted java fern, java moss, duckweed, guppy grass and water wisteria (rooted and floating) with nothing but room lighting (nothing over the tank at all) and either no substrate or ordinary 'aquarium gravel' that you can find at any fish store, and those have grown fo rme.
Just trying to help solve the mystery.
I've kept several soil-capped-with-gravel or sand aquariums, both low light and more 'high tech,' so it can be done. In my experience, it can be a bit messy if you like to replant tops of stems, or if you have digging fish. I decided to not use soil for those reasons. It all depends on what you want. I like to grow plants and move them around, replant trimmings, etc. and getting the soil stirred up in the process did not appeal to me.
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Thanks for all the info. This tank has a Marineland bio-wheel HOB on it. No air stones, etc.
The plants aren't really dying. They're just not showing any signs of growth.
I replaced the marineland LED hood with a glass vera-top and incandescent strip light with Zoo-med CFLs today. The glass top is a little awkward on a 10gal given the small footprint. The hinge blocks out some of the light, no matter where you put the light. I didn't cut to fit the vinyl strip for the rear yet because the filter butts right up to the glass top as is. I'm not sure I'll have room for even the locking tab of the back strip near the filter. Looks like I'd have to have no rear strip near the filter.
Here's how the tank looked before: http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/equipment/65932-24-led-flexible-bar-strip.html
and now:
The plants aren't really dying. They're just not showing any signs of growth.
I replaced the marineland LED hood with a glass vera-top and incandescent strip light with Zoo-med CFLs today. The glass top is a little awkward on a 10gal given the small footprint. The hinge blocks out some of the light, no matter where you put the light. I didn't cut to fit the vinyl strip for the rear yet because the filter butts right up to the glass top as is. I'm not sure I'll have room for even the locking tab of the back strip near the filter. Looks like I'd have to have no rear strip near the filter.
Here's how the tank looked before: http://www.myfishtank.net/forum/equipment/65932-24-led-flexible-bar-strip.html
and now:
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Yes, I previously mentioned using Seachem's Flourish Excel as a carbon source. But to be clear, it is not Excel does not provide CO2, but a bio-available source of carbon. It is liquid and is not off-gassed the way dissolved CO2 is. However, it has a limited life (8 hours or so), so always dose early in the photo period for best results.
Certainly nothing wrong with injecting CO2 into any tank, but for 10 gallons, its not really worth the money.
FreshyFish - does your HOB filter make a lot of splashing? If so, if you keep the water level higher, it make help your plants some by keeping more of the CO2 in the water. It looks like they are attached to deco, and not buried in the substrate, by your photos. Is that correct? For plants with rhizomes, it is important not to bury that part of the plant.
Certainly nothing wrong with injecting CO2 into any tank, but for 10 gallons, its not really worth the money.
FreshyFish - does your HOB filter make a lot of splashing? If so, if you keep the water level higher, it make help your plants some by keeping more of the CO2 in the water. It looks like they are attached to deco, and not buried in the substrate, by your photos. Is that correct? For plants with rhizomes, it is important not to bury that part of the plant.
Yep, you got it OC. All my rhizome plants are attached to shells to keep them from floating away. The only planted ones are the amazon sword and anacharis. I had to attach the anacharis to stuff as well to keep it from drifting away.
One thing I noticed right away yesterday was the additional heat put into the tank from this light. After ~2hrs of this light being on, my water temp went from ~80 to 83F. Cut the heater back and all is well.
One thing I noticed right away yesterday was the additional heat put into the tank from this light. After ~2hrs of this light being on, my water temp went from ~80 to 83F. Cut the heater back and all is well.