Advice required on keeping plants alive, if poss!

[matt869]

Hey guys,
I have just bought a plant (Limnophila) and would like some advice about keeping it alive in my tropical aquarium.
I'm not looking to have a co2 system or a special substrate, I understand I'm not making this easy.
I currently have a sand substrate that this (for now) single plant is planted in. Is there anything I can do / add to help keep plants alive.
I am looking to add more plants but not until I can get this one to stay alive, or at least get some advice as I've had too many die.

 

[DMunoz84]

Sand compacts vary tightly and has 0 nutrient content for plants. Maybe a dish/ pot of good substrate hidden in your sand.... 40-400 times the nutrients are drawn in through the roots then the foliage.

 

[Mebbid]

We need more information on this. What is your setup like? Ferts, lights, tank size, and carbon source are all going to be important.

The limnophila is a heavy water column feeder so the substrate isn't a big deal with it.

Sand compacts vary tightly and has 0 nutrient content for plants. Maybe a dish/ pot of good substrate hidden in your sand.... 40-400 times the nutrients are drawn in through the roots then the foliage.

While this is true for some plants such as swords and crypts the overwhelming majority of aquarium plants couldn't care less about substrate fertilization. For them the substrate acts as an anchoring point for their roots to latch on to. That's why we have obscenely complicated dosing routines for the water column.

You can figure out if a plant cares about fertilized substrate by the size of their roots. My water sprite for example has a very minimal root ball and can be grown as a floating plant just as easily as a rooted plant. That's just one example but there are tons more.

I have sand in my 55g and as long as I add a few root tabs under the important root feeding plants then everything grows amazingly well.

 

[DMunoz84]

Lol I should have payed closer attention to the species ? your right on the money Mebbid.

 

[matt869]

Hi, thanku for replying and apologies for my late reply.
I have a all sand substrate in a 90L tropical tank. No ferts or carbon source. I don't have any experience in keeping plants and I would like some advice in keeping low maintenance plants alive.
Ill attatch a pic of my tank.

 

[Coursair]

Please tell us your exact light fixture and bulb.
Fluorescent ?
Is it a T8 ?
How long are lights on?
A pic of the bulb showing the info is easiest sometimes.

Planted tanks usually have lights on timers for 6-8 hours a day.

You will need some basic fertilizers for the plant. For now you could use liquid ferts. It's more expensive for a big tank , but it's easy.

I use API Leaf Zone and Seachem Flourish comprehensive once a week after my water change.

Super Easy plants to try ?
Java Ferns
Java Moss
Anubias
Crypts and
Amazon Sword

Hopefully you'll have enough light to keep your plant alive. Leaving lights on longer won't help.

If the plant came as a clump of stems...unwrap the rubber band or weight.
Space out the stems so they are about an inch between the leaves. You can pinch or cut off a top portion and replant it to help grow more.

Your plant may need more light than your lights put out. But I've had a Medium light plant do fine in my low light set ups...so I try anyway


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