Need advice on lighting for growing montocarlo and drawf baby tear

[ForestMania]

Hi All,

I really need some advice on how to successfully grow monto carlo and drawf baby tear in my tank. I have planted these two plants into my tank for three weeks, and nothing really seems to be spreading or even growing. I do have CO2 injection into the tank, and add plant nutritions every other week. All other plants seems to be doing just fine (I have to trim them and plant the newer branch). When I was doing water change today, I pull on of the little mass I planted, the root of it seems to turn brown instead of whiteish healthy root.

I am worrying about not having enough lighting due to the height of the tank (48L*12W*20H). I have two Finnex planted+ 24/7 on the 24/7 mode (only one operating right now). I turned on both of them for about a week, and there seems to be some brown and green hair algae growing on the glass, on the gravel and on some leaves. I kept the temperature between 75-78.

I have attached a photo of my tank. Can anyone give me some advice on how to grow those two plants?

 

[KingKoopa512]

Picture us upside down i have also had a hard time with baby tears i think the browning of the root is normal im pretty sure im wrong but i will be following

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[ForestMania]

I don't really understand how my picture is always upside down. LOL.

I know baby tear is hard to grow. But I learnt that Monta Carlo should be easier to grow. Just can't figure what is wrong.

 

[dcutl002]

Beautiful tank.

 

[ForestMania]

Thanks man. It will look even better after carpeting.

 

[KingKoopa512]

This is my gloss carpeting

This is a pic of when i first put the glosso in

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[ForestMania]

Looking good, a lot healthier then mine. They are all green. What kind of lighting are you using?

 

[KingKoopa512]

Finnex ray 2 an finnex planted plus 24/7

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[ForestMania]

Are you lighting both of them?

 

[KingKoopa512]

Yea think im gonna cut my light by a couple hrs starting to get some green algae around the leaf edges on the repens

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[Fresh2o]

I've given up on HC Cuba / DBT. There are bits of it floating in my tank. It's actually doing fine in some terrariums I set up. Lots of trouble keeping it down and it is slow grower for me.
I have not tried Monte Carlo but I've heard it is not that difficult.
Now the Glosso is another story. I planted it in January and two months later it has taken over 2/3 of the tank. I even cut a 2"x8" strip along the front glass to thin it out and planted that in other parts of the tank. Within a week there are several runners breaching the cleared area. I have pressurized CO2, daily GLA PPS-Pro ferts, EcoComplete, a Finnex planted+ and FugeRay over a 20g long (12" tall). Lights are on separate timers; planted+ for 5 hours, FugeRay for 4 hours with a 1-2 hour overlap. It was on a 4 hour overlap but the green spot algae and string algae started to develop so I scaled I back a bit.
Day I planted it. HC Cuba in the middle, Glosso on the right:

Two months later:

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[ForestMania]

I see, it seems that Glosso is doing really well. So it is not a rather demanding plant?

 

[Fresh2o]

I see, it seems that Glosso is doing really well. So it is not a rather demanding plant?

So far, not in my tank. The higher the light, the lower the growth (less light = taller growth). Of course, the higher the light, the higher the CO2 demand and the need for consistent fertilization.


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[KingKoopa512]

So both of your light's turn in at the same time but one turns off 4 hrs later them thr other 2 hrs later

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[ForestMania]

Nice advice. I will try to do the same thing with my light. Also I just added the Glosso. They seems to be a nice additive to my tank

 

[Fresh2o]

So both of your light's turn in at the same time but one turns off 4 hrs later them thr other 2 hrs later

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Originally the planted+ would be on from 3 PM - 9 PM and the FugeRay would be on 5 PM - 11:30 PM. 4 hour overlap.
I then scaled it back to something like 3 PM - 8 PM and 7 PM - 11:30 PM. 1 hour overlap.
At first I had both on the same timer but algae became an issue.


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[KingKoopa512]

Gotcha thanks fresh for all the info budy

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[Thrills22]

When I was doing water change today, I pull on of the little mass I planted, the root of it seems to turn brown instead of whiteish healthy root.

You stated that you add ferts every other week but have CO2 (I presume pressurized) injected into the tank. It could be that your monte carlo is starving via high lights and co2 with no nutrients/resources.

Brownish/melting roots given everything you've mentioned is a sign of that from my understanding. A few questions that might help us figure this out

What are your lights and how long do you keep them on for?
What nutients and how exactly are you feeding your plants?
What is your CO2 injection rate (bubbles per second.)