I Do Not Have a Green Thumb

[CanadianWaters]

So I have a 29 gallon tank that is planted with low light plants and it is frustrating me as I am not having the greatest of results.

I have low light plants like green Cabomba, Anubias, amazon swords...
Growing(or not growing) under a finnex planted plus.
I dose Seachem flourish three times a week still see little to no growth and an abundance of algae.
I don't dose any form of Co2.

Anyone have any ideas as to why I'm struggling to grow my plants?



29 Gallon Community

 

[azmodan]

How long have you had these plants? Any root tabs under the swords? Anubias are pretty slow growing to begin with. Adding a little API leaf zone along to with the flourish would likely help, as would a carbon supplement like Excel (or any glut alternative such as Metricide). How long are you running your lights and what are your water params like? How much water do you change per week? Got a pic of your tank and the algae? I might look to add some other easy and fast growers like bacopa caroliniana, wisteria, willow and green temple hygros, etc. Reducing the photoperiod might be necessary too.


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[Mebbid]

You have a fairly powerful light combined with sub par fertilizers and a lack of carbon for your plants.

For moving up beyond low light levels in your tank, I would highly recommend looking into dry ferts and excel. The liquid ferts just dont pack enough punch for their price and you could add fertilizer all day and not accomplish anything if there isnt enough carbon for your plants.

 

[CanadianWaters]

Hi and thank you for the replies.
To answer some of your questions: have had most of these plants for a few months, I don't have any root tabs under any of the plants, my light is on for about 8 hours (not including moonlight), I change 25-50% weekly, weekly my water params are 0's and nitrate between 10-20.

So today the plan is to pick up some carbon supplements and some root tabs. How often do you think should I dose the carbon?

I prefer the fish in my tank haha. I've been doing a lot of reading on the aspects of higher light tanks in the past few days. I just bought the new light with hopes of just growing some better plants. I was a little distracted with various things and didn't do enough research. I appreciate you guys helping me out.


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[Mebbid]

The liquid carbon needs to be dosed daily. It breaks down rather quickly in a tank.

 

[wildroseofky]

In the long run dry fertilizers work out cheaper. I started with the EI package from Green Leaf Aquarium cost $15. It lasted almost 8 months dosing one tank. You can raise the light higher to to lower the light level, or take out one bulb, you could add floating plants that will block some of the light. A carbon source dosed daily will help with the algae. You can also use it to spot treat the algae by squirting it directly on the algae. Peroxide can also be used to spot treat algae. You just get a medicine syringe and pull up 3 cc of peroxide. Turn off the filters and squirt the peroxide over the algae. Let sit for 15 minutes and then turn the filters back on. You can do one dose per 10 gallons of water with not harm to the tank. It takes a while to get it all in balance but it is worth it.

 

[amyb_70]

I feel your frustration

So I have a 29 gallon tank that is planted with low light plants and it is frustrating me as I am not having the greatest of results.

I have low light plants like green Cabomba, Anubias, amazon swords...
Growing(or not growing) under a finnex planted plus.
I dose Seachem flourish three times a week still see little to no growth and an abundance of algae.
I don't dose any form of Co2.

Anyone have any ideas as to why I'm struggling to grow my plants?



29 Gallon Community

mine is 29 gal also, been adding plants for around 3 months, tried C02 didnt work, just added 8 root tabs a week ago and purchased some leaf zone to add 1x week. I am really hoping this helps. i have gone out and bought more plants just to fill it in a little.. i am amazed when people say theirs are growing like crazy and selling extra plants or giving them away because they have so much. the only thing that really multiplied when i got the plants were the darn hitchhiking snails that came on them... glad i resolved that... so good luck to you and hopefully we get the hang of this planting in aquariums.

 

[Fresh2o]

I believe the key points have been addressed. Just keep the lights, ferts and carbon in balance.
I have a high tech tank that requires frequent trimming. Conversely, I have a low tech tank that is full of crypts and moss. Despite the low light (dual T5 normal output), no ferts or carbon source, the plants grow albeit very slowly. Just some root tabs every few months.


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[amyb_70]

Fresh, I don't think my light is strong enough. Not sure how to fix that, they are LED that clip into the cover.


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[Fresh2o]

Fresh, I don't think my light is strong enough. Not sure how to fix that, they are LED that clip into the cover.


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Did the light come from a kit or tank package? Regardless, brand and model info and size would be helpful.


