Help new to planted tank

[Dluxx17]

There are some pictures of my plants. I can't seem to get them to grow at all and seems like my algae is starting to get bad. I am trying to grow these plants without Co2 and was advised to use flourish once a week to help. The plants seem like they're not growing at all what can I do to make my tank look like a beautiful bush like I seen on this forum ?

 

[Dluxx17]

Any suggestions will help!! I was told they can grow without CO2, is this true? What am o doing wrong ? I've tried multiple plants and they all seem to die

 

[Dluxx17]

This is the light I'm using for the tank and the temp is at 76f

 

[dcutl002]

I would only run an airstone at night. Any CO2 in the tank will be dispersed by O2 agitation. Plants need that CO2 during the day for photosynthesis. Three things that plants need is light, CO2, and ferts with light being the limited factor. Other things needed are minerals from tapwater, so perform partial water changes frequently. Your light looks like a good one, so I would say dose Excel and fertilize.

 

[Dluxx17]

Ok so I'll try unplugging the air stone during the day and is it ok to use flourish as a fertilizer ? I'll have to buy some excel. Is once a week enough for water changes ?

 

[dcutl002]

Ok so I'll try unplugging the air stone during the day and is it ok to use flourish as a fertilizer ? I'll have to buy some excel. Is once a week enough for water changes ?

I have my air pump on a timer. Flourish will work: I use the liquid and root tabs and the results are good. You can use Excel or Metricide for carbon dosing. Metricide is cheaper and it is the same thing as Excel. 0.6 ml of Metricide is equal to 1 ml Excel...you can find Metricide on Amazon.


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[Dluxx17]

What kid of root tabs should I use ? I'll have to check for the metricide I'm in Canada so Amazon.ca isn't the greatest

 

[dcutl002]

You can buy SeaChem root tabs, Tetra, or some other brand. some people make their own root tabs with Osmocote. There may be someone on this forum that sells Osmocote root tabs.


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[Caliban07]

What kid of root tabs should I use ? I'll have to check for the metricide I'm in Canada so Amazon.ca isn't the greatest

Make sure you research metricide 14. It is a sterilising fluid used in hospitals and needs to be handled with care but it will definitely help your plants.


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[Dluxx17]

You can buy SeaChem root tabs, Tetra, or some other brand. some people make their own root tabs with Osmocote. There may be someone on this forum that sells Osmocote root tabs.


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Ok so I bought both the sea chem tabs and excel and shut off the air during the day is there anything else I'm missing to help these plans of mine really start growing ?

 

[dcutl002]

Ok so I bought both the sea chem tabs and excel and shut off the air during the day is there anything else I'm missing to help these plans of mine really start growing ?

Time, patience, and a little love. Follow the dosing instructions, experiment with the photo period (I would start with 8-10 hours a day), keep up with water changes (I Change 50% every week. Plants absorb minerals from the tap water), and they should grow.


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[Dluxx17]

Ok once I get all
My stuff from Amazon tmrw I'll read them and see if I have any questions ... Thanks for the help

 

[Blueskytechnolo]

I am new to this too and have been at it for a couple of months now. You are in a great place with helpful people. Although I can't tell you how to make them grow quickly, I can tell you that I used root tabs and also seachem flourish. I was using flourish 2 times a week while also cycling my tank. It was too much for some of my plants. The melted fairly quickly. Be cautious, its pretty easy to over do the ferts.

 

[Alan79]

Your plants look healthy so I think that soon enough they should show better signs of growth. Sometimes when you buy new plants they have been grown emersed (out of water) so they need to alter the way they grow. Once that happens they usually take off. Don't be surprised if the plants you have start to look a bit different when they do grow. Immersed (under water) plants will often tend to look a lot different to emersed growth.


Some of the tanks in here look magnificent. It takes time and some experience to get the tanks looking like aquatic jungles though. I've been running (multiple) planted tanks for nearly two years and I'm still not able to create a tank that I'm entirely happy with. My tanks have some lush growth but I've never been able to get plants to show the colours that make them stand out. My other issue had always been with making foreground plants thrive.

It's a good start you have made so just be patient and hopefully things take off for you soon.

 

[Dluxx17]

Thanks everyone for you help .. One last question I've placed root tabs into my gravel and now I'm wondering do I have to remove these tabs after 4 months or will they dissolve? It might be tough to remember exactly where they are

 

[scottb]

Root tabs will dissolve over time so no need to remove them. General rule of thumb would be to replace your root tabs about once a month, but that's all dependent on your tank. I would say to monitor your plants and see what works best for you. Best of luck!