# 10 Gallon Planted Tank



## jemjdragon (Jun 22, 2010)

So I have a ten gallon planted tank and the plants there were doing really well for about a year but now some of the java fern turned black and died. A few weeks after I clipped some, the wisteria and aquatic grasses were significantly lighter in color. I can't find my aquatic plant handbook right now, so I would like to know if anyone can help me and tell me whats wrong?


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## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

Wild guess here, since I'm somewhat new to planted tanks, but it sounds to me like a nutrient deficiency. What do you have for a substrate? Plain gravel? Sand? And what fertilizers, if any, do you use? 

It may be as simple as buying some root tablets to go under the plants to give them some nutrients.

Just my hunch


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## jemjdragon (Jun 22, 2010)

I have a very fine gravel mixed with sand. I use root tabs, though I may have to add some liquid fertilizer. Maybe I should do a water change.
Edit: I think the bigger problem is that the liqiud ferilizer I have has copper sulfate in it, will it still be okay to add when there are shrimp and snails in the tank?


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

Java fern from what I hear gets black beard algae which is actually a form of cyanobacteria.

If you nitrates are at 0 the tank may be nitrate starved.

If you are getting other forms of cyano like slime algae, kill the lights to let that die off. Then resume with less lighting.

If some leaves are ligh but new leaves are forming, just remove the light leaves.

I have heard sometimes this is a iron deficiency. I use ferris gluconate from wallgreens, dissolve a capsule in a coke bottle of water and dose a capsule each week.

my .02


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## mk4gti (Jun 15, 2010)

What kind of light you got on there, how long has the blub been running. Could be time to replace that.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Yes, stop dosing anything with copper in it when you add inverts.

Copper + shrimp/snails = no bueno.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Java fern cannot be buried,BYW.The rhizome must be able to get light or the whole plant will die.The root like hairs will anchor it to driftwod,rocks or the gravel,or you can tie it on,just be sure the rhizome is able to get light.Thats the horizontal stem like part,if you didnt know.Inverts cannot withstand copper in the tank.Some have said they dose small amounts with cherries,but i wouldnt.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

mk4gti said:


> What kind of light you got on there, how long has the blub been running. Could be time to replace that.


This is where I would look also. Assuming everything has remained constant in the tank, this could be the one thing that has lost its effectiveness. Bulbs should be replaced once a year, or every 18months if they are CFLs.


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## mk4gti (Jun 15, 2010)

I dose small ammount of ferts with inverts, as long as there is plant life to consume the minerals they wont really have an adverse effect on the shrimp.


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