# Filters and Plant Question



## Kurly (Jul 31, 2007)

I don't really know how to word this question correctly but I was wondering what affect, if any, does a filter which isn't working properly have on live plants?

Or to make my question clearer.... If a filter doesn't work properly could that cause plants to die?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Hmm. If a filter stops working then ammonia and nitrite don't go to nitrate, so you have more ammonia and less nitrate. What this does to the plant depends on the plant. Some plants use ammonia.


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## Kurly (Jul 31, 2007)

Long explanation here. Please bear with me....

I ask this question because my plants in my 2.5 mini-bow were doing fine for about 6 weeks and then in a matter of 1 week they have pretty much died. My wisteria was very full and pretty but all of a sudden I had to remove it from my tank because the leaves started to get clear and glassy and finally brown. Even the stems were starting to turn brown and the smell was awful. My anacharis which used to be very green with new growth everywhere is turning yellow and looking terrible. The only thing that is survivng is my java fern and if that starts looking bad then I am really bad a this planted tank thing :-( 

This tank is a 2.5 mini-bow with a 10 watt CFL 5100K. I have two of them side by side and I noticed that the filter on the purple mini-bow has a normal waterfall like cascade coming from it. The anacharis in that tank is healthy and fine. But the waterflow in the "plant problem" tank has never flowed correctly, so I was wondering if that could possibly be the problem. Could it be my substrate? My substrate in both tanks is just gravel 

I just have no idea as to why the plants are doing so bad so quickly when they were doing great for quite some time.


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## Kurly (Jul 31, 2007)

Probably has nothing to do with why my plants are doing so bad. I'm just grasping at straws right now because I don't understand why they deteriorated so quickly. I did just clean the motor on my filter. It was was full of gunk so now it is working properly and the water is flowing the way it should be.
At least I did figure that one out. I'm still learning about this hobby.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Did you start the tanks at the same time? The older could have run out of plant nutrients. But it could have been the filter. If a plant is sensitive to ammonia and get hurt by it and starts dropping leaves, the leaves decay and make more ammonia and it snowballs. This is where big tanks have the advantage. The death of any one fish or plant is not a big deal in a 55 gallon tank, but in a 2.5 it can be catastrophic.


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## Kurly (Jul 31, 2007)

No, Just one day difference between the two. I think I may have figured out a part of the problem. I have been doing a lot of water changes in the tank where the plants are dying because my Betta had fin rot. His fins are growing back and doing better but I kept changing the water because I didn't want it to happen again. I think I have may have taken a lot of the nutrients from the plants because I was changing the water too much.


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## Guest (Oct 3, 2007)

Changing the water too much can leave you with little to no nitrates, which plants use. That is probably the reason why the plants were dying.

You could try adding a supplement like Flourish nitrogen if you are worried about it happening again. Bettas don't produce too much waste, so the nitrates were probably low to begin with. It also wouldn't hurt to add in some micro nutrients like Flourish....though the dose would be very small.


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## Kurly (Jul 31, 2007)

I have no idea what is going on with this little tank. Now there is a strong metallic smell inside the tank by the filter. Anyone have this happen to them? Maybe something is going on in the water that I cannot test for that is killing the plants. My Betta is acting okay though. 

I just don't know what is going on


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