[ginger]

My plants have not been growing in well. The first four are getting gray patches on the leaves, isn’t that from a type of fungus? The epiphyte didn’t have any marks on it until this week. The Episcia is looking even worse than when I received it, it’s gotten a lot more limp. The Fittonia is also struggling, at first it started to perk up but now it always looks limp and the leaves are curled. Not pictured, my Selaginella uncinata looks bleached, and I think that’s because I sanitized my plants for too long. However, I moved it to a shaded part of my tank so that it can sprout some new growth elsewhere. Should I trim off all the dry bleached material?

 

[Dane]

How long did you bleach the plants, and at what concentration? Did you thoroughly rinse/de-chlorinate them after? It is totally normal to see softer-leaved varietals get some burn after being sanitized and placed in a new enclosure.

 

[ginger]

How long did you bleach the plants, and at what concentration? Did you thoroughly rinse/de-chlorinate them after? It is totally normal to see softer-leaved varietals get some burn after being sanitized and placed in a new enclosure.

It was probably 5% or less but I accidentally left them in the solution for a little over 30 minutes. Meant to follow Pumilo’s instructions, gave them a 20 minute soak before hand. I rinsed them excessively after to try and get the bleach out. If it’s just burn, that’s a bit of a relief. Should I just trim the leaves that get big burn marks then? Maybe not on the umbrella plants.

 

[Dane]

Probably 5% or less? How did you measure bleach to water? If you just eyeballed it, there is a chance that it could have been more caustic than you intended, or too weak to effectively sanitize. I normally submerge plants in a 10% concentration for 10 minutes, followed by a clean water rinse, then a 30 minute soak in water with aquarium de-chlorinator.
Any leaves that are melting can usually be removed without issue, but you don't want to be excessive with trimming them back right away, as the plants are already dealing with stress trying to acclimate to the tank. The umbrella plant will overwhelm your other specimens fairly quickly, so you may want to remove it now, if you don't plant on being diligent with pruning later on.

 

[ginger]

Probably 5% or less? How did you measure bleach to water? If you just eyeballed it, there is a chance that it could have been more caustic than you intended, or too weak to effectively sanitize. I normally submerge plants in a 10% concentration for 10 minutes, followed by a clean water rinse, then a 30 minute soak in water with aquarium de-chlorinator.
Any leaves that are melting can usually be removed without issue, but you don't want to be excessive with trimming them back right away, as the plants are already dealing with stress trying to acclimate to the tank. The umbrella plant will overwhelm your other specimens fairly quickly, so you may want to remove it now, if you don't plant on being diligent with pruning later on.

I understand my mistake now. Could I give them a good soak again to re-hydrate the burned parts? Or would that disturb the plants too much? I’ve had them planted for nearly two weeks. As for the umbrella plants, I’m going to be particular about trimming them. Will they be harder to remove if I allow them to grow larger? My only worry would be if they rooted through the substrate barrier. Right now, they have very small rooting systems.

 

[gzollinger]

I will add that some of that looks like light damage. What kind of light are you running and how far is it from the plants? If bleach isnt the problem, i would bet the lights are too strong, or you may need too slowly transition to brighter light.

 

[ginger]

I will add that some of that looks like light damage. What kind of light are you running and how far is it from the plants? If bleach isnt the problem, i would bet the lights are too strong, or you may need too slowly transition to brighter light.

I’ve got a Satellite LED Current USA light across the tank, set on the strongest white and some blue. I have this on a timer on/off in 12 hour cycles.

 

[gzollinger]

I’ve got a Satellite LED Current USA light across the tank, set on the strongest white and some blue. I have this on a timer on/off in 12 hour cycles.

Then it is probably isnt too much light on the plants, but you still may want to turn it down a bit and see how things respond.

 

[Cawdeen]

This kind of reminds me of some symptoms I witnessed in my first vivarium. I had planted the tank a few days after covering the background with silicone and coco. It seemed fine before planting, but It had a smell once I had it closed up and it was planted, and many of the plants struggled and lost some leaves. They looked very similar. This may not be your issue but I figured I’d mention it.


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[ginger]

This kind of reminds me of some symptoms I witnessed in my first vivarium. I had planted the tank a few days after covering the background with silicone and coco. It seemed fine before planting, but It had a smell once I had it closed up and it was planted, and many of the plants struggled and lost some leaves. They looked very similar. This may not be your issue but I figured I’d mention it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This could be it. I gave my tank a few days to rest before planting it but after planting, I could smell a slight acidic smell for a day or two, maybe the misting exposed a little uncured silicone. Did you just allow the tank to continue to grow in?