New Planted Aquarium Trouble

[busbybutt]

I have a new aquarium setup & decided to go for a planted aquarium. The tank is a juwel rio 160 with mainly crypts that have been browning and just dont seem to grow? The tank has been set-up for around 6 weeks with soil substrate with sand on top & 2x t5 juwel lights, one of which is day-lite and the other nature. There is no co2 but have heard its not essential. I have included pictures, Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Rivercats]

One thing is it looks like you've got diatoms or what some call brown algae. Diatoms are pretty common in newly set up tanks and will eventually go away on their own as they use up the excess silicates in the water. One thing you can do is get a couple nerite snails. They can't breed in freshwater and they love diatoms. They also eat the largest variety of algae of any algae eater. These include diatoms, bio-film, green dust algae, and green spot algae. Also some good root tabs like Seachems Root Tabs would benefit the swords and crypts and a good liquid fertilizer like Seachems Flourish Comprehensive would be good for using a couple times a week or after WC's.

 

[bkiggy]

@rivercats - my fish do not seem to like seachem flourish liquid. Clamped fins. Was it toxic to them? Especially the Cory's !!

 

[Rivercats]

How often were you using it? And how much? I've never heard of that before. You know you get dry ferts, which are really cheap ($20 for probably a years worth easy). They are easy to use and since you have a fair amount of plants they would work. Are you using any liquid carbon or CO2?

 

[busbybutt]

Thanks rivercats. I use ferropol liquid fertiliser. That second picture (any i.d?) is a fast grower but just seems to wilt and die. Hopefully the root tabs will help.

 

[tiger terror]

Thanks rivercats. I use ferropol liquid fertiliser. That second picture (any i.d?) is a fast grower but just seems to wilt and die. Hopefully the root tabs will help.

The 2nd pic is water wisteria...

 

[busbybutt]

The plants deteriorated but i have saved the 2 swords & a few crypts and added a selection of others. I have added the root tabs around the substrate so hope these dont go the same way as it looks very colourful & beautiful plus the fish seem to love it. What is the best fertiliser do you guys recommend?

 

[Rivercats]

Dry ferts are the best way to go IMO as you get a balance of macro and micro nutrients that the plants need.

One thing I noticed in the picture... the stem plants in the back right corner, anacharis it looks like, appears to be planted in a group. You need to take them out, cut about an inch off the bottom of the stems, then plant each stem individually so its leaves are almost but not quite touching the leaves of the stems around them. This allows light and water circulation to get to the lower stems to help the stems from having lower leaf dropping and stem rot.

 

[Fresh2o]

Is it possible that the crypts are planted too deep? In the pics I only see stems emerging from the gravel and the distance between them suggests that the root stalk might be too far down.

 

[busbybutt]

The plant in right hand corner is rotala indica. Us there any specifics on caring for these?
My crypts are by the bogwood and they are low as my soil is underneath my sand. Shall i raise them up a bit? I'd say theres 3 decent crypts in that area within about 5 square inches?

 

[Coursair]

The plant in right hand corner is rotala indica. Us there any specifics on caring for these?
My crypts are by the bogwood and they are low as my soil is underneath my sand. Shall i raise them up a bit? I'd say theres 3 decent crypts in that area within about 5 square inches?

They'll die if you plant the crown too deep. Mine grow in straight sand with root tabs, so raise any that are too deep. They grow long roots.

Rotalas are easy.

Light
Ferts
PWCs keep most plants happy

I use root tabs plus liquid Ferts, but I have small tanks so not as important to use dry. Doesn't cost outrageous to fertilize my 4 small tanks.

 

[Rivercats]

The rotala is easy and will turn pink in the upper growth with high light. As mentioned do pull up the crypts to get their crown above the substrate and their roots will grow down to the soil. Crypts like root tabs since they absorb alot of nutrients through their roots.

 

[busbybutt]

I will raise them up a bit. Any good fertiliser recommendations? I have ferropol.

 

[Rivercats]

If your in the US dry ferts from GreenLeaf Aquariums is great and gives your plants all the micro and macro ferts they need.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I also recommend using a liquid carbon like Seachem Excell or anything similar. I bought all of my dry fertilizers from Green Leaf Aquarium as well. It saves lots of money and they work better than any store bought ferts I've tried in the past. But for store bought ferts I've always had a preference for Seachem products. Never had problems using them.

 

[busbybutt]

Thanks all. Will see how this progresses in next few weeks.

 

[Fresh2o]

Good luck with getting the crowns just right. The long roots help. I just planted a bunch of Sagitteria and swords today and keeping them from getting uprooted is like herding cats!

 

[bkiggy]

I started using Seachem Excel with Flourish and API root tabs w/ iron and plants look great. They were getting all wilty and melting

 

[CorallineAlgae]

I started using Seachem Excel with Flourish and API root tabs w/ iron and plants look great. They were getting all wilty and melting

All good products. I switched to dry ferts to save money but used store bought with fine results for ages.