bs6749
Aquarium Advice Addict
Here is my situation:
I have been thinking that it would be really nice to have NICE LOOKING PLANTS in my tank, like quite a few of you on here. Currently I have 5 amazon swords, an ocelot sword, melon sword (noticing a pattern yet? LOL), some dwarf hairgrass (about 2 little clumps), 2 sprigs of anacharis, about 3 decent sized clumps of java moss that has lots of algae on it, an anubias bartari (spelling?), a banana plant, and a bunch of wisteria (quite a bit floating as well as planted). Oh, and some limnosomething aromatica.
My problem(s):
Do I have enough light? I have stock All-Glass Aquarium hoods with (2)15W (I believe) 18,000K Power-Glo (certain of this) bulbs. My plants don't seem to be "growing", they just seem to be "surviving". I want a lot of plant cover in the tank and I do not want any algae. I do not add CO2 because I can't afford that much for a setup and the DIY setups, I hear, are not recommended for a 55 gallon tank. I dose with Flourish (with iron) in the recommended amount (sometimes 1.5 times the recommended amount) about once a week/week and a couple of days.
Should I dose more often? Should I add anything else? Should I add tap water (very hard) to my next water change instead of the RO/DI that I normally add (ten gallons changed out per week/week and a half)? In this tank I have GBR's, ottos, BN plecos, glo-light tetras, and danios. (I am pretty sure that they can withstand some of the tap water as that is what I initially started the tank with and then added dechlor.
Right now the tank water is pretty soft from all of the water changes so maybe that is why my plants are starting to look like old lettuce (that dark green mushy color) in some spots. Some leaves are completely dieing, which is normal? Not a lot, usually a few then new ones grow. Maybe I should upgrade my lighting? ANY suggestions would be helpful.
P.S. Sorry about the long post.
I have been thinking that it would be really nice to have NICE LOOKING PLANTS in my tank, like quite a few of you on here. Currently I have 5 amazon swords, an ocelot sword, melon sword (noticing a pattern yet? LOL), some dwarf hairgrass (about 2 little clumps), 2 sprigs of anacharis, about 3 decent sized clumps of java moss that has lots of algae on it, an anubias bartari (spelling?), a banana plant, and a bunch of wisteria (quite a bit floating as well as planted). Oh, and some limnosomething aromatica.
My problem(s):
Do I have enough light? I have stock All-Glass Aquarium hoods with (2)15W (I believe) 18,000K Power-Glo (certain of this) bulbs. My plants don't seem to be "growing", they just seem to be "surviving". I want a lot of plant cover in the tank and I do not want any algae. I do not add CO2 because I can't afford that much for a setup and the DIY setups, I hear, are not recommended for a 55 gallon tank. I dose with Flourish (with iron) in the recommended amount (sometimes 1.5 times the recommended amount) about once a week/week and a couple of days.
Should I dose more often? Should I add anything else? Should I add tap water (very hard) to my next water change instead of the RO/DI that I normally add (ten gallons changed out per week/week and a half)? In this tank I have GBR's, ottos, BN plecos, glo-light tetras, and danios. (I am pretty sure that they can withstand some of the tap water as that is what I initially started the tank with and then added dechlor.
Right now the tank water is pretty soft from all of the water changes so maybe that is why my plants are starting to look like old lettuce (that dark green mushy color) in some spots. Some leaves are completely dieing, which is normal? Not a lot, usually a few then new ones grow. Maybe I should upgrade my lighting? ANY suggestions would be helpful.
P.S. Sorry about the long post.