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Eleocharis sp. melting

gdh2792

New Member
Joined
22 Apr 2016
Messages
7
Location
Gloucester
Hi
This is my first post here so hope I get it right... I have recently rescaped my tank and replanted it about 2 weeks ago generally it is going well except I have noticed my Eleocharis starting to go brown and die off.

The specs at the moment are 215l bowfront tank with 2 tetra ex1200 plus filters running through spraybars mounted the rear length of the tank facing horizontally to the front.

Inline co2 from jbl proflora direct going through one of them which was keeping the drop checker lime green and giving a ph drop of about 1, however, this week have noticed the drop checker is a much darker green which is perplexing me as I haven't changed anything with it (leaks maybe?). CO2 coming on 2hrs before lighting and off 1hr before lights off.

Lighting is 2x25W Fluval Aquasky strips running 8hrs per day and substrate is Tropica plant growth substrate capped with few centimetres of sand and using EI dosing although any help with tweaking the 'recipe' or if I even should be would be great.

Having read this forum for a while sure someone here has suggestions and answers as to what I'm doing wrong any help appreciated and let me know if there's anything else I should have said.

Thanks
 
I think for the plant to die off that quickly, it would be from not enough light/not enough CO2 or a combination.

How are the other plants doing?
 
Other plants are doing brilliantly by my standards at least. I have ludwigia, limnophila and hyrdocotyle in there which has grown well and in need of a trim and several others which are coming along fine. Will experiment with upping the co2 have been hesitant to do too much as it has had fish and shrimp in the whole time, a planted tank was something of an experiment turned into obsession so always a bit wary of adjusting co2 too much too quick.
What would you say regarding the lighting? All I can offer is the LEDs are much brighter than the old T8 tubes which came with the tank and replacing them doesn't look in the budget any time soon although potentially room to add another light if you had a suggestion of one?
 
Yeah that's the one. I will try trimming it tomorrow although that does seem like cutting most of it off or is that to be expected? I have a picture of it which I will attach in the morning although that is something it seems I am too tired to figure out right now.
 
Right here are the pictures. This is the one which shows best where it's melting. Quick update got the drop checker lime green again by significantly upping bubble rate but will check for leaks in the system later
2016-04-19 11.48.32.jpg
 

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Try to - very gently - "pull" the single straws/leaves.
In this particulary plant, leaves usually start dying at the very base, when they die. This means you can gently pull dying leaves, leaving healthy leaves undamaged, since the dying ones will quite easily de-attach at base.
Like said, some emerse grown leaves will sometimes not adapt to life submersed. New leaves will develop, though, from base of plant when plant has adapted. Adaptation can easily take more than a couple pf weeks, depending on the plant and its new environment.
- In conclusion; remove affected leaves and have a little patience........:)
 
Hi, Eleocharis SP and all plants for that matter will take some time to settle in and shed a certain amount of their emersed grown growth before getting fully established which will likely take around 6 weeks. During this period bi-weekly or even smaller alternate day water changes will help to combat any build up of organic pollutants etc. I suggest you aim for stability with the minimum of tweaking so that the plants relax into a stable environment. Constantly adjusting light, co2 and ferts should be avoided. Trying your drop checker in different positions or adding a couple more could give you useful insight as to whether you have any areas of poor circulation. Watch and wait, trim off dying growth daily. You should see signs of new growth pretty quickly though
 
Ah okay I can manage some patience will keep an eye on how it goes.
I have had the drop checker in a couple of other places this is where flow is worst so have it there on the basis of if it's green there it's fine elsewhere hope thats not a mistake...
Thanks for the help everyone
 
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