Why do my plants do so poorly?

[An t-iasg]

If you have a Bed, Bath & Beyond store, try looking there for the special small teaspoon sets. I've seen others say that they found them at Walmart too.

 

[BillD]

It looks like the Java ferns miight be planted too dee. The rhizome needs to be above the substrate. Vals are plants that should be rooted in the substrate not tied to driftwood.

 

[joy13]

I got my root tabs off ebay. They were an off brand but work wonderfully I threw away the box so I don't remember the name of them. There is a mom and pop store here that has them but not the big box pet stores.

 

[robott]

I could have sworn I bought root tabs from petsmart. I remember being surprised they had them...

i've definitely seen them there also.

 

[chinoanoah]

Thank you all! Like I said, I'll be getting root tabs tomorrow if the petsmart in my area has some. And my Rhinox 1000 diffuser SHOULD be here this week. if it doesn't come soon i'm gonna cut my feet off. or, theirs. I dunno. Seriously, they shipped it on Feb 12 (Should be in with 12 working days, so i'm getting impatient. Stupid aquaticmagic, i think they are located in japan. that's lame.) so its been more than two weeks.

Hopefully there will be an upturn in my plant health soon. With root tabs, dosing, co2 and my light -- will i still need better substrate (eco-complete) or can i get away without it?

 

[An t-iasg]

Eco Complete is a very good substrate, but IMO, with your light level (on the low side), and the fact that most of your plants are not root feeders, except the vals, I would say that you can probably get away without it. You can use root tabs under the vals. CO2, while probably not necessary at your lighting level, always helps to grow healthy plants. Once you start your dosing routine, you'll see that your plants are doing better.

 

[fort384]

Agreed with An t-iasg. No need at this point to change your substrate out.

Aquaticmagic is actually in Singapore I believe. It always takes about 15-20 days to get here in Phoenix. But, while the wait is long, I have been happy with most everything I have bought from them, and I have made several orders.

 

[chinoanoah]

Singapore? Alright, I'll cut them a break.
Man, I can't wait for my diffuser!

How far should I space the root tabs?

 

[joy13]

I put the root tabs near heavy root feeders like crypt, swords and vals. I use 3 in my 29 gallon, and only 2 in my 50 depends on the plants and lights I think. I kind of fly by the seat of my pants most of the time, usually with pretty good results.

 

[Hoovercat]

Root tabs will generally feed anything within ~4 inches of them. 4 is probably the most I'd use in a 10 gallon so 1 box is a 6 month supply.

i am using liquid ferts (Seachem flourish N, P, K, comprehensive) does all of your advice still apply?

Most successful aquarium gardeners use dry N, P, K. For trace elements It's usually CSM+B since you can get it from the same place. The Seachem stuff works but is _very_ dilute. The only one that is really valuable to us is Flourish Excel. It's a good carbon supplement and has value as an algaecide.

 

[Purrbox]

To make dosing in smaller aquariums easier with dry ferts, you can also mix up a dosing solution. The old Seachem bottles are great for mixing your own solutions.