why are my plants dying in my fish tank?

Question

i have set up a fish tank (no fish yet!) and done everything that the bloke in the shop said to do and i have put real plants in - they are dying!?!?!

light is on about 12 hours a day...??

forgot to say - yes they are proper fish tank plants!! it's a tropical tank - heated to 24 degrees but the bloke in the shop said the plants were ok for that. i am apparantly not allowed fish in it for 3 weeks!

Answer 1

Your tank has not properly cycled. Just as with fish, the tank must be cycled or close to it prior to placing live plants into it.

Instead of killing a couple of gold fish, toss a piece of shrimp or raw fish (cut into small pieces) around the bottom of your tank. This will jump start the cycle process.
To grow plants successfully in the aquarium, you need to balance the amount of lighting with nutrient levels. Standard aquarium hoods often have ony a single tube and this may not be adequate for most plants. If the light is increased, however, you may need to use a fertilizer or nutrient supplement and possibly CO2 to keep plant growth vigorus and avoid excessive algae.

It is unnecessary to leave lighting on for more than 12 hours a day. Longer periods are more likely to favor algae growth rather than promote plant growth.
Before planting you need to remove any decaying or yellowed leaves. Decaying leaves drain the rest of the plant from nutrients.

Remoe dying roots, these will rot in the substrate. These will look limp and brown.
Tubers should always be planted at an angle in the substrate with the growing tip exposed.

I prefer to pot most of my plants. The method is very simple and does not take a lot of time or effort. First you need some sort of pot. This could be the plastic pots that your garden plants come in, yoghurt containers, the bottom cut off a plastic pop bottle or container that you can buy at most nurseries. If it is a plastic container, make sure that it is not toxic to your plants or fish. Next get a bucket and add some water to it. Into the bucket add some potting soil. I prefer to use Hillview Potting Soil as I have found that it is pure soil with nothing added. The reason for mixing the soil and water together first is that if you do not saturate the soil and drop the pot into the aquarium, you take the chance of the air in the soil exploding to the surface and making a real mess of the aquarium. Believe me when I say that it can be very frustrating if you rush the job and end up with a big mess. It has happened to me too many times to count. Once the soil is moist (not like soup, more like Play Doh), fill your potting container 2/3rds full of soil. Take your finger and push it into the soil to create a small planting hole. Take your plant and carefully insert the root system into the hole. Carefully fill the hole from the sides, then add aquarium gravel to top up the container. Gently pull the plant upward until the crown of the root is just visible at the gravel surface. I usually have a bucket of aquarium water close by so that I can now submerse the potted plant for a few minutes prior to adding it to the aquarium. This will allow any trapped air to escape and possibly prevent the grief that I was talking about earlier. Now you can place the potted plant into the aquarium and enjoy. The potting soil will give the plant that extra goodness and it shouldn't be too long before the plant begins to thrive and propagate.

nother option is to remove your water plants completely and treat with a water soluable fish safe fertalizer can be found in the pond section of a good fish store. They can live outside the water if keeping the roots wet.

Since you have no fish as of yet, your plants can actually go back into the tank.

Answer 2

I have been keeping tropical fish for nearly 30 yrs
I have 2 tanks heavily planted , Firstly are you picking the right kind of plant for your tank
i say this because there are some plants that die on me.
A true aquatic plant will droop as soon as its taken out of the water if it stands up straight its not a true plant it will die in a few weeks
I find the Java fern is really hardy also Indian fern
Feed them a liquid fertiliser or you could buy the fertiliser bags which are very good and you can forget about them for 3 months. Green-line sell plants and they are very good and the fertiliser bags

Answer 3

Try it without the fertilizer. And make sure you've got a good filtration system. I don't know what you're using for fertilizer but it might actually be harmful. How are your fish doing? I had a number of tanks over the years and never used fertilizer. Plants and fish always did well. Your water may also be too hard for the plants. It could be any number of reasons. If you don't have any luck just try another type of plant. Good luck.

Answer 4

They may need feeding. You can get plant food from the pet shop or local aquarium shop for this. As there are no fish yet there may not be enough nutrients for them. If the plants came in pots, take them out and plant into the gravel. There is a good site called aquatic plant central which is worth visiting if you want to know more about keeping a planted aquarium.
Don't put goldfish in the tank as they will destroy real plants and uproot them.

Answer 5

The plants are starving to death with no fish in the water there is nothing for the plants to use as food. Go back to the pet shop tell the idiot behind the counter he doesn't know what he's talking about and tell them you need is some nutrients for your plants they come in bottle form. Just use them like the bottle says until you get some fish and the tank.

Answer 6

1. many plants sold in the pet stores are not true aquatic plants but are really bog plants. if your plants do well for a period of time and then die, the may be bog plants and need either to be allowed to grow up into the open air or need to have a 'dry spell' to rejuvenate them.
2. the # of hours of light is not nearly as important as the amount of light and spectrum of light. if you can, get full spectrum 'sunlight' bulbs for your tank.
3. you may want to keep a fish or 2 (zebra danio are a good choice, cheap & hard to kill) in the tank while the plants are getting settled. it will help to 'feed' the plants.
4. most plants for aquaria come from warm/tropical regions. make sure the water temp is good.

Answer 7

Some PlantGro tablets will take care of your problem until you can get some fish going in the tank. Double dose them at first and then only do what the directions tell you.

Check out your plants online, some need less light than others. Some need a particular "temperature" of the light (means the wavelength of the light coming from the bulb).

A few zebra danios (4-5) will jump start the tank and they are very hardy little individuals. They will make a nice addition to the tank when it is fully cycled.

Answer 8

Not sure of the 24c I work in f so 75F for normal keeping and turn up to 80-82f to encourage breeding. As for leaving it three weeks what a load of rubbish, a marine yes and then you have to have fish in to condition the water, what you gonna do when it comes to cleaning your tank put them in the bath for three weeks? 24hrs and the chlorine boils off at room temperature but even that's not practical, as for your plants have they any roots are they secure in the gravel if yes to both purchase a pH kit and follow the instruction on pack on how to level up the pH balance if needed if no with the advice your getting as well go to another aquatic shop

Answer 9

if you want good plants then when setting up your tank ask for the denerle system(German)it's a low voltage wire that is snaked across the bottom of the tank then special peat and silver sand mix is put on top'and on top of that very fine gravel once planted your plants will grow and multiply.under gravel filter is no good for this set up!good luck.

Answer 10

No carbon dioxide perhaps? Fish, like humans and many other animals, breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Plants however need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Maybe if you put fish in the tank the plants will live!! I'm not an expert or anything but that is what I think based on my knowledge of plants!!