Plant problems in new tank :(

[matttimms49]

Hey, just wanted to see if this was normal for plants in a new set up. I've had some die off mostly from tropics cups. Should they bounce back??

I'm using a fluval fresh and plant 2.0 for lighting. New tank so it's been cycling but is stable now. Been using some flourish advance as well as seachem stability to cycle the tank.
No C02

Looking for advice. Cheers

[wolfiewill]

The first plant is a CO2 hog and won't grow without added CO2. It won't grow back. The second one looks like Staurygns repens, and I've never grown it without CO2 and it really likes moderate to high light, so perhaps it may also be a lighting issue. I'd have to test the brightness of the light at the surface of the leaf to be sure. And the third one looks like dwarf hair grass - Eleocharis parvula and I wouldn't try it without CO2 and moderately high light. I'm not sure how it would grow without CO2, so again, perhaps it's a lighting issue.
How deep are the plants in the tank? And how much space between the light and the water?

[matttimms49]

Spot on with the plant names. They are the 'mini' types from tropica.

I did try and research and read was told by different people that the plants could work without C02 they would just grow slowly, so I hope that they will bounce back, obviously I take your advice on board too but even the tropica website marked staurygn and the dwarf hair grass as easy plants so I thought they would be OK.

The light I'm using is the top of the line fluval LED so I really hope it's not a lighting issue as it wasn't cheap! The plants aren't that deep. The whole tank is only 16" deep and the light is sitting on top of the tank, so it's ask close as can be.

Here's hoping that they bounce back ☺️

[charlie]

While it`s true the plants you have will grow without CO2, i suspect your issues lies in too much intensity.
If the intensity is high enough to drive fast growth the uptake of all nutrients( carbon included) is more demanding, so since you are not supplementing any Macros or Carbon, it would be advisable to keep the light intensity down to establish a balance between Light, and all nutrients.
Also while the plants will grow without co2 , it will not necessarily thrive.
Errol

[matttimms49]

That's interesting, thanks for the information. I will try dimming the light a little more. I do have some flourish products would it be a good idea to add some of those in? I have flourish, excel and trace.

Cheers,

Matt

[Kalemh]

The ar mini I had the same thing happen with me but I took off a lot of leaves. I think is just melting it's emersed leafs back. Those leaves that are growing are submerged so I think the ar should be fine. I have also grown all these plants with out co2 but did not have nearly as much light as the fluval 2.0 puts out at max hopes this helps .

[matttimms49]

Nice, a post of hope! Thanks I will drop the level of light down a little and see if it come back. As with most aquarium things I am probably being impatient.

Thanks guys

[Kalinkacat]

How do you measure the brightness of the light on the leaf?  And, how do you know what brightness each plant needs?  I haven't read anything on this when researching plants.

Thanks,

[matttimms49]

Pretty gutted tonight guys, doing a water change for the first time in the new set up and as I hovered above the plants that were suffering pretty much 90% of the ar mini and staurygen repens got sucked up. I didn't pull at the plants I just hovered near them to get the melted leaves and the stems came as well. There may be some strong roots under the substrate that may recover, maybe.

Obviously I am a beginner and I am sure there are reasons of my own doing to why they didn't do too well but I just want to vent and say I'm gutted. Those tropica tubs arnt cheap.

On the good side I have spotted some dwarf hair grass blades popping up in new places.

[wolfiewill]

How do you measure the brightness of the light on the leaf?  And, how do you know what brightness each plant needs?  I haven't read anything on this when researching plants.Thanks,

I have a submersible LUX meter and have been using it in my own tanks for several years. I usually plant a new plant in at least three locations and decide which one is doing the best. I test and keep records of all my testing. It's not the most scientific of methods but it works.

[matttimms49]

Sounds interesting. Is that equipment expensive?

[wolfiewill]

It wasn't when I bought it. And I bought it with the understanding that I could be able to do this testing for anyone in the area. It's really not something that would be used very much, especially once a set up is going well.

[angelcraze]

I agree 100% with charlie.  I have the same issue with my finnex Ray II, it's just too much light for my low tech setup.  The plants look like they are lacking calcium, iron, potassium and co2.  So if you keep your lighting as is, you could try adding some ferts and liquid Glut or pressurized co2. 

But I personally prefer low light and slow growth, I suppose it depends on how much prunning you want to do.  The repens will grow, but very slowly without a co2 source and could easily fall victim to algae (namely BBA) because it won't thrive.  I find it much better to plant with low light plants that thrive in a low light low tech system.