# Monte Carlo issues once again



## Nathanh2150 (15 Jan 2021)

Planted my tank with a fresh batch of Monte Carlo looked amazing for the first couple of days but today it’s starting to light green instead of vivid green and now going mushy and limp any help would be much appreciated photos of when put in tank and a photo of it now 
Running co2 in the aquarium my drop checker is green and the co2 comes on an hour before the light comes on and comes of an hour before the lighting 
I’m daily dosing tropica plant food 
And doing weekly water changes of 50% 
Also added beneficial bacteria on every water change.


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## castle (15 Jan 2021)

Just the emersed leaves melting, to be expected!

What is "_added beneficial bacteria_" ?


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## Nathanh2150 (15 Jan 2021)

It’s Fluval cycle biological enhancer every water change.
Also daily doing tropica specialised nutrition is it wise to stop dosing atm or carry on daily dosing tropica specialised nutrition ?


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## Siege (15 Jan 2021)

Too much light in comparison to co2 as per the lighting thread.

co2 should be on probably 4 hours before lights. On a new tank with no livestock leave it on 24/7 go bright yellow. 👍😃

Daily water changes for 1st week if you can 50% is a minimum.


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## kschyff (15 Jan 2021)

I agree with Siege. During my initial setup, which also contained loads of MC, I left the CO2 on 24/7 and all was good. It was even a DIY CO2 and I was able to dial it in so that it went only slightly yellow if that bothers you. In the meantime I have installed a CO2 Art system and start the CO2 2 hours before lights on, but that only applies if you decide not to leave it on 24/7. According to what I have read here and elsewhere it seems that the plants photosynthesise quite a bit at the start of the photoperiod - hence the suggestion to have the CO2 levels as optimal as possible when the lights switch on. Are you using Amazonia with PowerSand or something else?


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## Nathanh2150 (15 Jan 2021)

There’s no fish in the aquarium only a snail so would it be wise to move the co2 to be on 4 hours before lighting comes on and off an hour before the light switches off. And I am using tropica substrate


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## Nathanh2150 (15 Jan 2021)

I also have a dimmer on the aquarium light


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## Nathanh2150 (15 Jan 2021)

My light is a twinstar 900s


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## Siege (15 Jan 2021)

Even with fish in I have AS900 tanks co2 in 4 hours before lights. No probs, just watch the drop checker, you don’t need to push it, just a light green colour.

when 1st planted you need to get the plants used to the less co2 underwater. For that reason bang it up and go bright yellow 24/7 for a few days.

The snail will go to the surface if he doesn’t like it. You could remove him for a few days if you wanted. He is in a little early on a brand new set up.


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## Nathanh2150 (15 Jan 2021)

Ok I shall change the automatic timer to 4 hour before light comes on and I’m currently doing 10 bubbles a second my water in my area is hard so was told to increase co2 to make sure it gets to the plants I have noticed the back plants are photosynthesise as seen bubbles come from leaves also the drop checker is this colour


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## Nathanh2150 (15 Jan 2021)

Drop checker


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## Siege (15 Jan 2021)

This is kind of what I was getting at when I said build up a relationship with your local store scaped nature (I know hard to do at the moment!). In an hour conversation you would have had the whole co2 lesson, water change, new tank process conversation. They’ve probably got preprinted FAQ leaflets.

Yes you would have paid a few quid more than buying from the cheapest but the advice would save you money and your Monte Carlo would now be doing well and in the long run would save you money, time and headache.

Not having a go, it’s just that all my posts on your threads seem to be similar and I’m at risk of sounding like a parrot! 😂😃👍


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## Siege (15 Jan 2021)

Drop checker looks perfect. You want that colour at lights on. 👍😃

Still want it higher for a couple of weeks on a new tank.


