# Picked up some plants for my Tank.. Need Help



## Screamin_99 (Jul 27, 2006)

I picked up 2 hornwort plants. They were so nice, my RBPs loved the stuff. I noticed that the bottom of the plants turned brown, and eventually looked as though they snapped in half. Instead of throwing them away. I snatched most of them out and tossed them into my pond outside. The pond sees full sun almost daily and has some goldfish in it with a filter. Im really hoping it takes back off. 

Next up, I have some other plants in there. I couldnt find the names of them anywhere though. One is a slim plant stalk like with a leaf style and branches/stems comming off the stalk look. (sorry not great description I know)

And I have some tall green thin grass looking plants that I put in the back, I think they are growing fine but I think the RBPs are eating them! 

I have a 55gallon tank.. HOB filter. heater and a air pump that cannot stay running due to the fish biting the lines. 

I bought a (plant) bulb for the light strip. think its a 24" light. 55gallon cube style tank. The way its setup is the lid has like a plexiglass between the bulb and water. 

Im wondering how effective this is? It has a spot for what looks like another light can go. I was thinking about getting another one. picking up some new bulbs.

No water chems since the fish are messy. I just changed filter media everynow and then and do some waterchanges ever week or bi-weekly. I put in some fertalizer tabs recently.

just trying to get the basics down I guess. How often should I be changing bulbs for my light strip?

I will try and get a picture up to show what plants I actually have. Im also interested in what everyone says about the setup and how it is. with what I might be able to do to get a more efficent setup without breaking the bank. and maybe some suggestions for some really hardy plants that will just grow and takeoff like crazy.


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## SouthernBelle23 (Mar 24, 2009)

You have really low light, so that is probably the issue with the plants not growing too well and browning. Also, see if you can tell what temperature the bulb is. Plants prefer 6000K to 10000K which are usually sold as "daylight" bulbs.

I would consider adding another strip light. It still won't give you a ton of light, but it will be better than just the 1 bulb. Make sure you have daylight bulbs too. I would change the bulb yearly or when you see a decline in the plants after having them awhile.

Low light plants don't grow very fast usually....so it will be hard to find something that takesoff and grows like crazy. Anacharis is another stem plant that tolerates low light. Its a pretty fast grower. Java fern and Cryptocorynes are low light plants but slow growers. I would give the Hornwort another try when you get another strip light. It should grow faster then. Try floating it in the tank.

Its hard to ID your plants without pics. See if you can get pics up of the other plants and I (and others) will try to ID them for you.


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## IAN (Apr 14, 2008)

*Wattage for lights*

I agree. You have too little light.

A good amount of light is 2 watts per gallon. If you have around 110 watts, plants would be alot happier and grow alot faster.

Aquarium plant fertilizer with micro nutrients might also help. :idea:


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## Screamin_99 (Jul 27, 2006)

So is adding another strip sufficent? should I cut out the plexiglass from the lid? Or is there something else I should be doing?


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## Screamin_99 (Jul 27, 2006)

Is this the wrong section or could someone please advise me a way to care for these plants?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

A single strip on a 55 is low or very low light. If you don't have low-light plants they will die without more light. If you do have low-light plants, you can help them get more light by placing them directly beneath the strip light and possible elevating them. Let them float or put them in pots up on rocks. That should help a lot. The amount of light falls off exponentially with depth and 55s are deep. Adding ferts without lights won't help. 

You can add a second strip light, if it will fit. Or you can replace your light with a pricier two-bulb light, like this one. http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...7/cl0/coralifefwt5aqualightdoublestriplight48 

I think the first thing you need to do is ID all your plants. Get a aquatic plant encyclopedia from the library or book store and look at the pics. It should tell you what you have and how much light they need. There are specific forums for planted tanks like http://plantedtank.net/ . The people are very helpful, but it kind of scares me how much time and money some people spend on plants.


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