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[amyb_70]

Yes I purchased as a kit. It's marineland brand, I have searched for info on lighting and cannot find any info as to the wattage, I have all the paper works that came with it . All I can say is there are 7 , 1" led lights that clip in. The lights are enough to see clearly in the tank when the cover is down, but it's not super bright. I wish I had more information since without knowing that I'm not sure anyone can help.


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[wildroseofky]

Is there room to add more LEDs? I have seen rope LEDs in 6500k. You might be able to glue them into the hood to add more light. Most stock light does not provide enough for plants. You could build an LED light to fit the hood if you are handy. I have also seen low profile under cabinet T5 lights at Lowes. Maybe one of those could be mounted into the hood. Google modify aqaurium hood or something similar and you will find all kinds of solutions to add more light to the hood.

 

[amyb_70]

Wildrose, I am far from handy. Only tools I know how to use are pliers for jewelry making and dream catchers. I did see some led lights you can put right in the aquarium substrate. Do you think if I add 2 of those it would help. I'm not comfortable taping lights to the hood. I've been electrocuted before and I'm really not interested in doing that again.


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[wildroseofky]

I didn't use to be but over the years I have learned to do just about everything.
The inside the tank lights will not grow plants. You could just get a desk lamp and put a spiral CFL bulb in it. Direct the light through the back and sides. Or just the sides of the tank if you have a background on the tank. You could take the hood off and have the lights directed on the top of the water. You can buy glass lids pretty cheap and remove the hood all together if you need to. Then you would mount a plant light above the tank or set it on the glass lid. That is what I started out with.

 

[Fresh2o]

AmyB - What kind of plants have you attempted in the current setup? From what I've researched, the light fixture from the kit is not bright enough for growing most plants but I wanted to see which plants you have tried. I started a planted tank in early 2013 and thought the Coralife Dual T5 NO (normal output) would be all that I needed. Unfortunately, most of the plants I purchased required more lighting than that. Things improved when I switched that light out with a Finnex FugeRay. The Coralife is on my shrimp tank now and it growing moss and crypts just fine. Very slow growth but that is what I prefer from that tank. Perhaps the plants you have attempted require more light than the fixture produced.
What would you like to grow? This may go in conjunction with "What's your budget?" Two mid $80 30" models that should fit onto your existing hood are Finnex Fugeray and Finnex FugeRay Planted+ (or simply planted+). The cost difference is only $3 between the two models but the output is quite different. The depth of the 29g would make me lean towards the planted+. I have used both fixtures on a shallower tank (20g long) with great results. Hoping others chime in on this as well.
Here's my shrimp tank with the Coralife:

Here's my planted tank:

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[amyb_70]

For plants i have some tall grass, anacharis, tall and short sword plants, water wisteria, pogostemonis (something like that, short only gets 3" tall), 1 little stem of cobohana, 1 bamboo stick, and 1 stem of something else not sure what and a quarter size of java moss (which i was told would spread like crazy. It seems like a ton but doesn't look it. I did use the C02 booster, didn't do anything, just put in root tabs a week ago and got some leaf zone.


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[Fresh2o]

For plants i have some tall grass, anacharis, tall and short sword plants, water wisteria, pogostemonis (something like that, short only gets 3" tall), 1 little stem of cobohana, 1 bamboo stick, and 1 stem of something else not sure what and a quarter size of java moss (which i was told would spread like crazy. It seems like a ton but doesn't look it. I did use the C02 booster, didn't do anything, just put in root tabs a week ago and got some leaf zone.


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AmyB - Thanks for the plant list. Going to PM a member named Brookster123 and get his input on this. He has a planted+ and other LEDs and has been through this process. I think the CO2 Booster (which IMO is overpriced) was not effective because the lighting was too low to begin with.


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[amyb_70]

Fresh, thank you!!! I think someone had contacted him for me before possibly about plants I don't recall. I know it makes it hard to help when I don't know about the lighting.


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[Brookster123]

Hi guys and girls! The marina land hood is basically going to illuminate the fish, not much help for the plants. Do you want to simply upgrade what you already have or get yourself a decent led to get the plants growing nicely?

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[amyb_70]

Hi guys and girls! The marina land hood is basically going to illuminate the fish, not much help for the plants. Do you want to simply upgrade what you already have or get yourself a decent led to get the plants growing nicely?

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Hi Brookster and thank you for the response.. What I am hopeing for is to get my plants to grow at a decent rate, they dont need to get out of control but just enough to fill in and be comfortable for my fish. A major problem i have is a very tight budget, so what i would choose to do what i can to make the tank look great with beautiful plants without breaking my bank. I know what i am looking for is near impossible. but i am open to any suggestions.