Why no growth?

[George9]

I have not been seeing very much growth from my plants at all. I have no Idea why. It's a 60g tank with 108 watts of t5 HO. I have a 3 liter diy co2 just to see what happens, and I do dry ferts daily, and i have root tabs in the sand.

The dry ferts I dose are mgso4, kh2po4, k2so4, and the csm+b. My plants are thriving and look good, except for my swords who have taken a weird turn. They are droopy-ish and some older leaves have holes.

Some of my plants I can think of:
Purple/green *
Pennywort*
Balansae plant
Dwarf sag* (new-ish)
Amazon sword
Ozelot sword
Rotala indica *
Wisteria
Various crypts
Some type of sagittaria, it's red and greenish. Can't think of it now.
Chilensis
Anubias
* indicates newer plant, others have been planted for three months.

I'm thinking it's an iron problem? If so, is there any way to add iron without buying the dry feet and mixing it into my current mixtures?

Thank you in advance

 

[aqua_chem]

Csm+b has iron chelate in it. Are you seeing any deficiencies that would make you suspect iron? I also highly doubt that lack of q micronutrient like iron would lead to reduced growth or stunting. You're much more likely to see yellow or pale new growth and/or degenerating old growth than no new growth at all.

Carbon may be playing a role. How old is the tank?

 

[George9]

Csm+b has iron chelate in it. Are you seeing any deficiencies that would make you suspect iron? I also highly doubt that lack of q micronutrient like iron would lead to reduced growth or stunting. You're much more likely to see yellow or pale new growth and/or degenerating old growth than no new growth at all.

Carbon may be playing a role. How old is the tank?

I set it up in December, plants have been planted since mid January(with the exception of the * plants). How would I introduce carbon?

 

[aqua_chem]

CO2/Excel. No growth at all in that time?

 

[George9]

CO2/Excel. No growth at all in that time?

Well, I mean, there was growth, but the plants just didnt grow as large as I thought they would in that time. I have seen lots of growth in crypts and the ludwiga. All original chilensis has melted, but lots of new runners growing in. So, theres growth, but just in a few plants.

You think I should try some excel at half dose everyday and try to slowly dose more and more each day? Just so my crypts don't melt. I have a lot of excel unused just laying around.

 

[aqua_chem]

Certainly worth a shot

 

[George9]

Certainly worth a shot

Okay thank you! I will start with that tomorrow along with dry ferts. I hope my crypts dont melt now though.....

 

[aqua_chem]

If there is one plant in your tank that will survive the aquarium apocalypse, it's your crypts.

 

[jetajockey]

Swords can be very demanding plants, my guess is due to their size. Inert sand with some root tabs is a substitute, but there's still no guarantee that they are getting enough nutrients from the addition of the tabs.

I don't dose excel in my sword tank, and I don't run co2. Growth is fairly slow, but for the most part I don't have an issue with leaves unless they are being well shaded by the upper leaves on the plant. Dosing excel make kick things into shape, though, who knows, can't hurt.

I'm not sure how much nutrients swords take via the water column vs their root structure, but it's just another thing to consider I guess. I know that when I have uprooted my established plants, they have roots that sometimes go more than a foot in each direction.

 

[George9]

Thank you both

I did add some root tabs by the swords and dosed excel at half dose today. Hopefully I'll see some improvement in the swords

 

[George9]

Could part of the problem also be lack of light? I have 108 watt t5 HO over a 60g.

 

[aqua_chem]

108w of T5HO is more than enough for most any application. While you might not have high intensity, everything should be growing.

 

[George9]

108w of T5HO is more than enough for most any application. While you might not have high intensity, everything should be growing.

Okay. Thanks! I will continue with excel and see how it goes.

Also, since this is not high intensity, should I not place "bunch" plants close together, because this will block the light getting to the bottom of the plant?

 

[aqua_chem]

It depends on the plant. You can try it, and if the stem melts, just cut above it and replant individually.

 

[George9]

It depends on the plant. You can try it, and if the stem melts, just cut above it and replant individually.

Okay . I think I might upgrade the lighting for more intensity because I want to be able to keep plants bunched close together without melting issues.

Would a 4 bulb 216 watt t5 HO be too much without pressurized co2 on this tank? I also found a 3 bulb 16something watt. I just want whichever will have enough intensity to reach the bottom of the tank with a good amount of light.