# something wrong with my plants... help



## quinn808 (Jul 12, 2013)

I bought a couple plants and one is called eleocharis parvulus hair grass, and the other is lilaeopsis novaezelandiae plant and what's happening is one is Turing brown in spots and the other is closing its color in the leaf and Turing greyish and Idk what to do. I have (2) 14 Watt 6500k t5 fluorescent bulbs and I've been leaving it on for 8 and a half hours... what do you think is wrong? Please help thanks

O and my tank is 11.5 gallons and its 30 cm high but the dirt cuts off like 2 in. And my light is about 4 in. Above tank


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

How long have they been in your tank , and how fast did they turn Brown , a lot of aquatic plants are grown semi out of water or floating , this allows for faster growth for a faster sale , but effectively what happens is there harvested then sent to the LfS we buy them and bring them home and it has to re adjust itself for growing under water again , this inevitably causes some die off which may be what you see , or perhaps not. Do you use any supplements , fertilisers, or CO2 .
I think as long as your bulbs don't need replacing your ok with lighting


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## quinn808 (Jul 12, 2013)

tbub1221 said:


> How long have they been in your tank , and how fast did they turn Brown , a lot of aquatic plants are grown semi out of water or floating , this allows for faster growth for a faster sale , but effectively what happens is there harvested then sent to the LfS we buy them and bring them home and it has to re adjust itself for growing under water again , this inevitably causes some die off which may be what you see , or perhaps not. Do you use any supplements , fertilisers, or CO2 .
> I think as long as your bulbs don't need replacing your ok with lighting


Umm alright I just got them like 5 days ago and no I don't have any supplements and I increased how long I leave my light on, I changed it too 10 hours instead of nine what do you think? I've been told my light is weak that's why and the plants are used too good lighting and they started Turing brown like 1-3 days ago lol can'.t quite remeber


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

The lights could be weak depending on the size of the tank. I'm pretty sure that both the plants are considered high light. Your lights are in the right kelvin but not enough wattage. Also you do need to dose ferts on those plants.


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## quinn808 (Jul 12, 2013)

susankat said:


> The lights could be weak depending on the size of the tank. I'm pretty sure that both the plants are considered high light. Your lights are in the right kelvin but not enough wattage. Also you do need to dose ferts on those plants.


What kind of fertilizers should I use? Can you send me a link? And my tank is 48x30x30 cm and what seems really important is how long should I leave my light on? I don't know if 8 hours is too long or too little...


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## tbub1221 (Nov 1, 2012)

Perhaps it is lighting , but you say you have t5 dual 14 watts over 
11.5 g thats 2.43 watts per gallon which is about what I run and I grow most anything.
No doubt they could use some co2 but its not 100% nesecery .
I'd say its what o said before.
The plants are new to you , they have been growing in either greenhousees or in concrete grow ponds under the sun or under high lighting , they most likely came from nutrient rich water (eg. Nitrates) which we filter out of our water regularly so they may be a little in shock .
Sorry I don't have a definitive answer or a fix , just time to see what happens.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

What 1221 said happens to most every plant I get except for the Rotala indica. The new leaves never come out the same length
as the original ones and after a few new ones grow the old ones turn brown and eventually die off. Takes more than a couple of
days though. API Leaf Zone is a fert that stays in the water colume so if any ill effects are seen you just change 50% water a
couple of times a couple of days apart from each other to remove it. Root tab ferts work real well with plants that favor roots
in the gravel(some that have them still depend mostly on water colume ferts) so you might try either or both.
Many plants sold in pet shops are grown with the top out of the water but the roots in water which has lots of ferts.
I would add one of those ferts and just wait it out...you have plenty(though perhaps not as much as where they were grown)
of light so...
BTW...that Wattage seems off...my 15" T8 has 14W/18"T8 has 15W/18"T5 has 18W


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## quinn808 (Jul 12, 2013)

Yea thanks guys I think the light may be fine... because I see roots growing into the soil through the glass so I think just the top leaves are dying so I'm gonna get some type of nutrient too add just too boost it. Thanks if you have any other ideas please I would love too hear them.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Plants can take a while to acclimate to your tank. Top leaves don't usually fall off, but bottom ones usually will. The big thing is whether or not you see new leaves coming in or not.


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## quinn808 (Jul 12, 2013)

I just bought a liquid c02 and an iron and potassium liquid that goes in the tank...


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