# Water movement and Myriophyllum



## Andy North (Feb 24, 2013)

I have a tiny (3 gallons) aquarium with an assortment of plants (Vallisneria, Rotala, Eleocharis, Anubia, Cladophora, and willow moss). All plants are doing pretty well and I have no algae problems. There is one exception: two of the four Myriophyllum stems have lost all lower leaves. The top parts of these plants seem to be doing quite well and the plants are definitely growing. The other two stems, located on the opposite side of the aquarium (therefore a 'good' 10 inches away) are in good health and growing well.

The water quality is good (NH3/NH4+ = 0; NO2- = 0; NO3- = 10ppm; pH = 6.8; GH = 6; KH = 1; temperature = 76). Light is good (15W, 6,400K compact fluorescent). I do not have a CO2 system but I use Seachem Flourish excel on a daily basis. I fertilize with half a tablet of Sera Flore Plus every two weeks. I have two filters: an internal Tetra Mini-Whisper and a foam filter.

The only idea I have is that the two stems are close to the Mini-Whisper filter and their lower halves are constantly hit by the water flow. Could that be the reason? Any other ideas? Would these plants die over time without the lower leaves?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

A


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

could be the current in the tank

I have had plants lose lower leaves and it just looks ugly but the plants are fine.


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

Are the other plants blocking/ shading light to lower parts of the Myriophyllum


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## Andy North (Feb 24, 2013)

charlie1 said:


> Are the other plants blocking/ shading light to lower parts of the Myriophyllum


No, it receives exactly as much light as the one on the other side of the aquarium, which is perfectly healthy...


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

I just moved the rest of my Myriophyllum mattogrossense from my high flow tank to low flow tanks. Always looked ragged at the bottom in high flow tank, whereas in low flow tanks it does well for me. My high flow tank has medium to high light while low flow tanks have low light.

Greg


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## Andy North (Feb 24, 2013)

greg said:


> I just moved the rest of my Myriophyllum mattogrossense from my high flow tank to low flow tanks. Always looked ragged at the bottom in high flow tank, whereas in low flow tanks it does well for me. My high flow tank has medium to high light while low flow tanks have low light.
> 
> Greg


Thank you! The more I think about this problem the more I suspect the water movement is the problem... Unfortunately, given the small dimensions of my tank I cannot move these plants. I hope the upper half, that is protected from the water flow, will continue to do well. For sure they are growing. Can anybody suggest a plant that is not bothered by fast-moving water? I could use it to cover the ugly-looking sticks.

Andy


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