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plants: trouble or normal?
I have a new (1 week) 50 gal tank with a All Glass high output compact
fluorescents that give 110 watts; I have the lights on for 12 hours per
day. I put the "prescribed" amount of laterite into the tank before adding
2 to 3 inches of gravel. The only thing I have added to the tank, aside
from 7 small fish, is Cycle. GH=8, KH=5, pH=7.5, ammonia and nitrite are
0, although I had a tiny amount of ammonia for a day or two. Temperature
is at the very high end of the "green zone" on my thermometer (just below
80F, I think).
Perhaps these problems are normal when starting a new tank? As far as I
know, I have not covered any of the crowns. Some of my lovely (and
expensive) plants are getting brown spots on their leaves, and when the
brown spots get big enough and join together, the leaves turn mushy.
Especially the following seem to be affected (sorry, I don't know most of
the common names; I am reading this from my Tropica book): Crypt wendtii
'Mi Oya', Crypto beckettii "petchii".
Also I have a beautiful specimen of Microsorum pteropus 'Windeløv' (fancy
java fern) mounted on a big piece of driftwood (mid-level in the tank).
Overall I would say it doesn't look too bad, but it also has several
brown/black ends.
One of my Anubias berteri, which came mounted on a small piece of
driftwood, isn't looking too great either, again some smaller brown spots.
The other Anubias which I put on a rock looks just fine. Tiger vals I have
cut back to 6 inches as they were yellow/dark. Limnophila sessiliflora
doesn't get brown spots; instead its top portions are very pale; these were
just cuttings and now have roots. Crinum calamistratum looks fine. Crypt
crispatula var. balansae looks great.
When I see this brown and/or mushy stuff, I trim it off and remove it from
the tank.
Help, please!
Gitte