Help! New Dirted Tank gone Wrong!

So in just planted my old 55 gallon tank, I used the Miracle Grow Organic Choice suggeted by pretty much everyone. I added some crushed coral and fluorite instead of red clay for an Iron additive, I soaked the mix for a day to try and get all the wood chips out, and redried it. In the tank I used an inch of substrate and 1 and 1/2 inch gravel cap. I planted my tank with a various assortment of crypts, some Jungle Val, Anubias Nana, and water wisteria. I ran carbon for 3 days in my Aquaeom 75 piggy back filter and did several water changes including a 100% water change after my Amonias spiked for some reason. It's been hell, I've lost almost all of my water wisteria, and a piece of drift wood to this weird clear white mold, and all of my plants roots have turned almost all the way transparent which I was told was caused by vitamin deficiency (but I though using dirt did quite the opposite), plus all the leafs are wilting except the Anubias Nana I have stuffed in my remaining peice of Driftwood. My PH was really high (8.0) and I'm treating that now. Other than that all of my other levels are not terrible. Where did I go wrong, and what can I do to save my remaining plants? Please help

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Comment by Peter on May 15, 2013 at 2:48am: what type lights do u have ????

Comment by Austin Flindt on May 15, 2013 at 3:37am: I have dual 48" 54w T5 H0s. One is a 6k the other is a 5k. Both white. I run them 8 hours a day

Comment by Peter on May 15, 2013 at 12:35pm: well lets start with the easy stuff unless u have fish that need specific ph ur ph is fine. second how long has ur tank been dirted and planted? also the white stuff that grows on the driftwood goes away in time and doesnt harm ur fish or plants or the wood. You have amonia spikes because its dirt u get them with using dirt. ur plant roots and plants are dying aka melting because they are adjusting to ur water parameters. plants were grown in diff conditions then urs so the plants are just adjusting. they will bounce back dont worry. you should have been doing 50% wc on ur tank daily the first week then every 2 days the second week. and to answer the last question about were did u go wrong. well u didnt just be patient and if u want to save uf plants just float them in ur tank for a bit while they bounce back

Comment by Austin Flindt on May 15, 2013 at 2:17pm: It's been 9 days now. Other than the 100% water change I've done 5 40%s. And that white stuff that was on my drift wood ruined the wood itself, it like ate the fibers of it and make the outside layer really soft and I could scrape like shavings off with my nail. So you think I should uproot all of my plants and float them for a few days? While continuing to do water changes?

Comment by Peter on May 15, 2013 at 4:17pm: O just 9 day. Leave them planted they are getting use to ur parameter. Give them a month or 2 then start to worry

Comment by Austin Flindt on May 15, 2013 at 10:46pm: Alright will do! Thanks a bunch Peter!!

Comment by Jerry on May 16, 2013 at 7:49pm: its been a month in my 5 and half. plants and everything is doing good, but there is one thing? my nitrite is 1.0 ppm. ammonia and nitrate is at 0, and ph is 6.4. will the nitrite go down soon, i've been doing 50 to 70% water change daily and my nitrite is still at 1.0. just want to know if it will go down to 0.

Comment by LED on May 18, 2013 at 2:57pm: @ jerry the way for nitrite to go down is by letting the tank fully cycle.

if you're doing water changes that much its possible you're killing the bacteria. you can slow down on water changes and let the bacteria fully develop. Also make sure you're properly treating the water BEFORE you put it in the tank.

Comment by LED on May 18, 2013 at 3:00pm: @ Austin just to clarify crushed coral is not a decent source of iron relative to clay

crushed coral will ALWAYS increase the pH in your tank, so be careful when adding crushed coral.

When it comes to adding crushed coral to substrate, you have to make sure to add only a miniscule amount otherwise you risk making your substrate very alkaline and that prevents plants from getting nutrients from the substrate, which then makes your plants nutrient deficient.

Comment by AquaNoob on May 19, 2013 at 7:58pm: supposedly, the white fungal/bacterial crap on the driftwood will go away after a couple months or so... I have the same thing going on with my driftwood and did some googling to see what was up. Apparently you just wait it out cuz it comes back of you try to brush it off...

Also, I'm not sure, but the crushed coral could be contributing to the high PH...