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What is it? And what's wrong with it!

GingerNinja

Seedling
Joined
8 Nov 2020
Messages
10
Location
Corsham
PXL_20201108_084810308.jpg

A while ago I ordered a plant from eBay which they didn't have in stock so they sent me this one with no label or clue to its identity.

It seems to be growing and filling out, but the leaves are full of holes.

Does anyone know what it is and/or what's wrong with it?

It's in a 60L tank, with shrimp, tetra, a few snails and a pleco. I do 40% water changes about every 10 days and use liquid o2 and TNC complete once a week.

Any help greatly appreciated!

Ginger
 
Hi and welcome to the forum :),

There are two main causes of holes in leaves.
1. Your inmates are eating them, either because the can or the plant leaves are damaged to some deficiency which has rendered them more easily edible.
2. Some nutrient deficiency, with the main deficiency being Carbon ie CO2 esp in tanks which are CO2 injected. However the deficiency may be being induce by too much light and the plant is unable to take up CO2 fast enough to deal with the extra light photons which leads to holes in leaves.

Flow in the tank is very important too, with it being referred to by many esp in high tech tanks as being 'King', if the flow in the tank is inadequate esp in the plants location then the delivery of CO2 will be reduced also making the plant more vulnerable to CO2 related deficiency's ie holes in leaves.

So to help us help you more more tank details are needed, tank size, filter, lights, photo period, dosing regime and a full tank picture.

Zeus.
 
Thanks Zeus,

As requested: tank size is 60L, filter is Fluval U2, lights are 2x 7w led bulbs that came with the fishbox tank, photo period is 2 hours in the morning and then 6 hours in the eevening. I give the tank 6ml of TNC complete each week (only started this 2 weeks ago) and about 3ml of easycarbo liquid carbon fertilizer once a week (should I be doing this more often??), Then 40% water change every 10 days.

Here's the tank as a whole:
PXL_20201108_085239926.jpg

Thanks for the help!
 
Zeus will help you now with the information you have gave. Just to say adding easycarbo one a week l understood it's to be added daily as it only stays in the water column for that day. So after adding it you have no carbon source except w/c for the week.Never be tempted to give more than recommended it can be fatal to shrimp and fish
 
I give the tank 6ml of TNC complete each week
:thumbup:, which is about right, weekly dose should be fine , however dosing 1ml x6 days a week would be my preference - little and often
3ml of easycarbo liquid carbon fertilizer once a week (should I be doing this more often??)

Once a week could be causing/compounding the problem, as when you dose it there will be more carbon available, plants start to adjust to slightly higher level of CO2 then non for week. Using liquid Carbon (LC) technically turns the tank into a high tech tank, high tech tanks need better flow rates than low low tanks, low tech tanks have less issues with CO2, so not dosing the LC may be a better long term option for your plants. Lots of folk dose LC to combat/control algae which it does to some extent, however LC is mainly a nutrient which helps the plants grow. LC is best dosed just before lights on, it is broken down by the light but dosing it just before lights on means it will be present in the water for the plants to uptake and use it.
Focusing on algae is always an issue long term, focusing on healthy plants is always the best long term plan, as if you plants are healthy and growing they will out compete the aglae.
Your plant biomass is a little on the low side also, so adding a few cheap floating plants will increase the plant biomass and also reduce the light getting to the lower plants which in turn reduces thats plants CO2 demand. When the lower plants fill in slowly the floating plants can be removed.
2 hours in the morning and then 6 hours in the eevening

Never keen on as split photo period as it is done purely for our viewing pleasure, it is more of an issue in CO2 injected tanks than non injected tanks, however whilst you have the issue I would advise just one photo period say 5-6 hrs at first. Once the holly leaves issue is resolved you could try a short viewing in the morning for your viewing pleasure and keep a close eye on holly leaves returning.

The water surface doesn't seem to be moving much, if you filter came with a 'jet' nozzle I would attach it so it creates more surface movement as this will increase the CO2 uptake of the tank, if no 'jet' nozzle increasing the height of the output of the filer (if you can) will have the same effect.

Have patience with the plants, not every plant you put in your tank will thrive or may not be suitable for various reasons, @hogan53 has just posted he doesnt recognise the plant and he is pretty 'hot' at his plants, you may have a plant that doesn't grow under water, Local Fish Shops (LFS) will sell you anything and often the salesperson isn't very knowledgeable. Most folks use a 2-3 trys with a plant then if it still fails time to find another.

On the whole a nice start all the same:clap:
 
Thanks all (especially Zeus) will have a fiddle with things as recommended and see how it goes. 👍
 
It's a bristlenosed, and no I don't feed it anything other than Tetra wafer mix and any flakes the tetra leave.
 
Hi all,
It's a bristlenosed, and no I don't feed it anything other than Tetra wafer mix and any flakes the tetra leave.
You definitely need to feed it some veg. Try Red/Green Pepper, Courgette, Green beans, Blanched Carrot, Sweet Potato etc. and hopefully it will stop happening. Your shrimps <"will enjoy it too">.

Even "carnivorous"plecs (like Hypancistrus) will have the occasional go at Peppers etc.

cheers Darrel
 
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