Eleocharis Pusilla problems

[Fletchie]

Hello,

I have a 200L tank using fluval stratum substrate with a plant 3.0 light and Co2 injection. I'm trying to carpet it out with Eleocharis Pusilla. I came home from work this evening to find 2 pieces have stripped there colour over the last 24 hours.

My nitrate is testing around 25ppm. I dosed fertilizer yesterday. Could it be poor planting? Roots not taking well? The pieces in question were planted around 7 days ago.

The first photo is from yesterday and the second from this evening.

Any suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks

 

[_Maq_]

Water changes will definitely do no harm. 50 per cent daily for a few days.

 

[Fletchie]

Will do. Been advised its melt. Seems the plants have been grown above water and have to adapt to life below. Everything dies and new shoots grow. Sound about right? Also going to add some root tabs and flourish excel.

Water changes will definitely do no harm. 50 per cent daily for a few days

 

[_Maq_]

Also going to add some root tabs and flourish excel.

Do you think the plants are starving? I don't think so. Rather the contrary. That's why water changes - they dilute the soup.

 

[Fletchie]

Do you think the plants are starving? I don't think so. Rather the contrary. That's why water changes - they dilute the soup.

I genuinely don't know if they are or not. Been advised that my Co2 is too high and is causing burn coupled with too high light aswell. Turned the light down 50% and also reduced the hours. Turned co2 off completely and will see how I get on. More pieces lost there colour today. One piece I though was doing quite well. Checked it at 7am and it was good. Came home 12 hrs later and its knackered.

 

[_Maq_]

Turned co2 off completely and will see how I get on.

I'm not a CO2 user yet I believe that reasonably increased concentration of CO2 is always mightily beneficial.
I suggest you keep on changing water and not fertilize.

 

[Wookii]

Been advised that my Co2 is too high

By who? That's nonsense, you'll never be able to inject close to the 420ppm atmospheric levels plants are exposed to in the air.

Turned co2 off completely and will see how I get on.

That's the wrong thing to do, you need to maintain stability.

too high light aswell

That's unlikely with the Fluval Plant 3.0, it's not a particularly powerful light.

I dosed fertilizer yesterday.

What are you dosing?

Water changes will definitely do no harm. 50 per cent daily for a few days.

+1 to this. Have you been doing it since @_Maq_ advice?

Also, what has been your water change regime since you started up the tank?

Will do. Been advised its melt. Seems the plants have been grown above water and have to adapt to life below. Everything dies and new shoots grow. Sound about right? Also going to add some root tabs and flourish excel.

It could me transitioning, though I'm not sure I've seen it this extensively with Eleocharis. Keep an eye on the newest shoots and runners, if they look healthy, then persevere with it. Don't add root tabs or Excel, neither will help you, and are more likely to just create more issues.

 

[Fletchie]

By who? That's nonsense, you'll never be able to inject close to the 420ppm atmospheric levels plants are exposed to in the air.



That's the wrong thing to do, you need to maintain stability.



That's unlikely with the Fluval Plant 3.0, it's not a particularly powerful light.



What are you dosing?



+1 to this. Have you been doing it since @_Maq_ advice?

Also, what has been your water change regime since you started up the tank?



It could me transitioning, though I'm not sure I've seen it this extensively with Eleocharis. Keep an eye on the newest shoots and runners, if they look healthy, then persevere with it. Don't add root tabs or Excel, neither will help you, and are more likely to just create more issues.

Yeah been advised completely wrong. Have been talking to someone else much more reliable who has helped me no end. Co2 and light changes been completely reverted. For fertilizer I'm using Tropica premium, Water changes have been 50% weekly. I have started to see some resurgence in the affected plants. I guess the melt was just a severe case. I added root tabs already. There are new shoots and runners and they seem to be quite healthy. Getting largerand further from the main plant everyday. I have changed location of my diffuser and to a different style one. Also I had the filter set incorrectly and had low flow.

 

[_Maq_]

For fertilizer I'm using Tropica premium, Water changes have been 50% weekly. ... I added root tabs already.

You're not the first to succumb to a completely false assessment that what plants need most in a new tank is nutrients. Perhaps you need to experience a full disaster before you learn better.

 

[erwin123]

For fertilizer I'm using Tropica premium,

My nitrate is testing around 25ppm. I dosed fertilizer yesterday. Could it be poor planting? Roots not taking well? The pieces in question were planted around 7 days ago.

Tropica premium has zero Nitrogen/Nitrates?

If your fert doesn't contain Nitrogen, the simple solution would be to buy a fertilizer that contains Nitrogen rather than root tabs? The risk Maq is alluding to is uncontrolled release into the water column (though its easily managed by adding small amounts weekly rather than putting everything in the tank at one go)

I find root tabs useful to give difficult plants a bit of a boost, but if we are talking about hairgrass, at the end of the day, its just grass and it really doesn't need root tabs. T

 

[Wookii]

I'm using Tropica premium

As @erwin123 says, Tropica Premium is not a complete fertilizer, it contains no nitrates nor phosphates. Both are essential for plant growth. If you want to stick with the Tropica brand, you need Tropica Specialised (though on your size of tank, learning to mix your own ferts from dry salts would be much more economical in the longer term).

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

It could be transitioning,

I think so the new shoots (at the ends of the runners) look fine. Edit: what @Fletchie said.

Been advised that my Co2 is too high

I agree with @Wookii , the only way it could be a CO2 effect would be if you had a huge amount in solution and it managed to lower the pH to <"Carbonated drink"> levels.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mat H]

This used to happen a lot to me when planting hair grass. I'm heavy handed when separating and would sometimes tear sections off with half the roots missing or damaged and needless to say these sections deteriorated quickly, however if there were any in tact within a planted section they'd do fine and send off runners.

I have more of a handle on it now, though it means I now waste a lot of a pot as I'm picky about planting only the best sections with roots all in order and neat, the rest is disposed of or goes in the emersed section of one of my garden tubs.

Can't say it's the case for you, just a thought, and I agree with the comments/advice given regardless, especially re water changes!