Have your aquarium plants taken a dive? Perhaps they’ve seen better days and the tank’s overall health could use some work. Our pet store’s security fish, Roger, took the time to do some thorough research into the issue. Here’s a deep dive on common factors which could be affecting your aquarium’s health.

Aquariums are beautiful centrepieces to any room. If they’re healthy and vibrant, teeming with life, all the better. Just as your aquarium fish need continued care, having natural, living plants for the authentic look also takes some upkeep.

If you’re growing live plants in your freshwater aquarium, you need to get the right balance of nutrients within the microenvironment for them to thrive. Too much or too little of certain nutrients and you’ll quickly see your plants changing for the worse. It’s easily done but can be rectified with some careful adjustments.

Guide to Diagnosing Aquarium Plants

Like people and pets, plants quickly start to look sickly if they don’t receive adequate nutrition. Plants droop, stop growing, and lose their healthy colouring. Use this guide to find out what’s ailing your plants. Use this guide to find out what’s wrong with your aquarium plants:

1. Slow Growth: Above the ground or in the water, plants need three things in order to grow: nutrients, lighting, and carbon dioxide (CO2). So, if your plants aren’t growing properly – or if the leaves are smaller than they should be at a certain point in their lifecycle – it might be due to inadequate lighting, insufficient nutrients in the water, or a carbon dioxide deficiency. So, your first step will be to figure out which of these three factors is the cause of your plant woes – it could be more than one. A nutrient deficiency could be solved by adding fertiliser – simple. Plants need carbon dioxide in order to grow as it gets converted into oxygen as a product of photosynthesis. To increase the CO2 levels in your aquarium, you may need to reduce aeration. This prevents CO2 loss. You could also use a CO2 injector. The lighting in the fish tank should also be appropriate for the size of the tank. Do a thorough check to uncover any potential lighting problems, including finding out how much light your plants need.
2. Yellowing Leaves: Most live plants are green in colour, so if they start turning yellow it is probably a bad sign. A possible cause of yellowing leaves is that there is far too little light in your aquarium. Check if your pet store has a full-spectrum bulb of 3 to 5 watts of light per gallon of volume to help solve the If only the edges of the plant are yellowing, it could indicate a potassium deficiency. If that’s the case, fertilization is the best way to remedy the issue.
3. Brown or Black Leaves: Marine plants need a few nutrients to be properly balanced to grow to their full potential. This will also help prevent problems like brown or black leaves. Those crucial nutrients include nitrogen, potassium, and If you notice that the leaves on your plants are turning dark there might actually be algae growing on them. If the leaves start to turn brown or black and die, it might be an indication of high phosphate levels in the water. Or, it could be an excess of nitrates that may have caused this problem. Try a large water change to improve water quality in your tank. If this works, continue changing the water weekly to prevent the problem from returning. The water has to be changed regularly to keep your fish and your plants healthy.
4. Brittle Leaves: If the leaves of your live plants are turning yellow and brittle, it may be due to an iron or potassium Your pH level could also be too high. To remedy this problem you can try fertilizing your substrate with an iron-rich fertilizer and reducing the carbonate hardness of your tank water.
5. Growing Thin: Thin growth in plants that should have thicker, stronger leaves might be a sign of inadequate lighting. The light bulbs might be old, the bulbs produce the wrong spectrum of lighting, or you might not be leaving the lights on for long enough. Keeping an eye on the lighting conditions is crucial in maintaining healthy plants.
6. Dying Plants:If your plants start to die it may be because the water in your fish tank is too cold. If your heater isn’t powerful enough to heat the volume of water in your tank, find a replacement at your pet store or add a second. That tank should maintain a warm temperature for your plants to thrive.
7. Holes in Leaves: If holes start to develop in the leaves and they start to break down, it is probably due to Cryptocoryne Rot. No one knows the exact cause of this disease, but excess nitrogen, poor water quality and inadequate nutrition all play a role. Therefore, you should perform a large water change and vacuum your gravel to remove excess waste.

Related: Aquatic Plant Basics

Figuring Out Nutrient Deficiencies: Closely Observe the Leaves

The plants in your fish tank need the right balance of nutrients in order to grow beautifully and thrive over time. You need to keep these plants well fed if you want them to be healthy. Preventing imbalances before they occur can help you save time and stress. Think of them as extensions of your aquarium fish – you wouldn’t leave them to starve and expect them to flourish.

Magnesium Or Potassium Aquarium Deficiency

A magnesium or potassium deficiency might cause older leaves to develop unsightly yellow spots. The difference is that the veins in the leaves remain green if there is a magnesium deficiency. However, new growth will be yellow along the edges if there is a potassium deficiency.

Nitrogen Or Zinc Aquarium Deficiency

Yellow spots on the tips, margins, and veins of your leaves can clue you in on a zinc deficiency. But, if there is a nitrogen deficiency you may notice the leaves on the plants turning red or yellow. Finally, if the leaves are turning yellow to white, there might be a lack of iron in the tank. Always pay close attention to the colour of your plant’s leaves and feed them nutrients accordingly.

How To Identify Aquarium Nutrient Deficiencies

You’ve probably noticed that these deficiencies present similar symptoms, so diagnosing the problem by examination can be difficult. Here are a few things to look for to make it easier to figure out what’s going wrong with your plants:

• Nitrogen Aquarium Deficiency: Smaller than normal new growth that’s white or yellow suggests your plants have a nitrogen deficiency. If older leaves are turning yellow and dying this means that your plants are developing a nitrogen deficiency.
• Phosphate Aquarium Deficiency: Older leaves with dead patches or dying altogether means that your plants could have a phosphate deficiency.
• Calcium Aquarium Deficiency: Pale, twisted new growth means your plants are lacking calcium.
• Magnesium Aquarium Deficiency: Lighter colour on older leaves, along with dark veins suggests your plants have a magnesium deficiency.
• Potassium Aquarium Deficiency: Leaves with holes and yellow edges indicates that your plants have a potassium deficiency.
• Iron Aquarium Deficiency: If the older leaves show yellowing and greenish veins then your plants probably have an iron deficiency.

Using these tips you should be able to get a pretty good idea of what’s affecting your aquarium plants. If it’s a water quality issue then performing a large water change may be all you need. If it’s a nutritional deficiency, however, you may need to add fertilizer or treat the tank with the missing nutrient. If you’re still unsure what’s wrong try a broad-spectrum live plant supplement.

Maintaining a healthy, flourishing aquarium is a lot of work but worth every second. No one wants to look over at a dying underwater forest, but a vibrant, colourful fish tank is guaranteed to put you at ease. Your fish will float around in a thankful way and the aesthetic of a beautiful, verdant microenvironment is the perfect finishing touch for your aquarium.

Thanks for reading, check back at our pet store blog soon as we have a lot more in-depth content on the way. Look through our pet supplies for all your food and accessory needs.