So I have been loving my little 5gal betta/neon tetra tank at work but most of my plants died and I cant figure out why. The leaves on some started to turn transparent and the roots turned to slime. Others just turned yellow. I am using the stock hood with a 7w CFL bulb that lights up the tank nicely and foil duct-taped out the hood so it spreads and reflects as much as possible. Lighting is on a timer and have tried it for months on 6/8/10/12 hr settins and only seems to cause more algae growth with more light but plants still not growing. Heater keeps the water 76-78. Only thing I can think of is im using a hot magnum canister filter pushing 250gph, using a spraybar length of the tank to cut back on strength of flow but could there still be too much motion in the water or could it just be sucking all of the stuff the plants need out of the water too fast?
Too much filtration?
- Thread starter BlindSight
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What plants are you trying to grow? Beginner plants such as java fern are very hardy and should grow easily in the tank conditions you describe. It's possible your plants aren't actually aquatic; chain pet stores tend to sell plants as aquatic when in fact they are semi-aquatic (leaves need to be out of the water) or even terrestrial, for example Mondo Grass. I had success growing java fern, java moss, and Rotala (common species of stem plant) in a 5 gallon tank with a low wattage CFL lamp above it. The substrate was basic coarse sand, no additives.
The filter won't remove what the plants need unless you have activated carbon in and, in which case it might (I'm not sure, I don't use it). Plants need nitrogen, among other things, which they get from nitrate, which the filter bacteria won't remove.
The output shouldn't be a problem unless it is blowing the plants around. But if a betta fish seems comfortable in the amount of current, the plants won't suffer either.
The filter won't remove what the plants need unless you have activated carbon in and, in which case it might (I'm not sure, I don't use it). Plants need nitrogen, among other things, which they get from nitrate, which the filter bacteria won't remove.
The output shouldn't be a problem unless it is blowing the plants around. But if a betta fish seems comfortable in the amount of current, the plants won't suffer either.
If the plants are truly aquatic like FSM mentioned, it could be that you have too much light. The more light you have the higher the demand for basic nutrients like carbon, nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, etc. If you don't provide those nutrients, the plant can literally starve. Decrease the light's intensity and you also decrease the plants demands for nutrients. In a small tank with hardly any bio load chances are the fish aren't producing enough waste to feed the plants.
Thanks for all the tips! I know at least some of the ones that died were aquatic because I have a 2.5 snail tank at home I also have plants in...those grew great so when they got too big I split them up and put half in the 5g at work...the ones in the 2.5 keep growing and the ones in the 5 die :-/. Right now I just have 2 plants, one im not sure of and the other is java moss, and even it is starting to yellow from the bottom up.