[mindcrash]

Hey all,

I have my vivarium planted and thought all was well. I figured it would establish itself nicely for two months or so before i put my tincs in. Well, I think i was wrong. For some reason my plants don't seem to be doing too well. My brom's leaves are curling and starting to lose their color in the tips, one of my potho's leaves is turning yellow and some of the leaves on some ivy i bought are going brown. I thought that this was due to too little water, so i made sure that the brom's axil always had some in it and the reservoir under the false bottom definately gains in water level, so i know it drains well. I'm using the eco-earth as a substrate (coco fiber) with sphagnum moss on top of that and will be topping that off with pillow moss. The lighting is a flourescent daylight tube made by eclipse (they make aquarium products) which i think i am going to replace.

Any thoughts? Or am i jumping the gun here?

Thanks.

 

[Guest]

I can't recommend Compact Fluorescent lighting enough for the plants. Makes all the difference in the world. I used to have a regular light stip that came with my tank that my firebellies are in and had a repti-gro bulb that was supposed to be like sun light. I had pothos and another similar plant and they completely lost their color over time. Within the week of putting on the new CF light they have gotten all of their color back.
Rhonda

 

[Ryan]

In my 50 gal, i have a plant light. Regular Flourecent strip, and all the plants colors were lost, but after two months it came back. They were grown outside so i guess they needed to adapt to the low lights for a while.

 

[Guest]

I would agree that your broms lost color because of low light. However, I also used eco earth as a substrtate and founf that it didn't drain well at all, and basically stayed the consistency or wet, dense oatmeal of the time. Almost all of my terrestrial plants died except the philos because the can basically grow in water. You might want to find another substrate or add something to your to make it drain better.

PS: I use T&C terrariums substrate mix and I love it.

 

[Guest]

Well i have a few suggestions!

1) Dont use straight eco earth, too dense. Mix in some orchid bark, loose gravel, dried moss, leaf compost, etc. go out into a nice green field, grab a handfull of dirt and see how many different components there are in good soil. Helps in nutrients, and it help in drainage. Sounds like in your case you have good drainage, but the plants' roots are too packed.

2) Need more light. period. no other question about it. i would recomend no less than 2 watts per gallon preferably 4 watts per gallon (ie a 10 gallon tank needs at least a 20watt light, a 20 needs at least 40 watts)

3) When you repot, replant, move, or otherwise disturb a plant, it will get a little shocked. If you have a few leaves die off, a little brown on a frond, etc not a big worry. now if it happens after a few weeks, something else is wrong.

4) The most important thing is not to OVER water your plants. Pothos and Philos can survive for a long time with or without water, so dont worry about them. Depending on the type of ivy you have, it could be reacting to the fact that it is always wet. and with your brom, some dont like to have water standing on their leaves. The most common mistake that people make with plants is too much water. they think it is going brown so they drown it and it gets more brown and so on and so forth. if you have a false bottom, there will be plenty of humidity for most of your plants. Leave them alone for 3 days without looking at them and then decide what needs to be done.

 

[mindcrash]

Great suggestions everyone. Thanks for the advice. What I am going to do at this point is get some orchid bark and milled sphagnum and mix it in with the eco earth and replant the tank. Can't wait :evil:. I am also going to get a new bulb for my fixture, something a bit stronger methinks.