Great red rubin - pathetic wisteria

[joannde]

My red rubin sword is by far my favorite plant - the color is AMAZING. Obviously it likes my tank. The wisteria on the other hand is PATHETIC - it just won't grow !! I keep reading how everyone else has a hard time keeping it in check - ha, not me.
Specs: 35G with 42W of T5 lighting; dosing with Excel daily; Flourish comprehensive after each PWC (50% weekly); Root tab in sword's pot; Eco substrate for all - barebottom tank; all plants are in pots

Here's some pics so you can see what I mean.

The sword:

The pathetic wisteria:

 

[newfound77951]

hey, did I send you that sword?? I know i sent someone a bitty rubin sword a while ago.....wherever it came from, it looks beautiful!

No ideas on why the wisteria won't grow. I had some a while back and it grew, but never looked nice and eventually got covered in algae. The only thing i can think of is that the wisteria wants more light. Also, it looks pretty crowded in behind the sword; I have a few plants that don't like to be crowded but the stem plants aren't usually too picky. But maybe try moving it to give it a little more space?

Tank looks awesome, though, the fish are beautiful and I love the background!

 

[thedon986]

Im with you on the Wisteria...I have Apon. Ulvacus taking over my tank along with my sword and the Wisteria just wont grow and has BBA on bottom half of it. I don't know what it is...all my other plants are perfectly fine.

 

[joannde]

Well at least its not just me

Newfound - I ordered my red rubin through ebay. This plant is just amazing - its given me alot of confidence.

The pot the wisteria is in is a bit small, but I figured it was a "weed" so it wouldn't care. I could try transplanting it into a larger pot (or moving it to another tank LOL). My L. repends and Sunset hygro don't grow either - the anubias send out new leaves all the time, the swords (I have three - two small ones on the other side of the tank) grow phenominally .... I thought stem plants were supposed to be EASIER !

Would there be any potential risk to tossing some root tabs into the pots with the wisteria, L Repens and Hygro ?

And thanks for the compliments on the tank The background is a sheet of unprinted newspaper with a bunch of colors spongepainted onto it (mostly blue and black - some red, some white, some "pearl"). I liked the painted look I'd seen on other peoples tanks here but was too chicken to actually paint the glass LOL

 

[fish_4_all]

The best way I got my Wisteria to grow was to give it masses of Nitrates! Other than that I didn't like it and it was a meany to my other plants, especially any other stem plants.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Wisteria is a nitrate sponge. It will make other plants suffer, definitely. Oh, and I love that sword. Great color....

 

[joannde]

I don't think Nitrates are my issues - they're at approx 30ppm (don't ask about my phosphates - they're off the charts).
So - would adding a root tab to the pot with the wisteria and to the pot with the LRepens and Sunset Hygro help ? Could it hurt ???

 

[Mosaic]

I have trouble with wisteria too, but my nitrates are low, so that makes a lot more sense now. Even so, my other plants still grow like crazy, so wisteria must not be as competitive as I've heard.

But that sword is to die for. And it's in low light? I think I'll have to find myself one.

 

[joannde]

Yes - its low light - and no CO2 injection (just Excel). Its 42W of T5 light which is 73W towards the WPG rule (reference this post http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=72491&start=0) so its 2WPG (approx).
I just ordered three more red rubin swords - you get your pinks (in the veins) and reds greens in the leaves - all in one plant.

 

[rkilling1]

Yes - its low light - and no CO2 injection (just Excel). Its 42W of T5 light which is 73W towards the WPG rule (reference this post http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=72491&start=0) so its 2WPG (approx).
I just ordered three more red rubin swords - you get your pinks (in the veins) and reds greens in the leaves - all in one plant.

You may want to read thru this: http://woo.gotdns.com/Aquarium/Lighting.htm .

Wizard's figures for T-5 (CF) are more conservative and only put the efficiency of that type of bulb at 35% more light then the standard T-12.

Using that figure, it puts your light at 57 watts. So you are around 1.5 WPG based on those numbers. But what really matters is, are your plants are growing.

 

[joannde]

Thanks for the clarification - to think you can get all that color with only 1.5WPG !

Everything but the stem plants are growingEven the other two swords tucked into the corner on the other side are sending out new leaves on a very regular basis - so much for "start with stem plants, they build confidence" !

Still haven't gotten an answer on if adding root tabs to the stem plant pots could be potentially harmful. If not I'll give that a shot before I give up on them.

 

[TwoHobbies]

Your right that red rubin is one happy guy, great looking. Swords are heavy root feeders. They love root tabs.

If you were to remove it from the pot you would find a root system the size of your fist or larger. It may take up the entire pot! The other plants your having trouble with have a much smaller root system, or if clippings may have no roots at all. They get most of their nutrients from the water.......so to answer your question. I don't think root tabs will help, although I don't believe they will hurt either.

Are you using tap water for water changes?

 

[joannde]

TwoHobbies, I figured as much about the root tabs, but I'm "fishing" ROFL (pun intended).

Yes - I use tap water for my water changes. pH 8.4, KH and GH are high (9 and 14 degrees of hardness but can't remember which is which right now), phosphates off the charts (and I DRINK this stuff ??????? LOL).
While the L Repens and Sunset Hygro still look very nice they're the same size they were when I put them in a couple of months ago (maybe a little growth here and there). Another clue - the java ferns are growing but are not "taking off" - in 3 months they've probably only doubled in size from really small to "smallish". I was so looking to a really dense mass of those stem plants in that spot to the left of the red rubin).

Obviously some nutrient is mising from my water but I'm at a loss on what it is. As I said, I use Flourish Comprehensive at each PWC (50% weekly).

Would a potassium defiency do this ? Its the only thing left that I can think of (but I'm a plant newbie so I honestly can't think of very much at all when it comes to this)

 

[TwoHobbies]

Well it must be something the FC is lacking (I don't use it and am not familiar with it). I don't think the Excel is doing much for you. I have it but have never noticed any difference when I dose it. At 2wpg or less its not doing much.

I notice potassium defence in my sword plants (starts as tiny holes in the leaves), that doesn't seem to be it. Yours look amazing.

I'm no expert, remember I can't grow Java Moss! But your the first I've heard that can't get Hydro to go. I think alot of us would like to know how to slow that stuff down.

You might want to try some CSM+B if you got it or want to order some.

 

[joannde]

ROFL re the Hydro - I know I got it from someone (hmmmmmmm, who could that be ??) as an "extra" because it was growing too fast.
On the Excel, I've gotta admit, I does help alot with the green spot algae. I was dosing incorrectly and not using the full dose at water changes (duh), and when I went to the correct dose the green spot was reduced on the anubia leaves - I can't say its helped the stem plants any. All this stuff is SUCH a mystery to me - I really admire those who can do a "real" planted tank (I still consider myself to be just "playing" at the moment).
I'm gonna stick a root tab into the pots and see what happens - as long as it can't hurt then I'm willing to give it a shot. otherwise, I'll just switch over to a "totally sword" tank - wouldn't bother me - I love 'em !

 

[Lonewolfblue]

What exactly are your phosphate and nitrate levels?