Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Tank Plant Advice => Topic started by: Puffin on June 18, 2014, 10:19:26 AM
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Yesterday I introduced four new things to my tank...
6 Celestial pearl danios, 6 ember tetra, half a handful of snails which I believe to be Malaysian trumpet snails, and a Cryptocoryne wenditii.
On getting the plant out of its pot I noticed it's very like a peace Lilly, so separated it out into lots of plants, some tiny some slightly bigger. Then I planted it where I wanted it to go.
I've noticed some holes appearing in some of the leaves, and some broken stems that were not broken when I planted in the substrate.
My first thought was the snails, the MTS to be precise. But everything I read says they don't eat plants, or only when there's not enough else to feed them.
Then I thought maybe the plant is just irresistible to the ramshorns and bladder snails I've had in the tank for weeks and that haven't eaten any of my other plants.
Or perhaps some of the fish!??
Anyway I did some reading and found crypts suffer from crypt rot when they are moved. Could what looks to me like a munch hole made by a snail, actually be this?
I really hope so as I understand they recover and grow back in time.
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It could be crypt-rot, and then the snails will eat the dead bits of plant.
Are you sure it's a crypt? I ask 'cos I've seen my local MA selling Peace Lily as a suitable aquarium plant. It's not. A Peace lily will grow emerged from a tank with it's roots always wet, but not totally immersed. (I know - I tried :-[)
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I'm not at all sure Colin, I only have the lfs word for it. It was labelled as a crypt.
It's been a while since I kept Seagrass peace lilies, or any house plant for that matter. The roots were the same, ie really easy to split apart from each other. I can't remember what the peace lily leaves are like off the top of my head.
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This is the plant in question. An uneaten /rotten version.
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That looks like a Crypt to me.
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Was going to start a new thread called 'melting plants' but I found this old one, and it's the crypts that are the problem!
Almost all of the above plants that I gave in my 55l tank are melting. I have a soil under sand substrate and standard LED lighting for an aquanano40. I don't dose any CO2 or ferts. The plants have been in as of the start of this thread, I'll check once I've posted, and were initially all the same potted plant which I divided. Only he very youngest plants at the front seem unaffected.
Is it just wait and see, or is there something I could do to help?
I'll post a photo.
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So they've been in since mid June, 2.5 months.
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It's difficult to see from the photo.
I've removed most of the rotting leaves now.
The only thing that has changed is the addition of several new fish, so more CO2 I suppose, and nitrates, possibly other nutrients. Otherwise, lighting has stayed the same as has me not adding any ferts.
Would the addition of a significant number of fish be likely to affect the plants? I've been keeping a close eye on ammonia and nitrites and doing more water changes.
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Crypts are well known for doing this. The general consensus seems to be to leave them be and they'll put up new growth.
Patience you must. :))
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Ok fine, as long as it's fairly normal.
Need more plants now, as it's starting to look quite sparse. I'm reluctant to buy species I already have, as they grow, eventually!
Thinking of some of that tall grass for along the back and side walls.
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I wouldn't have thought that adding more fish would be detrimental to your plants (unless they're actively eating them). It's normally the other way around as the fish provide your natural ferts.
I've found with few different plants that the original (i.e. what I bought) started to deteriorate after a while but was superseded by the new growth which then flourishes - almost as if the plant adapts to your tank through the new growth. Might be nonsense, but this is what seems to have happened with a few of mine, particularly Java Fern. Perhaps this is why your youngest plants seem unaffected?
Personally, I prefer to lop off any leaves/stems which appear to be dying off so as to encourage more new growth but I know others prefer to just leave the plants to do their own thing.
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Yes I've noticed that too, these plants just seems to be a lot slower to die off than others I've bought! Took them 2.5months and they are all going at the same time! Except the young ones.
Perhaps it's cos they are slower growing plants.