Regular Member pandamanda111 Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 (edited) Hi! What's going on here? Why do all my plants die? I have a pink T5 bulb. ^ New big plant (note yellow/brown leaves) and on left is another plant, also dying ^ this guy got the worst of it...no clue why. ^this guy was least affected Why are they all dying? What's wrong? Thanks! -Mandie Edited March 12, 2012 by pandamanda111 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Monkey87 Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 first of all what size tank? and wattage of bulbs? what kind? t8 t5 or t5h0? other? do you add any nutrients? looks like a defficiency to me. and lack of light... do you add any form of co2? why is there elastic bands around some stems? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member pandamanda111 Posted March 12, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 hi! thanks for the response 25 gallon tank, t5 lights, and yes, rubber bands. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member happysnapper Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 Mandie can you look on your lightbulb and see if there is anything printed on there... it would help us figure out the wattage. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member pandamanda111 Posted March 12, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 oh, yeah sure 1 sec 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member pandamanda111 Posted March 12, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 T6 (oops! not t5) spectrum glow- 15 watt 18" bulb fluorescent universal replacement bulb 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Monkey87 Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 ok first of all.. you do not have sufficient light... you dont even meet the 1w per gallon which usually the "low light" plants would do OK in.. you would need at least one more 15w bulb for "low light" plants.. secondly.. do you dose any ferts? nutrients? co2? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member pandamanda111 Posted March 12, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 Oh. I didn't know that. I don't dose any ferts (and won't, for that matter, I don't want to add chemicals to my tank). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Monkey87 Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 they ARE necessary! especially with plants! there is really no way around it!.. plants need LIGHT, CO2, and FOOD to live. and they arent exactly CHEMICALS per say... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member pandamanda111 Posted March 12, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 I know, but the plant guy told me that the pink light would make my plants grow 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member happysnapper Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 I think if you added another light you'd have better luck. I get where you are coming from on the ferts but they have really helped my plants. The only thing is I noticed when I added the root tabs my nitrates went up quite a bit. Other than that the fish have been healthy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Monkey87 Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 i understand.. you may have a good light... but it is clearly not sufficient for your sized tank... you need one more of same wattage.. and you also need food.a source of co2. and others i listed.. plants will not grow solely on light. you may be able to get away with ample light and co2 but to flourish they need nutrients. and all 3 is best! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member pandamanda111 Posted March 12, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 My hood only holds one bulb. What if I exchanged my t5 for a t8? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Monkey87 Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 i guarantee if you dose you co2... and nutrients according to instructions on bottles.. there will be no harm done to the fish at all! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member pandamanda111 Posted March 12, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 How would I dose CO2? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member happysnapper Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 Is it a full hood? On my planted tank I have two fixtures, one holds one bulb one holds two. A T8 isn't going to be better if it isn't higher wattage. T5HO would but your fixture might not work for it. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Monkey87 Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 sadly... this light fixture you have was probably a stock one.?? the one that came with the tank.. and VERY rarely will they ever produce enough light for plants.. therefore ppl will always UPGRADE.. or buy a second light fixture. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member pandamanda111 Posted March 12, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 What's a t5HO? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member happysnapper Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 t5(refers to the diameter of the bulb)HO(high output) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Monkey87 Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 co2 comes in many different forms.. the easiest for you will probably be a product called "seachem" excel which is a liquid co2... NOTE: some plants will die off when you EXCEL.. you must do your own trial and error when it comes to plants... it is a learning tool and when you start going tthe planted tank route you will learn SOOOO much! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dnalex Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 i understand.. you may have a good light... but it is clearly not sufficient for your sized tank... you need one more of same wattage.. and you also need food.a source of co2. and others i listed.. plants will not grow solely on light. you may be able to get away with ample light and co2 but to flourish they need nutrients. and all 3 is best! I beg to differ...I agree that having good lights is important, but the whole issue of fertilizers in a goldfish tank is far from clear. If you look at ashlee18's beautiful goldie tank, her plants are flourishing, WITHOUT THE AID OF FERTILIZERS. Goldfish themselves can provide enough nutrients in a lot of instances. (I'm not talking about root tabs here, though.) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Monkey87 Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 listen... lets work with what you have... keep your bulb that you just bought... no need in upgrading just yet.. go to your LFS and buy some liquid CO2... buy some macro and micro nutrients and start dosing.. see what happens.. but you need to d0 atleast this... and keep your lights on for ATLEAST 8 hrs! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member happysnapper Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 I'm afraid I disagree with that. I'd go with better light before adding in CO2 (and that's a java fern right? Should do FINE with low light and no CO2 and goldie poop) but you need to get up to at least 1 watt per gallon, more would be better since your tank is so tall. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Monkey87 Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 i understand.. you may have a good light... but it is clearly not sufficient for your sized tank... you need one more of same wattage.. and you also need food.a source of co2. and others i listed.. plants will not grow solely on light. you may be able to get away with ample light and co2 but to flourish they need nutrients. and all 3 is best! I beg to differ...I agree that having good lights is important, but the whole issue of fertilizers in a goldfish tank is far from clear. If you look at ashlee18's beautiful goldie tank, her plants are flourishing, WITHOUT THE AID OF FERTILIZERS. Goldfish themselves can provide enough nutrients in a lot of instances. (I'm not talking about root tabs here, though.) i understand.. but everything is DIFFERENT on different tanks.. and if you can see her pictures YOU WILL see her plants are extremely nutrient defficient and light defficient. and this is not ashlees tank.. trust me.. she needs to do something different.. and nutrients co23 and light is the way to go. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Monkey87 Posted March 12, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2012 ok... everyone here is giving you different answers... bottom line... ALL plants need a source of CO2.. be it from fish, a pressurized system or liqid co2... ALL plants need light..and even with your stock light... your plants should not be dying the way they are... keep what you have until you can afford a better light.. but give your plants co2, and nutrients. if you guys see the pictures the plants ARE CLEARLY nutrient defficient and have no source of co2. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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