where did I go wrong?

[tylercrawford]

I had a 10g tank awhile back and used a junk light setup (drop light with a 13w compact fluorescent) and that was back when I knew nothing about tank care.

The water lilly took over half the tank with 5-6 pads, my single aponogeton bulb grew and eventually sent a flower to the top.

I then put them in a 30g tank with way too little light (40w) and they almost died completely. Recently brought them back to the 10g with the same 40w and they look much better but still have that brown look.

pH is 7.2, don't know the specifics on the others, water temp is 76F. Light is on for 8.5 hrs a day

All of them (3 aponogetons) shoot new leaves out every other day and for 3-4 days the leaves look great. Then over the course of a week, they start developing dark green spots. Within 3 weeks, the leaves turn brown and then die off.

Read that I could look into SeaChem Flourish?
LFS seems more into saltwater than fresh, thats why I am calling in backup. You guys! :19:

thanks in advance

Heres a pic:

[jbeining75]

eco-complete gravel and a co2 booster would help. Your plants are probably not getting enough of their needed nutrients

[tylercrawford]

wow. You guys are quick!

I am going to the LFS in a hour or so . . .

would that be a yes on the flourish?
Need to get both?
I asked the guy about the macro vs micro thing and I got a blank stare. uh-oh

I was also under the impression my tank may or may not need some kind of co2 (obivously it couldn't hurt) but I also have 2 red-tailed somethings in the tank. Probably 10 inches of fish in a 10g tank, it is calculated like that right?

[jbeining75]

try the flourish and eco complete first. Your tank is smaller the co2 may not be needed.

[digital3]

...
I asked the guy about the macro vs micro thing and I got a blank stare. uh-oh


Get the Flourish to cover your micro/trace element needs. As for Macros, you would need to look into getting these 3 elements:

Nitrates
Potassium
Phosphates

These are a little more complicated to dose. And you probably won't find them at your LFS. I would try your trace elements first and definitely look into CO2. Maybe some Fourish Excel might do the trick, before you look into DIY or pressurized.

If you really want a good beginners primer on plants check out this site:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.] ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])

Rex is a little rough around the edges (I think he's funny), but he knows what he's talking about!

[tylercrawford]

Well still trying to nail down my aquarium.

Noticed some algae started to appear on the bottom next to the rocks so I went and got a water tester kit (on sale for $25 at petco).

pH - 7.0
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 5ppm

Do I need to check for water hardness/iron or something?
The algae is showing up because of the nitrate right?

[jbeining75]

hardness is relative to ph. hardness deals with the amount of undisolved impurities in your water like copper, iron, zinc, etc...... hardness really only comes into play when breeding but it is still always good to test for it. At least once a week I test gh, kh (hardnesses, general and carbonate), ph, nitrites, nitrates, and ammonia.... Some people use o2 testers but rule of thumb is that if you have little o2 bubbles all throughout your tank (very tiny) youre good on o2.....

[jbeining75]

right algae appears because of nutrient rich water. weekly water changes, keeping the tank light off and keeping the tank outta direct sunlight help stop algae from growing....

[tylercrawford]

right algae appears because of nutrient rich water. weekly water changes, keeping the tank light off and keeping the tank outta direct sunlight help stop algae from growing....

Just did a ~30% change today (fills a big bucket) with the vacuum. I do a 30% every saturday
I have almost 9hrs with two 20w fluorescents (one 6700 the other 4200)
No direct sunlight . . .

Just trying to make sure I have everything down.

Its kinda frustrating to have done this exact same tank, not know what I was doing and have plants grow. Now I actually know a little and the plants refuse to grow.

[hpt84]

aponogetons have resting period. In those period (usually winter) they look like they are dying.