Sickly plants

[crystalite]

Ive added live plants to my 125 litre tank with sand substrate but some of them aren't doing great. I'm not sure what they all are but I have amazon sword, tiger lotus and others that I can't name that are doing ok but some of my other including vilas(sp?) and are looking very unhealthy and my water wisteria which was thriving has started to go yellowy.

Any ideas what I could do to revive them?

I have fish in the tank and am adding shrimp soon so something safe for them and preferably easy and not too technical.

[Goes to 11!]

You did not mention how long they have been in situ but plants can and do melt a bit and come back as they acclimate to a new tank. This can take a few weeks.

What lighting and ferts are you using?

[Akran]

There are a few things it could be. For new plants, as crystalite said, they can go through a period of melting as they adjust to your tanks parameters. Some plants are actually grown in hydroponic nurseries, which means the leaves are not in water. These plants especially will have to go through a period of adjustment.

Sand substrate can be a little too fine for plant roots to grow through. Most people recommend a fine, natural gravel or even dirt with gravel over it. There are also specialty plant substrates like Seachem Flourite, and I've heard good things about Aquariumplants.com substrate. I realize changing substrates is pretty daunting, especially removing all that sand.. So this may be not be the best troubleshooting step to start with, yet something to think about for future planted tanks.

Keeping aquatic plants is all about balancing light, nutrients, and CO2. The lower your light, the less you have to worry about CO2 and fertilizers. However, some plants require high light so this is where you have to start considering a CO2 system and fertilizers.

You mentioned your Wisteria was previously thriving and now is turning yellow. This is almost certainly a nutrient deficiency of some kind (likely iron, but perhaps something else). A handy chart for determining nutrient deficiency is here. There are two ways to combat this. You can either dose with dry or liquid fertilizers directly into the water column, or you can get root tabs (small nutrient pellets) to put into your substrate. Plants typically get most of their nutrients through their roots, so plants that are buried in substrate will likely need root tabs.

One thing to be cautious of with fertilizing your tank, since you mentioned you plan on adding shrimp, is that many plant fertilizers contain copper. Copper is essential in very small quantities, but extremely lethal to shrimp if too high. Just one other thing to think about...

Good luck!

[Strider199]

Plus one to Akran.

Good info.

When I moved my Wisteria from a 29 gallon with gravel to a 55 gallon with flourite it went yellow and stringy. I took it out and replaced it with some Anubis types. My lighting just didn't cut it in the deeper tank. I have since upgraded my lighting but still have not replaced the Wisteria. I go with what I have luck with.

[Pleco380]

I also think lighting or ferts may be the issue. I have my tank in a very sunny room with hours of scorching heat and use ferts once a month. My plants do well and so far the shrimp haven't been bothered by them.

[crystalite]

I have two 20watt sunglo T8 bulbs. As for fertilisers...erm...does fish poo count? I'd heard about the tablets but thought they were just an optional extra for people who were really into plants as opposed to just having them for the sake of the fish.

Some of the plants were in my old 28litre and got moved when I set up my new tank about a month ago but the rest I've added bit by bit as I went a long so its good to know they might settle once they've been in a while longer.

Anyone know a list of shrimp and fish safe tablet fert that can be bought in the UK? I could do with more than one suggestion as I often can't find the best stuff everyone recommends either due to a badly stocked LFS or just different products being sold in different countries.

[Pleco380]

Not sure if you have it in the UK or not but I use Nutrafin PlantGro. It's always worked well for me. It's a liquid not a tablet though.

[crystalite]

I think I've seen nutrafin products on sale over here. Would nutrafin plant grow be ok to use with fish and shrimp?

[Strider199]

I'm not familiar with that product but I know shrimp are very sensitive to fert's. Read the label and/or ask/ research that product to make sure it's invertebrate safe.