# Plant leaves dying, need help!



## jmowbray (Jul 3, 2008)

I have about 6 Aponogeton ulvaceus, 3 unknown ferns, and 2 Nymphaea Lotus Green. The Aponogeton leaves seem to die really quick. Some die from the tips of the leaves, to the bulb (which I think is normal), and others have dead spots develop on the leave that continue to get bigger. I treat the tank with leaf zone once and week, and have a DIY CO2 system. I have plenty fish so there should be enough food settling to the bottom for "fertilizer". Does anyone know what could be causing them to die so fast. The lilies seen to be doing fine it's just the aponogeton that look bad. I have to trim the dead ones off at least 1 a week. The tank specs. are bellow.

Tank:


25 Gallon
Emperor 400 bio-wheel filter (hoping for a sponge filter for christmas)
Heater (76 degree F)
Tropic Sun 5500K Daylight bulb
Regular aquarium gravel (also hoping for plant substrate)
DIY CO2 system

Fish:

3 female guppies (lost 4 due to Dropsy)
3 male guppies
1 Sunburst Platy(lost 2 due to Dropsy)
2 White Skirted tetras
7 Cardinal Tetras
6 Ghost shrimp
1 Pleco.


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

jmowbray said:


> The Aponogeton leaves seem to die really quick. Some die from the tips of the leaves, *to the bulb (which I think is normal), *and others have dead spots develop on the leave that continue to get bigger. I treat the tank with leaf zone once and week, and have a DIY CO2 system. I have plenty fish so there should be enough food settling to the bottom for "fertilizer". *Does anyone know what could be causing them to die so fast.* The lilies seen to be doing fine it's just the aponogeton that look bad. I have to trim the dead ones off at least 1 a week. The tank specs. are bellow.
> 
> Tank:
> 
> ...


jm:

I have never kept Aponogeton ulvaceus but they require 2 WPG(Watts Per Gallon) to 3 WPG.

Your 24" bulb only produces approximately 1 WPG.

TR


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## jmowbray (Jul 3, 2008)

I only have an 18" bulb. The problem is the higher the wattage the longer the bulb. I have been looking and can't find a 40 watt bulb that will fit in my 18' hood. If someone knows of a place online let me know.


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## guppyart (Jan 22, 2005)

to be honest with you 90% of us when we run into that problem throw away the kit hood/canopy and smash it into a trillion pieces.
once that step is done you have a few options open to you.
if you have good DIY skills you can buy retro fit kits. These allow you to make a custom canopy to your own specs and desires.

or buy a new fixture. I personally recommend T5HO as an upgrade option
for a 24" tank say something like a 96w T5HO, 4x 24watt bulbs which allows alot of config choices.
perks for them is lower running costs, less heat, cheaper replacement bulbs, longer bulb life.

if you want a bit cheaper you can go the way of power compacts (PC).
PCs have some drawbacks they get veryyyy hot. they take more power than T5ho, bulbs cost alot more than T5HOs do..
that said fixtures are often cheaper and very common.
a 24" 130watt PC runs 2x 65watt bulbs.

I am going to apply the SW saying of throw out wpg for the most part as its an old way of telling how much light you have.
Its more about the intensity of light rather than how many watts you may have. 
the same amount of watts from a T5HO vs a PC will blow your mind on the difference the T5HO makes.
let alone comparing a metal halide to PCs my 70w metal halide looks bright than a 130w PC fixture.

also depth of tank.
the deeper the tank the better the lights needed, PCs don't penetrate the water as well as T5HO.

so the choice ends up coming to you, upgrade fixture or be doomed to maybe keep java moss/java fern/hornwort  orrr become diy ghetto and rig up something using screw in compact florescent's that come in 6500k's, you can get 200w equiv spiral CFs from hardware stores


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## Sea-Agg2009 (Aug 2, 2008)

Everyone talks about watts per gallon, but I keep amazon swords in a 75 gallon tank with only a single 48 watt light. While with "lower" watts per gallon (within moderation) you may not be growing new leaves at an alarming rate, you shouldn't be killing the plants either. Check your pH, that is the easiest to check and the easiest to fix. If you've been running this tank for a while, you may have depleted the trace elements in the tank. I'm not up do date on Leaf Zone's contents, but if it is like Flourish, it handles only the basic requirements for plants. A bottle of Flourish Trace should last you quite a while.

Also, check to see if your pleco is eating your plants. That happens alot.


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## Sea-Agg2009 (Aug 2, 2008)

I actually looked at an old bottle of leaf zone I had lying around. All it really has is Iron and Potassium. Most plants are limited by either nitrogen or phosphorus, which leaf zone doesn't have any. The problem may be that you are adding too many of the extra nutrients. Potassium in especially bad in high concentrations. Knowing this I would suggest to stop with the leaf zone, and allow your nutrient levels to stabilize.


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