Plants are dying :(

[Bumblebee]

Well for some reason my plants are dying =( First the fuschia, then the spiderplant, next was the ivy and now my yucca plant =(

Starting to guess that the plants dont like the moisture in the tank, at least not the yuccas stem was getting softer and softer and had leaves turning all brown.

Any of you that have had success with plants and like to share some information?
They need to also be sturdy, so they can survie the snails not-so-gentle handling

[coyote]

I've never had luck with live plants in my tanks.

Yucca are native to dry environments, so I can see why they would not be happy in a tank. But I'm surprised a spider plant didn't do well.

It's possible there's just too much moisture in the tank for the plants, or it could be too dark for them. There might be a pathogen in the soil that is harmless to snails but is bad for plants. There's lots of reasons why the plants could be doing poorly.

[coyote]

How damp is the substrate? The roots could be drowning if the substrate is too wet.

[crossless]

Are you sure you have right type of lighting for plants. And let plant soil dry sometimes, roots starts to rot if they are always wet and plants can't "breathe" if roots don't dry little.

I have Yucca in my tank I don't know which type it is and it's loving it. Snails like to taste it sometimes and as group climbs up and flips it over. I don't water it much and not often 'cos it's so humidity in tank. I could take picture of my yucca or yucca look alike and deside what I do with it, maybe I put it different kind of pot structure. Now it grows in pot that it was last life somekind of soap bottle. Bottle 'cos I hate when fulicas climb and lay eggs in plants.

It loves that plant light what I use as heat lamp. In summer I put more plants in tank and I change lamp and snails daylight to flower friendly plants can't get anything out form normal lamps which human uses.

It's soon too big for tank lol. When I water my tank plants I take them out dip them in water and lift them on sink drain extra water off so it don't stay at roots. In my snail tank even form humidity plants dry between watering. I think I water that yucca about every month but it don't need weekly watering like those which are in dry room.

I think spider plant is too delicate to snail tank. It brokes so down so easily even in basic care in room.

[Bumblebee]

Well I did some thinking yesterday, and I came to the conclusion that my tank, at least the substrate is too wet for plants, it really do feel a bit soggy =/
So I'm gonna make a drainage system, using leca underneat the peat, and underneat the leca im gonna have a heatmath. That way the leca drains up the excess water, and the heatmat dries the leca.
Don't think there will be any danger with having heatmats underneat and outside the tank, since the snails wont be able to dig in the leca, and its gonna be a few centimeters thick layer.

The lightning should be ok for the plants, altho its gonna get better soons since ill be getting a daylamp that contains uva, wich should benefit them more.
If I had been smart I would have removed the plants from the tank like once a week or so and let them dry of a bit =/ But never thought that they might drown...

Ah well i got big plans for my tank, gonna make it a bit more into a real vivarium, so hopefully the plants will enjoy it there xD

[aerliss]

Do you have much of a fly problem in the tank? I lost a large crop of seedlings to fly larvae once... blasted things came in the compost!

I don't understand the problems people are having with spider plants. I've always found spider plants to be very hardy. They can take all sorts of abuse from very dry soil to very damp soil, being bashed around and even the vast quantities of odd chemicals we used to throw at them in the chemistry labs at school... honestly, if you're going to put a bunch of spider plants next to the lab sinks, what do you expect the kids to do?

I have three in my tank, they've been there since... I don't know, about a month, and are so far quite happy. The snails don't eat them, but they do like digging around the roots and sitting on them. Perhaps they've not been there long enough to die yet?

[coyote]

That's why I suspect a plant pathogen might be the reason, not the environmental conditions in the tank. Of course, any plant will do poorly if it's kept way too wet or too dry for its needs.

[crossless]

I had spider plant as house plant it was in place that I would almost ever touch it when I touch it in some care situation and I was gentle I can't leaves snapped and other stuff. So I think it depends does it last in tank or not I think it's not strong enough for my snails. .)

[crossless]

Well I took today pictures of my snails tanks and here picture from this yucca or some plant that looks like it. It seems to enjoy in being in warmth and moisture. That nother plant is wild rucola herb I was too lazy to just cut stems of so it stays longer fresh in that pot where it is as you buy it. Snails love to hide under the stems really popular plant for hang out.



When I had as house plant that spider plant it loved when I gave it some dry seasons (I forgot to water it) and it went mad and grow alot when I next time water it.

[coyote]

Some plants do well when allowed to be dormant for a little while (bit not too long, then it will die).