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## Nathanh2150 (15 Jan 2021)

I spoke to scape nature and they advised me to come to this form room to talk to the community to see there advice.. and I shall change the timing of the co2 turn on to 4 hours before lights come on and see what happens fingers crossed


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## Siege (15 Jan 2021)

Nathanh2150 said:


> I spoke to scape nature and they advised me to come to this form room to talk to the community to see there advice.. and I shall change the timing of the co2 turn on to 4 hours before lights come on and see what happens fingers crossed



😂😂😂

Before or after you bought the plants elsewhere?


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## Nathanh2150 (15 Jan 2021)

Before I brought the plants elc where as they had no stock and was unsure when there next delivery would be otherwise would of got from them. Have now changed the time on the automatic timer for the co2 for 4 hours before lighting. If I was to leave the co2 on 24/7 how would it work with the light off would there be any harm leaving it on 24/7 also as my drop checker is spot on then I wouldn’t need to change the bubble count


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## Siege (15 Jan 2021)

Yes co2 24/7 on a new tank for a week or so. Then turn it down and put on timer but Defo on 4 hours before lights. You can then add shrimp.

Big water changes for the 1st few weeks, only gradually moving down to weekly.

low light

low temp - 22-23

👍


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## Nathanh2150 (15 Jan 2021)

My aquarium tempture is around 23-24 and I shall leave the co2 running for a week and after do the 4 hours before light comes on water changes I can do daily without any issue 🙂
Thankyou for all the help do appreciate it


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## Ady34 (15 Jan 2021)

Great advice already, but also how much fertiliser are you dosing? I found with mc that it is very greedy and along with increasing co2 availability I increased my Tropica specialised dosing significantly and the mc stopped melting.


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## Nathanh2150 (15 Jan 2021)

I am dosing 4 plumps of fertiliser. I’m tottaly gutted as when we planted the Monte Carlo it look amazing full of health and good root structure so guess it’s just a waiting game to see the outcome


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## Libba (16 Jan 2021)

Siege said:


> Too much light in comparison to co2 as per the lighting thread.
> 
> co2 should be on probably 4 hours before lights. On a new tank with no livestock leave it on 24/7 go bright yellow. 👍😃
> 
> Daily water changes for 1st week if you can 50% is a minimum.



Aren't you then going to run into issues when you bring down the CO2 when it's time to add livestock? I'd rather get the adjustment period over early then keep the CO2 consistent.


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## SRP3006 (16 Jan 2021)

I followed the exact same advice when I set up my AS900, co2 was high for the first few weeks to help the plants acclimatise. As you are exceeding the 'optimum' amount (lime green drop checker) you can easily drop it back down slowly without any downsides. If there is an excess of Co2 then the plants are already getting their fill giving you the 'slack' to gently drop it back down to the right level.


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## Nathanh2150 (16 Jan 2021)

Had the co2 running all day yesturday gonna be leaving it going like that for another week to see what happens also gonna go a 50% water change for the week also done the pre fillter cleaning on the bio master thermo 600 so all running as it should 🙃 fingers crossed the Monte Carlo is just adapting to it’s emerged state and gonna be reshooting new leaves 🍃


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## kschyff (16 Jan 2021)

I actually lost a whole batch of MC (7 cups of ADA tissue culture) when I created my 60f 6 weeks ago. I sometimes think the choice in substrate has a lot to do with how you "start" your tank. Its almost as if Amazonia requires less ferts initially than other substrates. I even added PowerSand which boosted the nutrients even more. Funny enough, my crypts, Buce and pinnatifida are doing very well. Also got a lot to do with experience - UKAPS has helped me lot. Wish I discovered these threads months ago. Also made the mistake to add livestock too early and not running the CO2 at a higher rate for longer. Hope your MC recovers soon Nathan.


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## Andy Pierce (16 Jan 2021)

I gave up on Monte Carlo and and with Marsilea instead.


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## kschyff (16 Jan 2021)

I did the same Andy. Going to replace them with various types of crypts (crypto para comes to mind) and lots of Buce.


