# Back with more plant questions.



## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

I've posted here asking for advice aout my plants before buuuut I'm back with more. The current set ups are: 

*** 5 gallon, heated, filtered tank with one betta, Rotala Roundfolia, Cylindricfruit Primrose-Willow, Anubias Nana and a moss ball. 11 watt (=55 watts, energy saving) CFL switched on for approximately 12 hours per day. Two roots tabs in the sand/gravel mixture. 

*** 3 gallon, unheated and unfiltered tank with no fish. Three cuttings from the Rotala Roundfolia plant from the big tank, a recovering Echinodorus Cordifolius Fluitans (type of Amazon Sword) and about 10 Dwarf Water Lettuces. Lighting exactly the same as the other tank, one root tab in the sand. 

*** Not exactly a tank, but a small round container in which I'm growing babies of the Water Lettuce. I don't know how many there are, I haven't counted them yet. They're in the container because I don't want to damage them while doing maintenance in the tank. The container is sitting on top of the 3 gallon's lid, just under the light.


The things I'd like to find out are:
1) *Is this light enough for all the plants?* The Rotala Roundfolia in both tanks is doing good, it's growing well but some of the older leaves are dying off. The Cylindricfruit Primrose-Willow is turning greener and slowly growing, however, since yesterday it's lost some of the more mature leaves: they haven't turned brown, just came off the plant. I'll attach pictures later to show what I mean. After losing all the adult leaves, the Sword is growing young leaves at a decent rate. I had Lettuce in the 5 gallon which died (I'm assuming because of the current) but the 3 gallon bunch is doing great and producing babies. Anubias is growing slowly, it lost a couple of leaves but I'm not too concerned about it. 

2) *How can I tie the Anubias safely? * It is currently tied to a rock bridge decor with string which is wrapped around the rhizome. I might, however, have to get rid of the decor sometime soon, and I'm not sure what I'll do with the Anubias then. I definately don't want it floating. There's nothing I can tie it to, I think the filter and heater are out of the question. What should I do with it?

3)* How long does it take for Water Lettuce to grow? * This is just out of curiosity, I'm really happy about the baby plants and I'd like them to grow to full size without dying. 

4) *Should I cut off dying leaves?* Or would it be better to just let them fall off by themselves? So far I've been snipping them with those tiny nail scissors that are thin and sharp. I don't really want to get proper aquarium scissors at the moment because I'm still looking for a job and I'd prefer not to spend money if it's not necessary. I'm just worried about the dying leaves releasing ammonia into the water - I really don't need this as I'm struggling with the cycle as it is. 

5) *How do I add in new plants properly?* How do I do it without too many casualities? I'm expecting 30 more plants arriving tomorrow from an ebay seller and I'd prefer to avoid them dying. I'm not sure what I'll receive but I'll be splitting it between the two tanks. 

Sorry for the long post, I'm feeling really talkative today haha. I'll greatly appreciate any replies. Thanks for reading!


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

Kisiel said:


> 1) *Is this light enough for all the plants?* The Rotala Roundfolia in both tanks is doing good, it's growing well but some of the older leaves are dying off.


Some always die off on mine. I tend to take them out so the plant doesnt waste effort 'repairing' sick, damaged or dying leaves. 



Kisiel said:


> The Cylindricfruit Primrose-Willow is turning greener and slowly growing, however, since yesterday it's lost some of the more mature leaves: they haven't turned brown, just came off the plant. I'll attach pictures later to show what I mean.


I have not experience with this plant, but slow growth is good in that is it growing. Slow growth could be to do with too little nutrients (think not), CO2, or even if it is not a naturally an aquatic plant, but one adapted to underwater living. 



Kisiel said:


> After losing all the adult leaves, the Sword is growing young leaves at a decent rate... Anubias is growing slowly, it lost a couple of leaves but I'm not too concerned about it.


No experience with lettuce, I'm afraid. Anubias are pretty slow growing, unless you have a CO2 injection and sufficient nutrients. You could try DIY CO2 or dosing with liquid carbon if you want to boost growth (I do the latter and it has made a difference).



Kisiel said:


> 2) *How can I tie the Anubias safely? * It is currently tied to a rock bridge decor with string which is wrapped around the rhizome. I might, however, have to get rid of the decor sometime soon, and I'm not sure what I'll do with the Anubias then. I definately don't want it floating. There's nothing I can tie it to, I think the filter and heater are out of the question. What should I do with it?


