# Banana Plant - leaves dissolving



## BettaBeau (May 14, 2014)

Hi all,

I have a number of plants in my betta's tank - water sprite, water wisteria, two types of java fern, pennywort, anubias, salvinia, duckweed, red root floaters, and a banana plant. The banana plant keeps growing new leaves, but then the old ones slowly dissolve. My red root floaters also dissolve, I thought it was because of the condensation dripping down onto them, but now I am not sure.

I just got a Finnex Stingray but haven't put it on my tank yet. The bathroom the tank is in has four 6500k fluorescent bulbs which are a foot and a half from the top of the tank, which has a clear cover. My API pH test reads high, 7.6 I believe. Is the pH too high for those plants? Will the new light help?

Thanks!


----------



## BettaBeau (May 14, 2014)

Here is a pic of my banana plant, and InfraRed defending it from my phone, lol! Any ideas why it is dissolving?


----------



## Darius359au (Apr 12, 2014)

Banana plant or Banana Lilly? ,the lilly will grow a pad But it suck nutrients etc from the main plant causing it to suffer ,best way to keep one healthy is to cut off the pads ,(I've got a set of aquarium scissors so I can cut the pads off near the main body!) , also root tabs will help as well with it - a word of warning if it's a lilly the it will go nuts with root tabs ,the growth rate can be scary with banana lilly's;-):-D


----------



## BettaBeau (May 14, 2014)

I don't believe it is a banana lily. It's roots resemble the shape of a banana, and should not be planted I believe.


----------



## hellobird (Nov 11, 2015)

Do you dose anything for your plants? Im definitely not a plant expert but it looks like it could be a deficiency of something. IME banana lillies grow a lot faster than the anubias and java fern you have so they soak up nutrients a lot faster. I stuck a root tab under mine and I’ve been getting a new leaf pop up every day.
Also I‘m pretty sure banana plants and banana lilies are the same plant, just different names.


----------



## BettaBeau (May 14, 2014)

I use Flourish Comprehensive, one drop after I do a water change, and one drop 3 days later (I have a 2.65 gallon tank, no filter, lots of plants.) I wonder if I need to dose more, or more often...

I need to put the new Finnex Stingray light on the tank, maybe that will help.


----------



## Darius359au (Apr 12, 2014)

quick check and banana plant/lilly are the same ,(didn't know that  ,problem is my one's dont have the fat "Banana's" their all pretty thin so they look different), http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/aquarium-plants/aquarium-banana-plant/ so flourish root tabs will definitely help


----------



## BettaBeau (May 14, 2014)

I just went to Seachem's website to figure out whether I am dosing my Flourish Comprehensive correctly, turns out I'm not using enough.

5ml per 60 gals -> 2.5ml per 30 gals -> .25ml per 3 gals
.25ml = 5 drops 

I've been using 1 to 2 drops, once or twice a week. I will start using 5 drops after a water change, and 4 drops 4 days later. Between that and the new Finnex Stingray light, I hope the banana plant survives.


----------



## AquaThom (Sep 12, 2015)

BettaBeau, I hope you will continue to post the result of your new regimen for the banana plant. I am very interested in your result because I also have a slightly less than 3 gallon tank & a banana plant which is not doing well at all. 

I bought the plant in early October, I think, with 3 beautiful leaves. One has dissolved after a while and 3 new leaves had sprouted since but they started to go transparent even before they were fully unfurled. I have just java fern & flame moss in my tank. The moss is just surviving, but the java fern has been growing well, so I had not been adding any fertilizer. But I started to add 1 drop of Seachem Flourish to the tank every week after I acquired the banana plant. (With my eye dropper and using the calculation you used, 2 drops should be good for 2.5 gallon.) I used just 1 drop because I was also afraid of getting too much algae. So after a few weeks, one of the existing leaves started to melt so I stopped using Flourish. I read on some forum that Flourish might melt some plants but who knows, it seems everyone has a different experience with fertilizer. 

Anyhoo, sorry for my long background history. Bottom line, please update your result. Much appreciated.


----------



## BettaBeau (May 14, 2014)

Sure AquaThom, I'll keep you posted.


----------

