# Sad Looking Plants



## VOYAGERXP (Jul 18, 2003)

I put some amazon swords and a few othe types of live plant in my rbp tank about 2 weeks ago but some of the leaves are going brown. Some leaves have gone see through and some have little holes in them. There are no snails in my tank eating my plants so whats wrong. I have a light on in the day and at night i have a blue light at night.


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## StuartDanger (Aug 7, 2003)

have u got a co2 machiene in ur tank? if u havent getting one will make all the difference.
to buy one it will cost u about £100+ or you could make one for about £2+ and have the same results!
first you need:
2ltr bottle (empty and clean)
airline tubing
airstone
yeast (bakers yeast)
sugar (ne old sugar)
silicone

first drill a hole in your bottle cap and feed the airline tubing through then put silicone around the edges to make it air tight (leave for atleast 24hrs so it is dry). put a few tablespoons of sugar into a cup of warm water and stir, then pour into the bottle. do the same with the yeast. and a touch of baking powder if the mixture begins to froth. then fill the bottle up with warm water up to about the top or the label. screw the top on and put the airline tubing onto the air stone place the airstone in the water.after a while bubbles should come out of the stone. i know this seems very complicated and weird but it works! 
simply all it is is when yeast and sugar mix in water the react and give off co2, which plants need to live. they will ony be gettin a small amount from the oxygen in the water so this will bosst them fast. but watch out they WILL grow big and fast so keep pruning. pm if u have any other questions.

stuart


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## VOYAGERXP (Jul 18, 2003)

Since this post i've found out it is not the leaves that are brown but it's some sort of brown stuff on the leaves. It's also on the back of the tank. Please advise.


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## StuartDanger (Aug 7, 2003)

try leaving your lights on for a bit longer. brown algae means that the lights have been on for not long enough. and green means too much light.


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## rday (Mar 10, 2003)

spiderman- that was excellent advice! i had looked at co2 machines before, but the price freaked me out... im going to the store tonight and whipping up one of your devices!

voyagerxp- do you have a regular fluorescent bulb for lighting? if so, it may not be providing the plants with the right kind of light. you can get a grow light at a hardware store for cheap. they're usually called plant and aquarium lights, and ive seen 48" bulbs for a 55 gallon for around 8 bucks or so. they give light that enhances reds and blues and they look pretty good, not to mention they are better for your plants


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## tinyteeth (Mar 12, 2003)

its either too much nitrates, not enuff light, or not enuff iron supplements


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## SnowCichlid (Jan 10, 2003)

there is also plant grow you can buy at your LFS if all else fails


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## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

First of all which kinds of plants do you have in your tank?
You have to buy lamps that are especially for plants such as "Hagen flora-glow" and not blue light.
You have to turn on the lights for at least 8 hours a day (10 is better) and also try the home-made CO2 that Spider mention.
But be very carefull because a CO2 overdose will cause a massive PH drop-down!!!!!
What size is your tank????
Lets say that a typical dose is one bubble of CO2 per second.
My opinion is also not to put the tube in an airstone but to place it in your filter intake and let the filter make the CO2 circulation......


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## VOYAGERXP (Jul 18, 2003)

I have later found that the plants are okey but i think its defo brown algae. I think its not enough light. before i put the plants in i never ever got brown algae.I was told that live plants can cause brown algae, is that true.


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## Runningmad (Aug 13, 2003)

wow that is an awesome idea spiderman great post!


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## Hehehe I just (Jul 13, 2003)

my plants dont look good either, no algae but def browning. That CO2 machina sounds wierd.


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## VOYAGERXP (Jul 18, 2003)

hey spiderman how about drawing us newbies a diagram of your invention


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## Tommy V (Jul 18, 2003)

usually new plants will lose a few leaves and brown anyway. my swords did it for the first few weeks but now they are really helathy.


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## VOYAGERXP (Jul 18, 2003)

Nooo my plants are growing fine its brown stuff on my leaves. Because if i rub the leaf it comes off. Its brown stuff, its on my bogwood,back of the tank,my model castle and leaves. It makes my tank look like its never been cleaned.

WHAT TO DO


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## Tommy V (Jul 18, 2003)

you could leave the light on longer and get a pleco.


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## VOYAGERXP (Jul 18, 2003)

Can't do that tommy my reds would gobble him up in a second. My reds are dead territorial and i even tried apple snails in as cleaners and they turned them over and ate them. And could not even bring my self around to try it. I'd feel sorry for the pleco.


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## StuartDanger (Aug 7, 2003)

ok here are a few pictures of the co2 contraption:

the first shows the bottle with the airline tubing coming out of the lid. there is a mixture of yeast sugar and warm water in there. there is a reason that it is in a bucket of water and that is that the mixture needs heat to react so what i do is i put the bottle in a bucket of warm water and shake the mixture up a little, i change the water in the bucket in the moring and before i go to bed.


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## StuartDanger (Aug 7, 2003)

this is a full shot. the air line tubing goes up the side of the tank and then into the tank where the co2 is difused by an airstone.


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## StuartDanger (Aug 7, 2003)

here is the airstone in the tank. the bubbles should come out of it about a few spurts every minute, dont worry if you have a continual flow of bubbles, it will not kill the fish unless you use too much co2 for your tank. i would recommend, that if you have a 10g tank then a small coke bottle will do. then for a 10g-25g tank use a 1.5ltr bottle. and then 30g a 2ltr and any higher than 60g you can use 2 2ltr bottles. the results are easy to see after about 1 week.

give it a go people, it is cheap and effective. trust me!

stuart


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## Hehehe I just (Jul 13, 2003)

awesome im gonna try


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

very interesting spiderman...


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## clintard_leonard (Mar 24, 2005)

Hey, im in the process of making that, waiting on the silicon to dry,

My question is, how expensive is this to maintain?

