step backwards

It went wrong in my thirty-eight. Brown, yellowing plants. Some melt to be expected as new ones adjust, but the watersprite and hornwort is all deteriorating which is an indicator for me. And crypt wendtii is all turning brown- some leaves paling out brassy and pink color, melting fast. Either it was the lighting or I messed up the ferts. I distinctly remember putting the dry ferts in the tank last friday, but not really sure if I did the micros. Did I forget? the browning leaves look like starved for nutrients, to me. I rubbed some soft brown algae off the apono leaves wed and put half a dose of micros in, just in case. But if I hadn't forgot the micros, that could be an overdose of something. Gah.

I bet it's the light. I was so pleased at how my tenner responded to diffusion via plastic that I did the same thing to my big tank recently. I should not have made a change- things were going so well that I felt confident I could grow plants now, excitedly bought and traded for some more! I took the light off its blocks and diffused the LEDs with plastic taped on. Now things look awful and I fear for my new additions. I thought that reducing light with distance would be the same as reducing light with plastic. Nope. Or varies enough that I can't make it the same intensity.

So I've reset the light up on its blocks (will fasten securely this time) and took off the plastic strip- left on just one sheet of the more transparent kind. Photoperiod is still six hours with two hour fade, both channels same. Nitrates were high, did the alternate dose of macros. Hoping I can turn it around and not loose all the new plants I just got. Kicking myself for not being content the way things were. Why did I think: hey this is good, let's make it better!? No- be happy when things go right and leave them that way.

Well, one plant seems not to mind anything that happens- elodea.

It has grown all these long roots from the base of new shoots.

See this one against the background more clearly

I was wondering if I should trim and replant those parts, and the plant just decided for me. Moving my hand in the tank I brushed against some stems and they came loose too easily- I saw that the original stem ends were decaying and had no roots at all. So I cut the bottoms off to discard and replanted the new top growth with its roots under gravel now. See how that does...