# Amazon Frogbit Problem. I think.



## OneLastDecree (Nov 13, 2012)

So, I recently purchased Frogbit.
Long story short, I placed them in the tank and 48 hours have passed. 

No fish in the tank. 
Wanted the plants to acclimate to the tank before the fish are introduced. 
Plus, I had an abundance of Nitrates upon completing my fishless-cycle.
By the way, the cycle has been complete for about a month now. 
Just feeding the tank 1 PPM of Ammonia daily.
Doing 25% PWC, twice a week.

Nitrates are completley gone now. 
Always at a 5 PPM Max. 
Usually stays at 0 PPM all accross the boards. 

I added the pcitures because I wanted to find out why the roots keep falling off of the Frogbits. 

That is the main problem I am having. 

The plant does look fine. 
Some did turn brown. 
However, I have been pruning all the dying leaves and roots daily. 

Currently, the paramters are 0 PPM for Ammonia, 0.25 PPM for Nitrites (Added Ammonia about 6 hours ago) Still working away, 0 PPM Nitrates, 25 Celc temperature, pH 7.8.

Other questions I had, do I need to feed liquid fertalizer for these plants? 
They extract CO2 from the air, so not worried there. 

Maybe they are not getting the nutrients they need because there are no fish? 

Would it get better after I place my fish in there this weekend? 

Anyways, is it because my fishing line is cutting them off the plant when the current pushes them around? 

I have fishing line on both sides of the tank, creating a skewed rectangle. 
So, I have monofilament line tied to the thermometer which extends to the back of the tank. Back of the tank has another suction cup tha tthe line ties on to. This is done on both sides. 
I made it skewed because I like how the HOB Filter pushes them around in the current and makes a nice light effect.
Anyways; I'm getting off topic. 

Also attached a photo of the roots that I collected floating around.
This batch was collected just today. 
Basically, it was 24 hours since the last pruning. 

Anyways; I know the frogbit will thrive in the long run.
I just want to know why they are being 'stressed' so much. 
Hopefully, they do alright. 

Thanks for reading.


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## OneLastDecree (Nov 13, 2012)

Oh, don't mind my ghetto lighting. 
They total around 65 watts. 
It's just temporary for now. 

Still doing my research on what kind of lighting system I should get.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

Im quite certain that you can cut down your wc, 25 percent twice a week is a huge amount for a planted tank.

I like to just do enough wc to control nitrates. I find if my nitrates go to 0, my plants don't do as well. I prefer to have nitrates in the 10 to 20 range


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## OneLastDecree (Nov 13, 2012)

Alright; So, should I just top off my water that has been treated with my API Stress Zyme when the water levels get too low. 
25% PWC, once a week. 

Increase dose of Ammonia to 2 PPM daily?
Until I get my fish this weekend. 

The thing is, 1 PPM of Ammonia usually breaks down to nitrates within 12 hours?
I havn't really measured the time it takes for the Ammonia to break down through the different stages of bio.


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## greg (Apr 29, 2012)

A few months ago I had frogbits in my main tank, cordoned off with fishing line right at the surface to stop them from being tossed about by the current. The roots wouldn't grow long either, always staying just a few inches in length. I figured they simply didn't like the high current constantly swishing the roots around. So I moved them to a smaller low current tank that uses a sponge filter and the roots immediately began to grow and now regularly reach 14"+.

Since you have two potential causes, current and lack of nutrients, its hard to verify you have the same problem. They do need nutrients so I would start adding some macros and micros and see if that fixes the problem. You should notice an improvement within a week if that's the cause. If the problem isn't resolved than the current is likely the culprit, similar to my experience.

Here are my frogbits shortly after moving to low current tank. They have
since covered this tank and many have been given away.









Good luck, Greg


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## jimstreetz (Feb 14, 2013)

*frogbit please*

does anyone have some amazon frogbit to sell?


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I am not sure about how much ammonia to add, whatever would be equivalent to the stock level you are going to put in, how ever much that is going to be.

The thing about the water changes is, if lets say for example, 10 percent once a week was able to keep nitrates controlled, then there is no reason for the extra work. My view is figure out how much wc is needed at the minimum to control nitrates and just do slightly more to be safe.

I have multiple tanks and if I did wc as much as you do, I'd be working my butt off just doing water changes.

my advice is to keep a log of nitrate levels and how much of a water change you do and just figure it out from there. I can get away with about 25 percent once a month on some tanks depending on the amount of plants I have and so on.

I don't do anymore work than actually needed if I can help it.


I don't know a thing about frogbit, sorry. But, sometimes it just takes a while for plants to get used to new water parameters and they don't do well at first and just need time. I have a sword plant that does not like to be moved, when I move it, its hurting for a while before recovering.


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