About to give up on the dream of a planted tank

I've just about had it! I have spent a ton of time and money to try to get my 55 Gallon to be a well planted tank and I about to give up on it. I just got a bunch of plants via mail last week and they looked pretty good when I planted them, but little by little, day by day, they have melted away, the stalks keep coming uprooted, and eventually waste away to nothing. I use Flourish root tabs. I dose with Dustin's Growth Juice (recommended by my LFS), I do 50% WC weekly, I've been dosing with Flourish Excel to combat the BBA (it has done well).

Nothing seems to get these plants to establish.

Don't get me wrong, I have a few things that have done well: Java Fern and Moss Balls
A couple of Anubius and an Amazon Sword that have done ok
A different type of sword that was 15" when I got it, is still alive and still brings new leaves from time to time, but has shrunk back to about 4" and the leaves are constantly curled
There is one stalk plant that has done ok. Every once in a while the stalk will grow up to the top of my 55 and I will trim it halfway and plant it right next to the original. The original will then die and the stalk will become the grower. I can't get both to work!

Everything else has died. Mexican Oak Leave? Dead. Wisteria? Dead, dead, dead. Other leafy, stalk plants? Dead.

All the money and time that I have poured into this for the last 8 months could have allowed me to buy an entire new large tank set up. I love fish, but I'm to the point where I hate plants! Buy plants for your tank they say. It will reduce nitrates, make a more natural environment for your fish, it will be fun they say.

Ok rant over. What the heck am I doing wrong?? Is it even worth trying anymore? If I get some realistic silk plants, will it really make a big difference to my fish? As it is all the dying and decaying plants that I basically clean every day, can't really be doing much positive for the tank, can it?

 

Lights have always been what I've found to be the biggest issue if they're not growing. On my 40 gallon I have two led strips that put out 100+ par mid way through the tank each. That has helped, but then you have to be mindful of algae. That's why I always try to put a Siamese algae eater in my tanks because the algae is gone the next day.

If you're focusing on cichlids, you can always find a way to use rockwork to fill up the tank more, and then sporadically place some low light plants here and there. Val is an underrated plant in my opinion that can do well in many water parameters. I always get mine off aquarium plants . com.

 

Lights have always been what I've found to be the biggest issue if they're not growing. On my 40 gallon I have two led strips that put out 100+ par mid way through the tank each. That has helped, but then you have to be mindful of algae. That's why I always try to put a Siamese algae eater in my tanks because the algae is gone the next day.

If you're focusing on cichlids, you can always find a way to use rockwork to fill up the tank more, and then sporadically place some low light plants here and there. Val is an underrated plant in my opinion that can do well in many water parameters. I always get mine off aquarium plants . com.

SAE RULE the algea world! Agree 1000%!!!! All I ever have is some green spot. My Vals are my favorite they grow like mad....

 

Some species of stem plant don’t do well with excel and you’d see melting because of that. For example, I’ve noticed that my A. reineckii strongly dislikes it and dies back a lot when it is dosed. Some plants will also melt as they adjust to new water parameters. Lighting is important too...many red plants require high lighting, but too strong of a light and your swords won’t grow in as full or tall. To solve this in my tank, I added floaters and used a feeding ring to keep a gap above the red plants so that they still get enough light.

 

Though I've gotten quite a few fish at Petsmart/co/land, I've actually never bought any plants from there. Mine that I've bought locally have been at actual bona fide local businesses. They aren't terribly close, but they are reliable and have good selections.

Well if all else fails and you still want to try one more time, check out the selection and see if you can find any healthy plants Maybe try something like an amazon sword, that way you can clearly see if there is anything wrong with the plant.

 

Both will need root tabs. Look into the osmacoat.

Is that Osmocote? That looks like a normal fertilizer. That's ok in a fish tank?

 

SAE RULE the algea world! Agree 1000%!!!! All I ever have is some green spot. My Vals are my favorite they grow like mad....

I'm so fearful of the SAE because of the confusion of the CAE. I have read articles comparing the two, but then go to a FS where it doesn't seem as clear cut as the articles make it seem.

 

Well if all else fails and you still want to try one more time, check out the selection and see if you can find any healthy plants Maybe try something like an amazon sword, that way you can clearly see if there is anything wrong with the plant.

I do like the swords a lot.

 

Hey it just takes time. Of the 3 new plants the first one the stem plants. They need to be separated and each stem planted about 2” apart. When planted like that everything in the middle will die.