Get a small suction cup (like a replacement for filter/heater) and tie fishing line to that and then to the anubias, if you want it anchored. It can grow when floating, though. 



Kisiel said:


> 3)* How long does it take for Water Lettuce to grow? *


Pass, but I think it is pretty fast, unless I am remembering chat about a different plant. 



Kisiel said:


> 4) *Should I cut off dying leaves?* Or would it be better to just let them fall off by themselves? So far I've been snipping them with those tiny nail scissors that are thin and sharp. I don't really want to get proper aquarium scissors at the moment because I'm still looking for a job and I'd prefer not to spend money if it's not necessary. I'm just worried about the dying leaves releasing ammonia into the water - I really don't need this as I'm struggling with the cycle as it is.


If you are worried, definitely remove them. For the swords, you need to remove it right near the base. This can be done with your nails (cheap). Slide down the leaf stem with a finger and thumb, keeping the thumb on the inside. Then, when you reach the base, you can sort of slide your thumbnail in there and it should come away with very little effort and nice and cleanly. 



Kisiel said:


> 5) *How do I add in new plants properly?* How do I do it without too many casualities? I'm expecting 30 more plants arriving tomorrow from an ebay seller and I'd prefer to avoid them dying. I'm not sure what I'll receive but I'll be splitting it between the two tanks.


Plants can benifit from the same acclimation as many fish. Prep them as you would normally, and float them in a bag/container in the tank they are going into. Slowly add tank water. They do not like sudden changes in temperature or water perameters, like fish. 

Also, some degree of 'melt' is to be expected. Some plants look almost dead and then in 2-3 weeks bounce back and start growing like mad.


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

I'm not much help with some of them. 3) Fast. Dwarf water lettuce grows really fast with me. make sure the current isn't high on the surface as they like little surface movement (which I see you already discovered)
4) if you don't have snails, cut off dying leaves and remove them from tank
5) if they have roots, just root them in your soil. If they don't have roots, I tend to let them float for a week or two and they start growing roots on their own, then I stick them in the soil. Not sure if it is the "proper" way, but I don't lose many plants.


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## SabastiansMom (Jul 25, 2014)

Quote: 2) How can I tie the Anubias safely? It is currently tied to a rock bridge decor with string which is wrapped around the rhizome. I might, however, have to get rid of the decor sometime soon, and I'm not sure what I'll do with the Anubias then. I definately don't want it floating. There's nothing I can tie it to, I think the filter and heater are out of the question. What should I do with it?

I keep mine on pieces of tubing and they float pretty good on the bottom of the tank.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

You can also add a plant weight to Anubias which allows it to sink in whichever spot you want it.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

12 hours is too long of a photo period (lights on) people usually do 6-10 tops depending on light used, plant needs, and distance from substrate.

Anubias can be weighed down with thread of fishing ling tied to just about anything, a buried piece of broken off water logged driftwood, glass beads (what I use to use-totally aquatic safe and buried in substrate to hide the colorfulness), non lead plant weights.

Add new plants to a tank like you do a fish: lights off, float them in a bag of their old water to come up to temp and pour n a bit of new tank water every few minutes for a half hour, or drip acclimate with air line tubing and pressure valve, then put the plants in the new tank (not their old water though) keep lights off for an hour or all day if you can. Should be good to go ^^


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

Why is 12 hours too long? I run my lights about 12 hours every day and my plants all do fairly well. Is it a growth issue or nutrient issue?


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## Kisiel (Jul 30, 2014)

First of all, thanks for all the replies. I'll try to respond to everyone one by one 


*BettaMummy*, the Primrose-Willow was red but it's turning green - I think it's an iron deficiency or something along the lines. I'm not sure if it'll survive being green but hopefully it will be okay. All my plants are aquatic so that's not an issue with anyone. I'd be scared to do DIY CO2 because I've heard of it exploding and flooding houses and I don't want my fish to get knocked out by too much CO2. I don't think I have enough experience to try that :/ Liquid carbon, on the other hand, seems like a much safer option but I can't really afford to buy that at the moment. 
I'll probably do what you suggested with the Anubias. I know it can grow floating but the reason why I don't want it to float is because I'll get annoyed by it swimming around the entire tank due to the current. I'd prefer to tie it to something. 
Thanks for the advice on the sword, that's exactly what I've been doing! It's not been needing any trimming recently as it only has baby leaves but I'll keep that in mind for the future. 
I'm expecting some melting but I'm still worried about all the additional ammonia being released into the water :/ 


