Plants won't grow.

[bflem]

I have two tanks with the same lights. One is a 20 gal and the other is a 29. None of my plants are growing as I would expect. My water chem is fine. My lighting is adequate. I use API Leaf Zone and Seachem Flourish Tabs as fertilizer. I tried using API CO2 Booster but I think I am wasting money. My bacopa hasn't grown at all. My red flame sword is slowly losing leaves. My sagittaria puts up small groups of plants from the substrate that don't amount to anything. The only thing growing is cabomba. Algae is slowly growing on plant leaves. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Mebbid]

What would you define as adequate for your lighting?

Also, leaf zone is only a mixture of potassium and iron which both help leaves but it isn't a fertilizer to help plants grow (I did the same thing) I would suggest getting a dry fertilizer such as the micro macro mix from Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - , , , , Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - , ,

A small bag of that will last you a very very long time.

The co2 booster works fine (another product I bought)

 

[Cloudhp8]

Thats odd.....i use the same method as you Seachem root tabs (just started recently and the plants look better) and some of the API Leaf Zone...outside of that nothing else just fish poo and whatever little bit of food that doesn't get eaten as far as ferts go

What kind of lighting do you have? how long do you leave them on for?

And the CO2 booster is a waste of money i think as well

 

[Cloudhp8]

Oh just thought of another thing...when did you put the plants in?

has it been recent?

 

[dragonfisher33]

what kind of substrate are you using?

 

[Rivercats]

When used properly and in the correct amounts to the needs of your tank/plants liquid carbon is not a waste of money. I ran a high tech- high light tank for over a year using liquid carbon. The only reason I didn't have a problem and got such good plant growth is because I used liquid carbon at the proper amounts. I also have low light tanks that I use liquid carbon in that have medium light plants growing in them which wouldn't work if I wasn't dosing liquid carbon. It is not a one dose fits all tanks product. And when used in proper amounts daily it aids plants in photosynthesis and growth. Plus you can buy Metricide 14 day solution, a gallon for $20, dilute it at a 1:1 ratio with RO or distilled water which gives you a slightly stronger solution of Glut than what is in Excel, and you end up with 2 gallons for roughly $27 including shipping. It's very cost effective.

As already asked you need to post exactly what lighting your using and the type of bulbs. Also how long daily your running them. When having algae issues you should only run lights 6 hours daily until you figure out what is causing the algae and the problem is correct and algae is gone. Also what you consider 'adequate' lighting may in fact not even be remotely enough for the plants your trying to grow.

So basically if lighting isn't suited to the type of plants being grown and not enough of the proper micro and macro nutrients aren't being supplied along with no CO2 or liquid carbon plant growth is going to be very very slow and if not enough light plants can eventually just waste away. If your having trouble with your sword you most likely aren't supplying enough nutrients (enough root tabs often enough). They are very heavy root feeders.

 

[bflem]

I have zoomed aquasun lights. Two T5 24 watt lights. I have an ultra sun and flora sun light in each hood. Substrate is just standard aquarium gravel. Lights were initially on 8 hours a day. I tried both increasing and decreasing the amount of light. The plants have been in the tank for about 3 or 4 months.

 

[Rivercats]

Plants need light, CO2 which liquid carbon can be used, and ferts. Your plants need proper macro and micro ferts. If the lights are HO then you have enough light but you also need to be using at least a liquid carbon daily. The liquid carbon speeds plant growth. I always recommend 1ml per 10 gallons of water for the first week, then bump it up to 1ml per 5 gallons. If lighting is high enough and you have a lot of plants liquid carbon often needs to be dosed even higher. Do you know your nitrate or phosphate levels?

 

[bflem]

Not at the moment. I work out of town 3-4 days a week. I dose the co2 booster at a little over 1ml per 10 gallons while I am home. After I added the root tabs my nitrates spiked and after a few days I did a large water change. I wanted to see if the plants would use the excess nitrates before doing a water change. My lights are HO. I use the API master test kit.

 

[Rivercats]

Inconsistant ferts and liquid carbon/CO2 can be a problem. Have you thought about getting an auto doser so the tank gets consistant daily dosing?

 

[bflem]

Havent really thought of it. I know a small amount about them. I just thought I was making a glaring mistake that could be easily fixed.