I know this is supposed to be the plant you can't kill... But I bought a bunch of Anacharis from PetSmart (not the best source, I know, but by far the closest) on Sunday, rinsed it briefly in saltwater then thoroughly in tap water (having read somewhere that this kills snails and their eggs), and put it in the tank. It looked fine when I got it, other than a little bit of stuff on a stalk or two that kind of looked like the deposits you get on filters.

As an aside, I've had Anacharis in this tank setup, though with mostly different fish and a less good filter, before with wild success. But when I got the tank back from my ex, it was all gone, so I decided to get some more. So, the problem here shouldn't be lighting, heat, or any qualities of my tap water (which I of course treat with water conditioner before putting in tank).

Basically, it seems like all the foliage that was on it when I got it has died, and the only part that looks healthy is the new growth. Is it possible that it's just having a really rough time transitioning to the new environment? Do you think it'll be ok? I'm working on getting my pH up, which I know the Anacharis will like, and figuring out how to do something about the ridiculous overcrowdedness of this tank (on which I will post elsewhere shortly). I was thinking of getting API CO2 Booster and/or Macro Micro Nutrient Mix (suggested elsewhere on this forum) for it. What do you think?





Tank: 20gal, Penguin 150 filter, 48w light, 78F, about 4 years established
Fish: 2 angels, 2 redfinned loaches, 1 queen loach, 2 unidentified serpentine-looking loaches, 1 (bristlenose? small, anyway) pleco
Water, as of this moment (I'm about to do a 30% water change): nitrate=20, nitrite=0, pH=6.0, KH=0, GH=150
And just for kicks, here's my tap water: nitrate=10, nitrite=0, pH=7.2, KH=40, GH=60
And tap water that's had conditioner in it for about 15 min: nitrate=10, nitrite=0, pH=7.6, KH=50, GH=40

Any advice about the plant or anything else is much appreciated! (Just please don't lecture me on the overcrowdedness of my tank; it wasn't my doing, and I am working on fixing it.)

Suzanne

you just got it this past Sunday?

I had a similar experience the fist time I put Anacharis in my 10 gallon, my first tank ever. You may just have to wait it out. Plants typically have to go through an adjustment period when introduced into a new tank. I originally bought my Anacharis so my Dwarf Gourami had a floating "perch" to make his bubble nests in. In just about a week, all of it seemed to be just dieing off, and the leaves were falling off, coating the bottom of the tank, and clogging up the filter. Some strands seem to survive and stay green, but probably 80% of it just withered away. Fast forward about 3 months later, I picked up a 30 gallon tank off craigslist and decided to move into it from the 10 gallon. I pulled all of my plants from the 10 gallon and set them up in the 30 gallon. When I did, I tossed all but 2 or 3 shoots of the Anacharis that seemed to still be green and be surviving for some reason, but not really growing so much. Well a month later, the stuff was growing so fast that I could hardly keep up with it and the job of keeping it trimmed was becoming a royal pain, LOL.

To this day, the only Anacharis I've ever purchased was that $2 worth at the LFS, and now the stuff has spread so much, grown so much, and grows so FAST, that if I let it go for more than a week, it'll grow shoots that will span almost all the way across the tank's width!


see on left... and center... well, pretty much all over the tank, LOL






I did notice that it seems to grow a little better when rooted though, as apposed to just free floating like a lot of people do with it. That may be partly do to the substrate setup I have though.

__________________


My 30 gallon planted freshwater - CONSTANTLY CHANGING

Ya wanna know something funny.....this is one plant I don't have success with either for what ever reason. I grow tons of plants but this one just doesn't like me. :o)

Lol yeah ive had plant specific issues. I can grow almost anything in my 90 gallon, all sorts of anubias and swords, huge crypts and tiger lotus. Wysteria refuses to grow though. just falls apart and dies.

Travis, yours is not anacharis.