plants not doing well...

[Darkseid76]

I don't know what my levels are, haven't tested for a week. I'm doing a water change today and cleaning up my plants. I will add more root tabs also. I have flourish root tabs and api leaf zone liquid plant food. How often should I dose the liquid and how much? 55 gal tank. Also, how often should I replenish the tabs? It said lasts for 3 months?

I can definitely help here as I've used the Flourish tabs before. I don't have the same swords as you but mine are super greedy and exhausted my tabs pretty quickly.

As Rivercats suggested trim all the dying leaves so the plant doesn't expend energy on them. Also try cutting the tabs into halves and fourths if possible. I was able to cover more area this way.

On my 55 I use 2 capfuls of Leaf Zone weekly. I have way more stem feeders than you and this regimen works for me. Leaf Zone directions say 5ml per 10 gallons. The cap holds 10ml so I add one capful after pwc and another the next day. Also look into dosing micros for your water column. Flourish Comprehensive will be perfect and lasts a good while. One 500 ml bottle has lasted me months easily. I use 2 capfuls weekly. You're also going to need a source of carbon. Excel or Metricide. I'm using Excel but plan on switching to Metricide as it's more cost effective. I use one capful daily.

I also have a thread on DYI root tabs. You might want to look into that to save a few bucks. I liked the Flourish tabs but as I said they exhausted much too quickly for me and are kinda of expensive.

With this regimen my Anubias Nana petite has been thriving. As are quite a few of my plants. I have some that aren't but I'll need to upgrade lighting and fert dosing methods to get better results from them. Hope this helps!

 

[Mommaof4boys]

I can definitely help here as I've used the Flourish tabs before. I don't have the same swords as you but mine are super greedy and exhausted my tabs pretty quickly.

As Rivercats suggested trim all the dying leaves so the plant doesn't expend energy on them. Also try cutting the tabs into halves and fourths if possible. I was able to cover more area this way.

On my 55 I use 2 capfuls of Leaf Zone weekly. I have way more stem feeders than you and this regimen works for me. Leaf Zone directions say 5ml per 10 gallons. The cap holds 10ml so I add one capful after pwc and another the next day. Also look into dosing micros for your water column. Flourish Comprehensive will be perfect and lasts a good while. One 500 ml bottle has lasted me months easily. I use 2 capfuls weekly. You're also going to need a source of carbon. Excel or Metricide. I'm using Excel but plan on switching to Metricide as it's more cost effective. I use one capful daily.

I also have a thread on DYI root tabs. You might want to look into that to save a few bucks. I liked the Flourish tabs but as I said they exhausted much too quickly for me and are kinda of expensive.

With this regimen my Anubias Nana petite has been thriving. As are quite a few of my plants. I have some that aren't but I'll need to upgrade lighting and fert dosing methods to get better results from them. Hope this helps!

Thank you! That was very informative!

 

[Darkseid76]

Have you considered using dry ferts? They will cost about $15 for what you need and you can spend more and buy their dosing bottles or use something you already have at home. With the dry ferts you'd get all the macro and micro nutrients your plants would need. Plus you could also get a gallon of Metricide 14 Day Solution for around $27 shipped, mix it as needed at a 1:1 ratio with RO or Distilled water and get 2 gallons for that amount. The liquid carbon will help plants with photosynthesis and growth and it combined with dry ferts would really help your plants to flourish.

You type very fast lol

 

[Rivercats]

Rivercats, you're awesome! Lol thank you. What do I need to fix my plants? Dry ferts, different substrate, liquid co2? Im down. I really want a successful planted tank!

What fixture and bulbs are you using?

Get a gallon of the Metricide 14 but you will need an old Leaf Zone bottle or something that is opaque and completely light blocking to keep the mixed Glut solution in. Glut breaks down in water within 12-24 hours so that is why you need to keep it in such a container. It's also why I only mix small amounts up so the bulk of the Glut can be kept in it's original bottle. I suggest starting your dosing at 1ml Glut to every 5 gallons of tank water. This can always be increased later on if needed.

These are the ferts you'd need which will last over a year and are way more economical than using liquid ferts... Estimative Index | Aquarium Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums.

Then you can buy 3 dosing bottles or use your own. I just like the dosing bottles as they make dosing easy. There are two size bottles to choose from at the bottom of the page... Aquarium Plant Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums.

Here is a link to read about dosing PPS-Pro but there are two things on there I do differently. First if you have hard water you won't need to use MgSO4, magnesium sulfate. Most tap water has plenty of magnesium in it for plants. If you have a Gh of 4 or above you have plenty of magnesium for plants. Secondly I use 3 dosing bottles instead of the two they suggest. Reason for this is I prefer to use 1 bottle for nitrates only, 1 bottle for phosphates and potassium, then the 3rd for micros'. By splitting your nitrates from your phos/potassium it allows you to custom dose to the actual needs of your tank. Each week before my WC I check my nitrate and phosphate level to see were levels are after a week of dosing which then shows me if I need to dose the same, more, or less of either macro. All my tanks basically run at 10ppm of nitrates naturally so I rarely dose nitrates. Then I dose more phosphate weekly since I run a high phosphate tank. Micro's are always dosed the same.
Dosing is 1ml of each solution for every 10g of tank water daily. That's all there is to it. Here's the link but only read the opening post not all the comments afterwards.... Newbie Guide to PPS-Pro - PPS Analysis and Feedback - Aquatic Plant Central.

 

[Mommaof4boys]

So do I need the EI pack or the PPS pack? Do I purchase metricide 14 as along with the EI or PPS ferts?

I have a solarmax HE light fixture and using the lights that came with the fixture.

 

[Rivercats]

So do I need the EI pack or the PPS pack? Do I purchase metricide 14 as along with the EI or PPS ferts?

I have a solarmax HE light fixture and using the lights that came with the fixture.

I linked to the El package because it has the ferts you need to dose PPS-Pro. The PPS-Pro package has MgSO4, magnesium sulfate which unless you have very soft water you don't need. Makes no sense to me why they went to these packages... I liked the old ones better. So anyway you need the ferts in the El package and you can get 3 500ml dosing bottles and still end up around $30 or a little over and get exactly what you need.

Then I suggest ordering the Metricide 14 day solution on line but shop around for a good price and shipping. Some places try selling a gallon for $40 which is robbery. You can find a gallon for around $18-20 usually with shipping around $7.

So then you will dose the Metricide 14 daily as your carbon source and use the ferts daily also.

You can PM me if you get the ferts and I can help you with mixing and dosing amounts.

 

[Gish]

What type of bulb/watts and what size tank?