1.how often do u need new sugar and yeast?
2.how much does yeast cost?
3.how long does it put off gas untill its time to put new stuff in the bottle?

This is by far the coolest thing ive seen on this site since ive been here, awsome man thanks a LOT!


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

*_Moved to Aquatic Plants Forum_*


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## spree_rider (Mar 20, 2004)

what is with everyone on this site and dosing co2 especially in lower light tanks, you dont get much benifit from co2 unless co2 is your limiting factor of growth, if you dont have enough light for plants to grow fast adding co2 will not make a difference as you need more light,
also everyone says you cant use regular flourecent bulbs, but i use just the plain sunlight bulbs on my tanks and my plants grow right out of the water... and i have no co2, my vals grow 2" a day and i dont even fert more than once a week. 
i grow orchids in my basement under flourecent light and i only use 1 regular cool white and one warm white tube per fixture and they work out just fine, i pay $1.5 for each bulb and i get better flowers than people who grow in greenhouses. 
this is just my opinion but all you need to grow plants is to keep nutrients in the water and enough light 2-3wpg is good, much more and you can run into way too many problems with algea blooms. (doesnt matter what light as long as it has more than one spectrum except blue its usless to most plants)

i would also like to say that spiderman didnt invent the co2 bottle, its been around for years, and as a suggestion i would lower my bubble rate and but a small cup like object over the bubbles that way they stay in the water longer and completly dissolve, another option is to connect the tube to your powerhead and have the impeller chop the bubbles and mix them inside this gets alot of co2 out of each bubble...

if you look on the web you can find a chart that compares kh to ph and using this you can find out your ppm of co2, anything between 10-30 is good for plants, above 30 and it can become toxic to some fish, piranha can go over 60 but its not good for them...


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

spree_rider said:


> what is with everyone on this site and dosing co2 especially in lower light tanks, you dont get much benifit from co2 unless co2 is your limiting factor of growth, if you dont have enough light for plants to grow fast adding co2 will not make a difference as you need more light,
> also everyone says you cant use regular flourecent bulbs, but i use just the plain sunlight bulbs on my tanks and my plants grow right out of the water... and i have no co2, my vals grow 2" a day and i dont even fert more than once a week.
> i grow orchids in my basement under flourecent light and i only use 1 regular cool white and one warm white tube per fixture and they work out just fine, i pay $1.5 for each bulb and i get better flowers than people who grow in greenhouses.
> this is just my opinion but all you need to grow plants is to keep nutrients in the water and enough light 2-3wpg is good, much more and you can run into way too many problems with algea blooms. (doesnt matter what light as long as it has more than one spectrum except blue its usless to most plants)
> ...


Jealous much?
I dont think that he is taking credit for the invention of the co2 bottle, he is helping out other members in need of help, so chill


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## clintard_leonard (Mar 24, 2005)

What he said, CHILL BROTHA


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

spree_rider said:


> another option is to connect the tube to your powerhead and have the impeller chop the bubbles and mix them inside this gets alot of co2 out of each bubble...
> 
> if you look on the web you can find a chart that compares kh to ph and using this you can find out your ppm of co2, anything between 10-30 is good for plants, above 30 and it can become toxic to some fish, piranha can go over 60 but its not good for them...
> [snapback]959895[/snapback]​


Oh yeah, well I posted the kh/ph chart before you and mentioned the powerhead bubble difusion method too so it's not like you invented those either


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## spree_rider (Mar 20, 2004)

sorry for sounding harsh i was having a REALLY bad day, found out an old friend has cancer.


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## elTwitcho (Jun 22, 2004)

Really sorry to hear that dude. Alot of people pull through it so just stay positive.

Nice design spiderman. Everything looks good except the diffusor, with a bubble stone you're losing probably most of your CO2 though, if you have an aquaclear a good alternative is to feed it into your HOB intake, because the bubbles take longer to get through the foam they're mostly used up by the time they would have reached the surface. A powerhead works ok too, but it's not as efficient as the HOB method I've found.


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## clintard_leonard (Mar 24, 2005)

Could you explain the HOB method please?
HOB= ??

I love this site


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

HOB = Hang on back


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## clintard_leonard (Mar 24, 2005)

Sorry for the dumb question hehe, i understand now. I made my diy co2 machine, ill let you guys know how it works, so far im getting a couple bubbles every 15 min or so, i rigged a pop bottle cap above the airstone to catch the bubbles and all is working well. thanks


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## BigChuckP (Feb 9, 2004)

clintard_leonard said:


> Sorry for the dumb question hehe, i understand now. I made my diy co2 machine, ill let you guys know how it works, so far im getting a couple bubbles every 15 min or so, i rigged a pop bottle cap above the airstone to catch the bubbles and all is working well. thanks
> [snapback]961813[/snapback]​


pssst. dont tell anyone but I had to look it up myself to tell ya.


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## carisma02uk (Aug 1, 2004)

OK ALL WHO WANT A C02 REACTOR CLICK MY NAME AND SEARCH MY THREADS I HAVE A DIY ON C02 REACTORS AND BACK2NATURE BACKGROUNDS SIMPLE AS SAME METHOD AS TWITCH AND WORKS A TREAT YOU ARE MISSING A FEW INGREDINETS THO MATE I.E. BI-CARB OF SODA: PH BUFFERING....
AND PROTEIN AS THE YEAST CANNOT LIVE ON JUST SUGAR... 
ENJOY JON>>


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## carisma02uk (Aug 1, 2004)

oh sorry forgot to add if you are just using a airstone i would add a up turned jar or another bottel chamber so that the co2 can diffues before it escapes from the surface.
and also the oxygenating process can remove some co2 from your water but your ok as ranas are low level o2 fish...


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