Please help me!!!!

[Sab_Fan]

FWIW, I don't think sand is a great medium (substrate) for rooted plants; I think there are problems with the grain size, etc. . . . I have found the best success either with substrates made for planted aquaria (eco-complete, flourite) or with laterite mixed with very small gravel

maybe you could improve results with fertilizer tabs that go in at the roots; I wouldn't bother with liquid ferts, since you have rooted plants . . .

 

[maxxximus87]

How long have you had the plants? Did the leaves that are melting start growing in your tank, or were they already there when you purchased them? If a plant was grown above water and then submerged, the emergent growth will die off and submersed growth will grow in and replace it. This seems more likely than a nutrient deficiency to me, especially since your new growth looks so healthy.

And no, you definitely don't need CO2. It won't hurt to have it, but you'll only be wasting effort and money on it with the set-up you've got.

when i got the plants the leaves were fine for probably a few weeks before the melting occurred. There is a lot of new growth, but it never fully develops into full leaves. Im so confused. Im at least gonna try the plugs

 

[maxxximus87]

FWIW, I don't think sand is a great medium (substrate) for rooted plants; I think there are problems with the grain size, etc. . . . I have found the best success either with substrates made for planted aquaria (eco-complete, flourite) or with laterite mixed with very small gravel

maybe you could improve results with fertilizer tabs that go in at the roots; I wouldn't bother with liquid ferts, since you have rooted plants . . .

Maybe it is the sand. I was thinking that could be a possibility, but i thought i had seen swords in sand before so i wrote it off. I don't know, i think i will do the root tabs and if that fails its gonna have to be new substrate.....

 

[FSM]

You don't have enough light

 

[Sab_Fan]

You don't have enough light

good catch . . . think he said 15W on a 30G . . .

w/o getting too focused on the old WPG rule, that's still no where near where it needs to be. at a minimum, I think you need to double or triple your wattage to be in the game.

as a rough example, my 30G (long) planted has 96W of 10K and 6700 lighting on it . . . (sorry for the crappy cell-phone pic, but you'll get the idea)

 

[sd760]

how much did you pay for that coral life?

 

[Sab_Fan]

how much did you pay for that coral life?

can't recall exactly, but lights certainly aren't cheap . . . also, mine are compact flourescent, but I think most people would recommend T5s these days

that being said, for a 30G tall, you can get a 24" freshwater Coral Life Aqualight with 65W for $60+ at www.bigalsonline.com

a similar 24" set-up using T5 lighting would run about $90+, if you bought 2 of their 24" F/W Aqualights (28W each, 56W total)

you may find something better elsewhere . . . hope that helps

 

[sd760]

thanks alot. bty your tank looks awsome

 

[schaadrak]

15 watts on a 30gal will not cause Amazon swords to melt, only slow down their growth.

Magnesium deficiencies are the only nutrient deficiency that will cause leaves to melt, and that's usually attributed to high Ca, K, or ammonium levels. If you want to see if this is the problem, you can add ½tsp Epsom salts to the tank for a few weeks and see if things clear up.

 

[Sab_Fan]

I would add that I built up to what I'm currently running, and if you just want to maintain a few amazons, java ferns, etc., you don't need to go crazy . . . but, it is my advice that your lighting is weak and you would benefit from adding another 30WPG of f/w lighting . . .

if you got a single 24" T5 fixture -- which has two lamps -- you could also experiment with different bulb types (6700K, 10000K, colormax, etc.) to get the best mix of light for your tank . . .