New Growth

[mikew65]

I'll be around as always, may have to send out some boxes though not sure yet. You've seen my set-up easy to hook up and unhook and move, you know everything here is fluid! LOL
Mike

[ree123]

I have seen your set-up but can't remember. I think I might need to come by and re-examine.
I'll call ya over the weekend or for sure by the first of next week.
I like hooking and unhooking.
Can I get the things I need @ Lowes or HD or are they Aquarium specific, shop things?

[bunnie1978]

Sorry, Rick. Busy and tired week, but I wonder about the salt. Some plants are just weird, but I don't think a small amount of salt would kill the plant but I could be wrong. Question, when it wastes away, is it like melting, or do you think maybe the snails are eating it up?

By the way I use sodium thiosulfate crystals to make my declor. About $5 for a gallon which treats one drop per gallon of tap water. I get it from Jehmco or angelsplus.

If you start with any type of flourescent lights with bulbs that are less than a year old, clean water, and a cycled tank I don't think you should have a problem, unless the hardness is too high.

[ree123]

Not really melting, more of slowly disappearing and little to no new growth as the plants keep getting smaller and smaller even though you would expect them to be getting bigger and bigger.

So, maybe you are right that it is the snails having a feast, but I rarely ever see them on them and I have heard both opinions. ie: your snails don't eat plants, and your snails are a problem and should be destroyed as fast as you see them.
There are a lot in numerous tanks. No one tank is overrun with them, but several tanks have them present.

btw......................I get my Na.Thio. crystals from a chemistry store in the Carolina's, online. Pretty cheap too. Maybe we should compare prices so one or the other of us can save $.

Hardness should be similar to yours. my tester is a liquid tester. put two diff. reagents in the vial with tank water, then add 1 drop at a timeof the 3rd until the vial changes color. 17 is the drops most every time. Tap and tank water. I reckon that is acceptable. How does that compare to your hardness ?

Got plenty of light as far as I know. I think so anyway.

I have ordered 30 more of these plants to try again.
Might even try one in a plastic bucket sitting under a shade tree. Water and plant. Nothing else. just an idea.
May be searching out advice a lot over the next couple of weeks or so.
I do appreciate your assistance.
Rick aka ree123

[ree123]

bold bump.

[ree123]

Mike, See PM.
Rick

[bunnie1978]

If it's just disappearing, not slowing dying, melting, then chances are high that your plant is being eaten by the snails - perhaps they are most active at night so you don't see it.

Perhaps trying to control the snail population with a clown loach will make a difference. Easy experiment to test anyways. Snails are easy to get rid of chemically too and cheap, but a PITA to clean up after you kill them all. I have 3 clown loaches that I keep around just in case.

It sounds like your water is a bit harder than mine. Of course I use an RO unit on some of my tanks, but even my tap water is a little on the softer side because of the area I'm in. My water comes out of the tap at about 120 tds hardness, which works out to about 2 KH and 1 or 2 GH. My readings aren't completely consistant though, so that could be off.

I think that the snails are your first test. After the snails are erradicated in that tank, we can see what's going on a little better. All snails do eat plant matter, some of them eat live plants, while others only eat the decaying plant matter, so either way, that will answer some of the question.

Don't you worry, we will figure it out.

I've bookmarked this thread now, so I should be able to keep in touch better. I wish we had a setting that automatically bookmarks any thread that I post to. All my other forums do that, so I don't have to remember.

[ree123]

Thanks so much Bunnie. Actually I am leaning towards the snails being the guilty party, but I do and have for years, used my own homemade declor using NaThio. I visited with MikeW. this week, along with a few other members here, and I saw Mikes water change system. I was impressed ! In fact so much so, that although it may cost me over $200 to change the way I do things, when it comes to water changing, I might just have to invest a bit. Did I say I was impressed ? I was impressed! He was so gracious to take the time to explain it all to me and give me the I.N. sites to reearch the info..
This would allow me to filter my tap water and to use no de-clor (or salts). I am figuring one or the other or both are my problem. Sanils and/or salt.
When you mentioned your water hardness, using your numbers, your tap is 120 tds and mine is 170 tds. That is where I got the 17 on my scale from. 10 to 20 was hard. Below 10 was soft and above 20 was very hard. Per my scale and instruction card with the vials, fluids, and the kit.
We'll look in to your bookmark suggestion. Give us a bit of time and I'll try to get back to you on that subject later. I don't know if our system will allow it, but it might be a good idea.
Will keep ya posted. Thanks for the idea.
And thanks for your advice.
Rick

[bunnie1978]

I like the way Mike W does it too, in fact before I got an RO unit I considered it, but instead I got the unit and now have it set up so that 90 gallons can be stored. If I do water changes on 1/3 of my system 3 times a week, I can use RO exclusively, but that's not realistic for my life so I end up doing tap in some of them.

Tap is better for the planted tanks, by the way.

[ree123]

Thanks Bunnie. I'll keep ya posted. I appreciate your confidence. My plants are due in tomorrow and I am seriously looking at all the water changing options before me. I'll keep in touch soon for more advice I'm sure. :-)

Mike, Thank you for all the advice, the links, and mostly your time and your friendship !!! I'll keep you posted too.

[mikew65]

No problem Rick, It was the cheapest alternative I could find for the long run as I don't have room for a storage tank and if I did I would want fish in it too! Plus I don't have to worry about the waste water disposal either.
Mike