Rotting Plants???

[tsunderl]

First, I admit I'm not that well educated when it comes to plants. I have a few that have survived, but they are twigs at best.

A friend of mine called regarding her 55g tank, saying that the water was cloudy and smelled bad. Ammonia was off the charts, fish at the top, and lots of decaying plant material in the tank. No nitrates/nitrites and pH at 7.6. The water smelled like a sewer and the plants do as well. The plants actually look pretty healthy and full, but what is causing them to rot?

I've done two water changes, pulled the plants out, added extra filtration and aeration, and got most of the decayed pieces out of the tank. I've got the plants in a 5gal bucket and would like to be able to put them in a tank again, but how do I get the stink out and how do I prevent this from recurring?

[spxsk]

What substrate is being used? If she has a very compacted anaerobic environment in her substrate that could be the entire issue right there.

[AndrewH]

Ammonia in an established tank = waste.

I would bet the existing filter or substrate has lots of plant matter in it.

Plants "rotting" a.k.a. melting might be due to several factors.
1. not enough light. (algae covered leaves - wrong type of light - etc.)
2. not enough food.
3. disease.

Being that there's lots of food (ammonia = nitrogen) I would bet they're not getting enough light. But I could be wrong.

I'd suggest while the plants are out, doing a good gravel vac/substrate cleaning. With the water changes and extra filtration it should be fine.

What substrate is being used? If she has a very compacted anaerobic environment in her substrate that could be the entire issue right there.

x2 :exactly:

there may be more in the water than just ammonia.

[tsunderl]

She's using crushed coral substrate. I've vaccuumed the tank out with each water change (50%). The Fluval had just been changed out so not a lot of stuff in it. With the water not circulating much, most of the plant matter stayed on the bottom. They have a pretty bright light on the tank, but I don't know how long it's on for. That makes a difference as well. The leaves are pretty slimey so I'm thinking they may be suffocating. I'm hoping that getting the plants out, cleaning, water changes, and extra filtration and aeration will do the trick.

[biggin]

Water movement, air stones and water changes should get her back on track...

How often was she changing the water?

[tsunderl]

Water movement, air stones and water changes should get her back on track...

How often was she changing the water?

Well, not often enough. She physically can't and her husband works pretty much seven days a week and well into the evening, so spare time is not easy to come by for him. I'll probably start doing the water changes for them until things settle down a bit.

[spxsk]

I support Biggin's idea. I think quite a bit of water circulation, aeration, and getting that fluval unclogged will help everything. Also, do you know how much they are feeding any fish that are in there, or were in there? Had someone been watching there tank for them while they were out of town?

[tsunderl]

They hadn't been out of town for a while and I've educated them on food and feeding. I think once this gets cleared it will be ok.

[AndrewH]

Definitely keep us updated on the situation & let us know if there's anything we can do to help!

[tsunderl]

I got a message from her today that said the tank looks much better and the fishies are very active and happy. I think it was the plants because I had them in a 5gallon bucket with fresh water and they stunk up the room. They met their death by the heat of the day in the sideyard. But tank's clear, fishies are happy, and no more stinky water. :)

[supersmirky]

Very good!

[AndrewH]

Well I know some of my plants just plan stink. The pond penny clippings could gag a buzzard, but the tank is clean and clear.

I think it's just the natural smell of the plant (maybe a defense mechanism?).

[tsunderl]

Well, smelling like a sewer is definately a deterant for me to get anywhere near them! If memory serves me correct, I believe the plants were swords of some sort. Long broad leaves. I'm thinking that they may have started breaking down because they weren't getting enough nutrients. I know they didn't add anything to the water for plants. Then again, neither do I. Maybe that's why mine look like twigs. :hehe: