I just started keeping fish after about a 10 year
hiatus. The 20 gallon tank, fish and plant are all about a week and a half
old and have began cycling well. The fish are showing no ill effects.

PH is 8.0 (perfect for the 2 cichlids I have in it)
Ammonia is coming down (currently at approx 2.0 PPM)
Nitrites are of course rising now (.25 ppm).

Anyway, that's the good part, my problem starts in that I have never raised
live plants before. I put one in the tank as a starting point until I can
learn more and it seems as though there is a great deal more I need to
learn, the plant is turning strange colors. The tank has a 15 Watt
flourescent full spectrum aquarium light and a temp of 75 Degrees. I have
been "feeding" the plant once a week with a product called "Leaf Zone" by
aquarium pharmaceuticals, INC.. Since I am color blind I cannot really
describe what the plant looks like but they say a picture is worth a
thousand words so hopefully these pictures will help.


Higher res pics available at http://home.comcast.net/~shdanhof/PlantPics.htm

Anyone have any ideas what could be done to save this plant?

Thanks for your help,
-Steve

Unless it's a 20g long tank, his regular fluorescent bulb is too weak


No it is not a long tank. I have started looking into the retrofit option,
but I don't really know what I am looking for. Any help would be most
appreciated. Thanks.

Also would the plant, being in the condition it is in, raise the ammonia
level at all? My tank's ammonia level has now gone back up to 4 ppm and the
nitrite level has not changed from .25ppm in 3 days. The couple of fish I
have in there seem to be handling it fine, but I know they cannot endure at
these levels forever.

-Steve

Steve Danhof wrote:
No it is not a long tank. I have started looking into the retrofit option,
but I don't really know what I am looking for. Any help would be most
appreciated. Thanks.

Something like this would suffice:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW
Remember, CF bulbs are much more efficient than regular fluorescent
bulbs. You cannot compare their wattages, it's apples and oranges.

Also would the plant, being in the condition it is in, raise the ammonia
level at all? My tank's ammonia level has now gone back up to 4 ppm and the

Why do you have ammonia? That is never a good sign. You should have zero
ammonia and zero nitrites, otherwise your biofilter is not working properly.

nitrite level has not changed from .25ppm in 3 days. The couple of fish I
have in there seem to be handling it fine, but I know they cannot endure at
these levels forever.

They will suffer irreversible damage, even if they survive.

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Victor M. Martinez
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