All I can grow is apognetons!

[Freshie In Disguise]

My plants hate me.

I'm trying to develop a heavily planted tank, and I am not having the slightest of luck. Unfortunately, my pH is 8.2 and for whatever reason, everything else is always at 0, including my nitrates. I have some liquid fertilizer that I use occasionally, but it seems to provoke more algae growth than plant growth. I haven't a clue what most of my plants are (or were) except for my apognetons and microswords. The apognetons are growing like crazy but the microswords have yellow tips. I don't know what type of light I have (sad, I know) it's something fancy my fiance always orders for me... It's a long tube.

I would LOVE some java moss, but I'm afraid I'll kill it!

What can I do differently?

 

[needmorecowbell]

You should upgrade your light. A long tube could be pc's, t5's, or t5ho's. Maybe even t8's but I doubt it. The bulb should have a kelvin temperature on it. It should be a 4 to 5 digit number in degrees. I think 6500 is best for plant growth but I'm not sure. It should also have wattage on it, which is important. If all else fails, try co2 dosing. It's a lot more expensive but works very well.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Lighting is an important factor. can you find out exactly what you have?
Java moss is next to impossible to kill. It will grow in any lighting. I even had some in a bowl growing with only ambient light from a glass door 10feet away.

 

[needmorecowbell]

Lol same with me. It is almost annoying at times. You can cover rocks with it to make it look nice

 

[aqua_chem]

for whatever reason, everything else is always at 0, including my nitrates.

microswords have yellow tips.

Big issue might be there. You need more nitrates. You can add them with various fertilizers easily enough, or you can buy dry nitrate online. Most fertilizers will have an N-P-K rating on them (ie, 1-2-3 for 1% Nitrate, 2% Phosphate, 3% Potassium). You need to find something with a N greater than zero. What fertilizer are you using, and how stocked is this tank?

 

[Freshie In Disguise]

My light is a T5, and I haven't a clue where to look for specifics on it... My fiance has it kind of trapped in his homemade lighting fixture...

The liquid fertilizer I use is Nutrafin Plantgro, and it has some random numbers on the bottom which read 0.15-0-0...?

I've got one big apogneton and two of its little "babies" planted about 4" apart in the back, one little patch of microswords in the front (in the brightest light), one dead amazon sword (which I am going to leave in there), and some little leafy thing... Tiny leaves. Maybe baby tears? It isn't doing too bad but keeps getting covered in algae. I took my hornwort out because it kept getting uprooted and floating around.

I'm still deciding what I want in this tank as far as fish go. Right now I have 2 small mystery snails (need more, algae is ridiculous), 1 bamboo shrimp (temporary), 1 ghost shrimp (getting more), 6 neon tetras, and 4 glofish (getting 2 more).

They get fed way more than they need, and I still can't trigger a response from my test kit. Right now, I am just switching out water from the surface as far as PWCs go. I'm not sure what else to do...

 

[Freshie In Disguise]

...But I will look for better lighting.