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## Jayefc1 (16 Jan 2021)

Flow is king for carpet plants good flow + good co2 distribution as @Siege says keep the co2 in the yellow help them adjust as quickly as possible going from 400ppm co2 to 30 in a couple of hours is going to cause the plants to stress and melt so help them.out as much as possible I do almost 100% water changes first week so the plants get a huge gulp of co2 during the change and it helps a lot


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## Forever Fishtank (17 Jan 2021)

In my experience, MC is not a very demanding plant.  I propagated an initial batch I got 3 years ago to various tanks and even sold some.  I grew it in high tech high light tanks and low tech, lowlight tanks as well.  Currently I have a large clump sitting in a bucket waiting to be transferred to a new tank.   One thing I did different from you is that I did a dry start with the initial tank.  This enabled strong root growth so that when I flooded it, it had a lot more to draw from while it adjusted to my water parameters.  I am not sure whether you have the ability to do a dry start in another small tank and transfer from there.  One more advice would be to lower your light brightness.  In my tank that has the Twinstar 600, I find that it suffers at full brightness until it has taken full root.  I use Tropica Specialized as well by the way.  In my 20 gallon tank I use 6 pumps per week and the Monte Carlo is quite healthy.


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## Nathanh2150 (17 Jan 2021)

kschyff said:


> I actually lost a whole batch of MC (7 cups of ADA tissue culture) when I created my 60f 6 weeks ago. I sometimes think the choice in substrate has a lot to do with how you "start" your tank. Its almost as if Amazonia requires less ferts initially than other substrates. I even added PowerSand which boosted the nutrients even more. Funny enough, my crypts, Buce and pinnatifida are doing very well. Also got a lot to do with experience - UKAPS has helped me lot. Wish I discovered these threads months ago. Also made the mistake to add livestock too early and not running the CO2 at a higher rate for longer. Hope your MC recovers soon Nathan.


Hi thanks for your message the mc is going stringy but have noticed New leaves appearing which looks to be a good sign I just have to sit tight and see what happens over the next couple of months gonna be doing 50% water changes and have the co2 set to come on 4 hours before lighting also have increased the lighting


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## Nathanh2150 (17 Jan 2021)

Forever Fishtank said:


> In my experience, MC is not a very demanding plant.  I propagated an initial batch I got 3 years ago to various tanks and even sold some.  I grew it in high tech high light tanks and low tech, lowlight tanks as well.  Currently I have a large clump sitting in a bucket waiting to be transferred to a new tank.   One thing I did different from you is that I did a dry start with the initial tank.  This enabled strong root growth so that when I flooded it, it had a lot more to draw from while it adjusted to my water parameters.  I am not sure whether you have the ability to do a dry start in another small tank and transfer from there.  One more advice would be to lower your light brightness.  In my tank that has the Twinstar 600, I find that it suffers at full brightness until it has taken full root.  I use Tropica Specialized as well by the way.  In my 20 gallon tank I use 6 pumps per week and the Monte Carlo is quite healthy.


Thankyou for your message unfortunately I don’t have anything sitting around to grow mc apart from in my tank I would of don’t the dry start but had plants in the aquarium so wouldn’t of been possible I dose 4 plumps of tropica plant food daily and doing 50% water changes everyday once I Finnish work.


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## Nathanh2150 (17 Jan 2021)

The mc is melting but have noticed that there shooting new leaves also the roots are deep into the substrate so hopefully in the next few months they will recover and start spreading 🤞 just a shame to see it all nicely planted to now this but time will tell on the out come


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## Andy Pierce (17 Jan 2021)

Siege said:


> Daily water changes for 1st week if you can 50% is a minimum.


Why do the daily water changes - what is it you're trying to remove?


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## Nathanh2150 (17 Jan 2021)

Would it be wise to do it weekly ? Only doing 50% for the past day or 2 due to mc starting to perish so it don’t cause any issues in the long run


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## Virtex (19 Feb 2021)

Excess ammonia released by new aqua soils can burn some aquarium plants. Tissue culture plants seem less "strong" and are more susceptible. 
This is the reason why ADA recommend doing daily water changes in new aquariums.


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