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What's eating my Cabomba Caroliniana plants? :-|

Zak Rafik

Zak Rafik

Member
Joined
11 Aug 2014
Messages
466
Location
Singapore
Hi everyone,

For the past 1 week or so, I have notice that my Cabomba Caroliniana which has been doing great since day one, has started break off into pieces and float to the top. It's not the whole plant but about 3 to 5 cm of the plant from it’s top.


At first I didn't pay much attention to it as I have some issues with my Co2 levels in the tank and I thought that the Cabomba Caroliniana was simply reacting to it. But today after some inspection, I noticed that the stem has been sort of eaten away. The leaves are found to be intact and healthy and not eaten or damaged. I don't experience this with my other plants.


I have a small population of

4 Otocinclus (Otos),

9 Siamese Algae Eaters (SAEs) and

15 Yamato Shrimp or Amano Shrimp.


I got these guys to control black beard algae and hair algae. They have done a great job in my tank and in fact too good a job! I can hardly see any form of algae on my rocks or plants apart from a slight patch of diatoms on my mid ground plant - Staurogyne Repens, which is also slowly fading away.

I just like to mention that there are bits and pieces of dead plant matter here and there in the tank.


Apart from the above algae eaters, there are no other fish in the tank for now.


The ones I got absolutely FREE are pond snails and Ramhorn snails. :meh:

They appear to be newly hatched judging from their tiny sizes. I'm sure they hitch hiked with plants from the shop. :banghead:
I can see them in the morning and evening on my substrate and plants.


OK to make matters short, I see all my algae eaters and the snails on the Cabomba plant, so I can't tell who the culprit is! But I have read on forums, that Siamese Algae Eaters tend to destroy Cabomba.


Do any of the algae eaters mentioned above, eat aquatic plants or is it the snails?

What do the algae eaters eat once the tank has been cleaned off their food supply like algae?


Hope that the members here can share their opinion / tips and experiences with me. :)

Thanks and Cheers
Raffik


http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b631/Zak_Rafik/who-s-eating-the-pants_zps353e38f4.jpg
 
I guess it's true and it's due to poor Co2.

It's quite interesting to know that there are tons of books, magazines, discussions, articles, YouTube videos and forum discussions about fish, algae, plants, soil, filters, fertilizers, flow in the tank and let's not forget lightings but there is not much on the most essential thing needed in a planted tank, which is Co2.

From my experience with having a planted tank, I have learnt that Co2 is a like an untamed stallion. It's never stable and is always changing and challenging. You think you have it under control and before you know it, it changes again :banghead: And it's back to square one mixed with frustration.

I have started to look at the way nature functions, in a whole new way.
I feel humbled.

Raffik
 
Which has absolutely no bearing on how it grows in a CO2 injected tank.
This fact confuses a lot of people. When you add CO2 you cause CO2 related faults. When you don't add CO2 the plant is a different entity and the mechanics of problems are different.

Cheers,
 
ceg4048 said:
Which has absolutely no bearing on how it grows in a CO2 injected tank.
This fact confuses a lot of people. When you add CO2 you cause CO2 related faults. When you don't add CO2 the plant is a different entity and the mechanics of problems are different.

Cheers,
Click to expand...
Hi Clive
So this is still a Co2 related issue? Can you explain further when you say "When you add CO2 you cause CO2 related faults". Kind of confused on this.
Would appreciate your reply.
Thanks & Cheers
Raffik
 
Hi Raffik,
It's a very complicated story. There is a fundamental difference between plants growing in a non CO2 enriched environment versus growing in a CO2 enriched environment. The rate of metabolism and nutrient usage is vastly different. In fact they are so different the plants actually have different behavior. Carefully review and study the following threads. Read them a few times if necessary:

http://ukaps.org/forum/threads/ei-calculators.26669/
http://ukaps.org/forum/threads/why-are-these-plants-doing-this.33496/
http://ukaps.org/forum/threads/dumb-question-of-the-week.31577/#post-333095

Cheers,
 
I think my similar plant suffered the same fate as yours due a combination of varying CO2 levels, abusive fish, insufficient EI dosing and liquid carbon. Initially grew fantastically then did exactly as yours did. All other plants fine.
WP_20130416_011_zps32363037.jpg
 
ian_m said:
my similar plant suffered the same fate as yours due a combination of varying CO2 levels, abusive fish, insufficient EI dosing and liquid carbon. Initially grew fantastically then did exactly as yours did. All other plants fine.
Click to expand...

Your plants look the same exact state as mine.
I think I can rule out the fish's part from this situation in my tank cause I have been observing them. As informed by ceg4048, I'm certain its due to poor Co2 but how do I remedify this problem? :eek:

Currently I'm dosing 10ml of Excel daily along with the Co2 gas and in addition, I'm doing large plant pruning every 2 weeks to lower Co2 demand. My photo period is a total of 6 hours with 3 hours of full light and 3 hours of 50% half strength.
Now with so much fine Co2 bubbles floating all over my tank, it has taken away the natural beauty of the tank's scape.

I have seen in many large tanks, where lights were dimly lit and with 1 to 2 bps of Co2 and yet the plants look bushy and so beautiful.:( I kind of surprised by this outcome as I expected Cabomba to be the last plant in my tank to be "problematic".

Are you still experiencing this in your tank?

Cheers
Raffik
 
Zak Rafik said:
"All gone" meaning the problem had gone or the plants have all gone?
Click to expand...
Plants of this type all gone, just kept melting, just as you are seeing.
I seem to suffer from some species of plant grow fantastically for a while, then just either wither and die back or start growing very slowly.

This one, pearling away below reaching for the surface, is now less than 10cm high and tiny leaves and if not watched/trimmed gets covered in algae. All other plants in tank are OK.
9ad71218-c8c6-4250-aa24-e15307b2247b_zps3d6a8f71.jpg
 
ian_m said:
Plants of this type all gone, just kept melting,
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear that.

I'm now just going to give my last shots at this cabomba plant for the next few weeks. If there is no progress, I'll just have to replace with something else.
Today at the LFS, I saw this red leaved plant almost similar to yours except that this one had smaller leaves. Can you ID this plant? I asked the LFS but they don't seem to know.

Cheers
Raffik

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums...F-318E-445E-8C97-689AA5045E89_zpsfyepblik.jpg

ian_m said:
This would be my reason the plant is dying. Seems to cause the plants to melt at their "joints" and pieces float away. All gone in my tank now.
Click to expand...

BTW, are you certain that Excel was cause of this? My cabomba has the same symptoms as yours, "cause the plants to melt at their "joints" and pieces float away"
 
ian_m said:
Seems to cause the plants to melt at their "joints" and pieces float away.
Click to expand...

Just one more link to a site about Cabomba. From this website, I think its quite normal for the plant to break off and float. Please scroll to the 7th and 8th photo. Looks exactly the same as what I found in my tank this morning.

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Plant, Cabomba.htm

At least its some what comforting to learn that the problem with the Cabomba in my tank is not unique and quite common.
 
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