*Aselvarial*, yes, I have discovered that Water Lettuce doesn't like water movement pretty quickly. I lost a couple of plants but it's okay, everyone in the 3 gallon is doing great. I'm working on further baffling the filter in the 5 gallon and creating an flow-less area somewhere just for the lettuce. The babies in the container aren't doing so great... Do you think the light could be too much? They're directly under the lamp and some of the tiny leaves have turned yellow  
As I said, I'm not quite sure what I'm getting (hopefully I'll find out today when I get back home) but the seller said that some plants could have roots and some will be just cuttings. I don't really want them floating for the same reason as the Anubias so I think I'll just stick them in the sand, but thank's for the suggestion anyway  I'll maybe let a couple float in the 3 gallon and see what happens! 


*SebastiansMom*, are you talking about airline tubing? Would you just stick that in the gravel or just let it do it's own thing in the tank? I'm not quite sure how this would work haha. 


*RussellTheShihTzu*, that's another great idea but I don't have any plant weights and as I mentioned in my first post, I'd prefer not to spend money right now if it can be avoided so I'll probably go with BettaMummy's idea if I have to remove the decor. Thanks for the suggestion though, I'll keep it in mind for the future  


*Aqua Aurora*, I thought that the more light the better? With my type of light how many hours would you say it's suitable? Decreasing the photo period is absolutely doable. I can switch them on as usual at 8am before I leave and switch off at 5pm the earliest. That would be a 9 hour photo period, however, the room isn't completely dark by then. Will other lights (for example, sunlight or room lights) affect the plants? 
I'll acclimate the plants just as you have said. I would have never thought that that's what needs to be done! Thank you so much for the information


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

aselvarial said:


> Why is 12 hours too long? I run my lights about 12 hours every day and my plants all do fairly well. Is it a growth issue or nutrient issue?


Long photoperiods are mainly just tempting algae. The plants get no extra benefit _per se_, they need their 'sleep' too XD

Kisiel, if you are running at a 9 hour photoperiod + ambient light, could you get a timer switch for it? I found all my plant issues went when I did that to my 80L. I have it on from 7-11, then 5-9. inbetween they get ambient light, so 8 hours + ambient. Works with mine ^-^ But at 9PM the tanks are covered for the night (all in the livingroom, and the bettas all watch too much TV otherwise.


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## Lettuce (Jul 12, 2014)

aselvarial said:


> 4) if you don't have snails, cut off dying leaves and remove them from tank



Will nerites eat dead leaves? I've got some falling off my wisteria but i can just leave them in there if they would like them. I've got two nerites.

as for the anubias, I didn't have any driftwood or anything to tie mine to but then I thought of a perfect solution, which was some Fluval Biomax cylinder things for filters. I had a box lying around so I just looped some fishing line through the hole in the middle then secured it to the rhizome of the anubias, then buried the biomax cylinder in the substrate.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

As has been said many times, Nerites only eat algae and dead leaves ain't algae. ;-)


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

BettaMummy87 said:


> Long photoperiods are mainly just tempting algae. The plants get no extra benefit _per se_, they need their 'sleep' too XD
> 
> ah, if that's the only issue, I'm not worried. Algae in my tanks is eaten faster than it can grow.


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

Yeah, basically so long as its no more than 50-50. Low light plants *might* suffer, but only if they are not shltered enough. Fish will struggle after a point too though. But as I said, so long as you are not running it 14+hours a day...


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

I have 50 million floating plants. There are days I swear light barely gets through those.


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## FishBoy99 (Dec 2, 2014)

I recently purchased a tall and short amazon sword. For the most part, they are ok. The tall one has some rips in the leaves and some brown spots but they are increasing. It is the same situation with the short one. I really don't know what to do:-(


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Can you post clear photos of the whole plant and close ups of the leaves with issues? may be able to determine if its a deficiency.
DO you have soil or root tabs at the base of these plants?
What is the kelvin of your cfl bulb (if you look on it there should be some print including watts, lumes and kelvin (K))?


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