Newly Added Plants Leaves Are Browning

[sushiray]

When the plants arrived I QT them for 24hrs in tank water, then I did a bleach dip for 5min. (but I dipped the roots, now that may have been a big mistake). afterwards I did a thorough rinsed/soaking in fresh water for another 5min.

Can plants get too much light? or they are not getting enough CO2? or do I need to add plant food?

I have my plants in my barebottom discus tank but placed 3 groupings into cosmopolitan v shaped glasses in gravel.

Any suggestions?

 

[mgamer20o0]

i guess maybe it is possible a plant can get too much light but dont think its possible anything man made can do so. co2 isnt a must it does help with faster growth.

it takes time for plants to adjust. i am guessing you shipped them in.... then you dip them in bleach with can cause some death and melting. i think letting us know what plants and more info on the tank would be more helpful.

 

[justonemoretank]

I agree that some plants experience die-off when first introduced. As to whether they're getting enough light or CO2, some research into the plants' needs, as compared to what you offer, would answer that question. Also, I have always grown plants in sand -- nothing fancy, just play sand -- and have had good results. Others may have had good results in gravel, but I haven't. The fact that they're in the glasses (a cool idea, by the way) sorta robs them of the good fish poo they'd get the advantage of if they were planted in substrate at the bottom of the tank, so that might not help.

 

[russll_13]

Trim the dying leaves and leave about 3 inches from roots to stop it from sending nutrients to the already dead leaves. after a while they should grow back.

 

[EdCal]

normal for new plants to have die off upon initial introducion due to adjustment. my anubias and swords all did this.

 

[sushiray]

so
1. agreed - plants in glasses & gravel may not get any or enough poop to fertilize. I do know the 3glasses I have do have some sentiment cuz when I go to vac & stir up the water around the glasses I see stuff come off the gravel. but I think all that accumulates may not be enough for the plants.

2. agreed - adjustment period, but I was wondering next time around what I can do to avoid such a shock for new plant intro's

3. agreed - trimming - I have trimmed a lot & left some greening stems. do you think these stems continue the photosynthesis & helps the plant in any way? I thought the leaves were the necessary component to keep the plant alive & surviving

4. bleach dip - did my doing this cause any harm or shock them b-4 I even put them in the tank?

5. what alternative inexpensive means are there to provide nutrients to my plants? the seller recommended root tablets.

thx all!

 

[Bue]

Usually (like almost always) the existing leaves on a plant I introduce will slowly die, but they also have loads of new growth, so it kind of balances out.

Dead/dying leaves are not very helpful to the plant's survival. As russll said, you don't want nutrients being transported to dying parts of the plant.

I have never bleach dipped my plants, so I could not tell you how harmful it may or may not be.

What kind of plants do you have. Some plants require almost nothing in addition to your aqauarium environment (amazon sword, anubias) and would benefit greatly from a simple root tab. Some plants cannot survive w/o heavy fertilizing. What plants do you have in the tank?

 

[chadders8903]

Cutting off the dead leaves will help out a lot. Your plant will still be able to do photosynthesis as long as it has green parts to it. The green pigment comes from chlorophyll in the chloroplasts. If there is anything green on the plant, it can go through photosynthesis and should be fine. You will probably not receive any new growth on these stubs, but new leaves will come out from the center. This will take a while if you are not using CO2. As for the root tabs, they are probably not needed right now. Depending on your substrate, the plants should be fine for a little while on the nutrients, so root tabs are probably not needed. I would suggest giving them high light and lots of CO2 or at least a CO2 source (like Flourish Excel) as this will greatly reduce the recovery time and improve the health of the plants.

 

[sushiray]

thks

I just pruned the dead & browning leaves. also had to clean the healthy leaves of the "brown algae" growth. one of my swords has a long chute growing with intermittent sprouts so that's a good sign, tho looks different as a chute & not a regular sword leaf, unless it's another plant.

as for the co2, I have 14 fish, not enough production?

this is what I bought & have potted in glass cosmo cups

(1) anubias lanceolta 5-7" tall 3.50 (heavy pruning, hope some chutes will grow back)
(3) red ozelot swords 4-6" (doing ok - healthiest of them all)
(1 potted) rare rare! crypt pontederfolia 3-4" (doing ok, very little pruning needed)
(3) amazon swords 9-11"+ tall (a lot of pruning, only 1-2 leaves/plant)
(2) aponogenton crispus 4-6"+ tall (i think most of the leaves died off tho I have a couple very light in color so left them to see if they will grow more leaves)
(1) ruby red melon swords 5-7" tall (more pruning)

 

[JakeH]

Slow growing plants (swords, anubias) tend to breed a lot of algae in my tanks if exposed to direct light or not enough current. Try shading them a bit, since your discus won't like current.