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Can anybody expalin why the the stem of my stem plants keeps rotting away?

Prince

Prince

The ONE who is The ONE
I have been trying to grow stem plants for the last 4 years with no luck. No matter what I do or how I fertilize the tank the tops thrive and the stem parts that are buried in the substrate rot away. The shoot out roots and rot away at the same time. My last failure has been with Red Ludwigia. Help.
 
Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
In my experience, this has been due to insufficient light reaching the bottom of the tank. Either the bulb is too old or the wrong spectrum, the fixture is inadequate, or the plants are packed so tightly that light can not reach the lower portion of the tank.
 
londonloco

londonloco

Members
Lighting could be a factor, I've read rotting stems just above the substrate is the plants "survival mechanism", if they are not getting enough light the stems will rot off just above the substrate and float to the surface where it can get more light. Think it's called "fragmentation". What fixture do you have on the tank?

Could also be low co2 and/or poor nutrients, how old is the tank? What are you using for ferts? Older tanks will produce more co2 than a newly set up tank.

If the stem is damaged during the cutting/replanting stage, use sharp scissors (no pinching) to cut the stems at the larger diameter, try not to crush the stem when you re-plant the top.

Try planting some Hygro Difformis (Wisteria), it's a very low light nutrient hog stem, see if you can grow that first. I have some Poly Sperma that is a stem and grows in REALLY low light on my 75g NPT, I could sent you a few sprigs, pm me if your interested.
 
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Prince

Prince

The ONE who is The ONE
Wisteria grow great in all of my tanks. In this same tank I had two two foot wisteria plants that started out at about 6" before I sold them to try something else. The Ludwigia has come from Petsmart each time. The only place I got Wisteria from the thrived was Scales. But I ruined that tank with inexperience 6 years ago when I started. I used sharp scissors to cut the stems.

I am EI dosing with a Azoo pressurzied set up on a 5lb tank at about 3.5BPS. My light cycle is from 10-6 with the Co2 coming on at 9 and shutting off at 5. I have had a recent out break in black beard algae and have had a running battle with brown algae. The tank is about a year old. Just started EI dosing and Co2 three months ago. Its lit by a dual Aquatic life t5HO about two inches above the glass and a dual Deep Blue t5NO sitting on the glass. I also have a Korilia nano for added circulation. Its filter by a Fluval 304 with a spray bar over half the tank.
 
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londonloco

londonloco

Members
WOW, I'm really sorry, somehow, when I go from email to post it doesn't show me the entire entry, wtf?....:unsure:

Anyway, your dosing the water column EI, which means ur keeping up with your wc's, adding co2, T5 lighting, extra circulation. Nice set up if you ask me.

"Petsmart" plants, in my experience, they are a crap shoot. Many come in emersed form (wisteria def does). I've found much better stems purchasing from other hobbiests off of APC, GWAPA or TPT.

BBA sucks, limiting my lighting has always killed it off in my tanks. Four T5's on any tank is a lot of light, I've cut my 75g hi tech down to 2 T5 bulbs raised 9" above the waters edge. Brown algae, wipe as much as you can off leaves before a wc, and buy a few oto's and/or nerites from Rachel. TDS shouldn't be a factor, but could be if it's high in your tap water and your dosing micro's.

A tank set up a year it shouldn't be your substrate, did I miss that info also, what is the substrate on the tank? Even my 7 month old Tangy tank with PFS does well with root tabs.
 
Andrewtfw

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
How old are the bulbs in the lights? How often are you water changing? What percent is the change? What are you EI dosing with? If you are using tap water, there is a good chance you are overdosing ferts that are contributing to algae growth. This does not explain the stem issue though.
 
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