I'll look to separate them tomorrow. I hope it's not too late. Thanks for the tip!

 

I'm so fearful of the SAE because of the confusion of the CAE. I have read articles comparing the two, but then go to a FS where it doesn't seem as clear cut as the articles make it seem.

From all I've read about the difference between the SAE and CAE. A true SAE will have a solid black line that goes the full length of its body from nose straight through the tail fin and all its other fins are clear. If you see black fins or a chopped up black line it isn't a true SAE.

 

SAE are way different than CAE..

 

I haven’t tried super hard myself, yet I too have had struggles with what I have tried. Moss balls. Check. Java fern on a log or tree? Check. Much better growth with lights on more often? Check.
I got a small plant from Petco awhile back. By the time it got to my house in it’s bag, it had all fallen apart. I tried to stick it back into the black thing it came in (this is a sand substrate), and it died immediately. Now I have another tank with Flourite black sand. So expensive and not as pretty. And I got an Anubia’s from Petsmart. They told me it would have a root at the bottom beneath the foam it was wrapped in. Well, I unwrapped, and no root. So I kept the foam on and planted it (with the foam bc that’s all that was holding these ‘stems’ together), and within days, the pieces were floating all around the tank. I want to buy some of these plant bunches from sites, yet I’m scared they will come and not be super healthy bc they’ve been in travel, and my lack of experience will kill them. And on the way to their deaths, they will just look small and withering and not nice, and make a mess. So yes, I love a planted tank so much, and invested in over $2 a pound substrate this time with plans to have a planted tank. I’m just scared to invest in like $$150 of mailed stuff to then lose it. I am interested in bamboo now that I have no lid on this tank yet have to find a tall enough piece. Actually, my tank has Kribensis babies (now 5+ months old, 7 I raised), and perhaps I can’t really keep real
Plants with them. Might be important to know before I try. I see people saying once they had cichlids they didn’t have to worry about plants. Anybody know about Kribs and plants?!!

 

I haven’t tried super hard myself, yet I too have had struggles with what I have tried. Moss balls. Check. Java fern on a log or tree? Check. Much better growth with lights on more often? Check.
I got a small plant from Petco awhile back. By the time it got to my house in it’s bag, it had all fallen apart. I tried to stick it back into the black thing it came in (this is a sand substrate), and it died immediately. Now I have another tank with Flourite black sand. So expensive and not as pretty. And I got an Anubia’s from Petsmart. They told me it would have a root at the bottom beneath the foam it was wrapped in. Well, I unwrapped, and no root. So I kept the foam on and planted it (with the foam bc that’s all that was holding these ‘stems’ together), and within days, the pieces were floating all around the tank. I want to buy some of these plant bunches from sites, yet I’m scared they will come and not be super healthy bc they’ve been in travel, and my lack of experience will kill them. And on the way to their deaths, they will just look small and withering and not nice, and make a mess. So yes, I love a planted tank so much, and invested in over $2 a pound substrate this time with plans to have a planted tank. I’m just scared to invest in like $$150 of mailed stuff to then lose it. I am interested in bamboo now that I have no lid on this tank yet have to find a tall enough piece. Actually, my tank has Kribensis babies (now 5+ months old, 7 I raised), and perhaps I can’t really keep real
Plants with them. Might be important to know before I try. I see people saying once they had cichlids they didn’t have to worry about plants. Anybody know about Kribs and plants?!!

Check Lowe’s for tall lucky bamboo! I have seen some at mine in the indoor garden section.

 

Check Lowe’s for tall lucky bamboo! I have seen some at mine.

Thank you!!!!!

 

Thank you!!!!!

No problem! Just in case you didn’t see my edit, I saw it in the indoor garden section.

 

Took me awhile to read all this but it was worth it. I am making my own aqua soil, using a recipe that I found on youtube. I am waiting on the last ingredient that I had to order, diatomaceous earth. Which should be in this week. I hope this works. I plan on having two inches of aqua soil, one inch layer of pool filter sand, and an inch of pea gravel. I have never done this before so either it will do great or a bust.

Supplements 4 ounces each
Earthworm Castings
Farm & Lawn lyme
Epsom salt for plants
Ironite Fertilizer
Baking Soda(Sodium Bicarbonate)
Osmocote Plus
Blood Meal
diatomaceous earth

Main Part of aqua soil 16 cups each
Black Kow
Peat Humus (did not find Peat Moss)

 

I love planted tanks 11 of my 13 tanks have plants in them. My other two are non planted or planted with fake due to the types of fish I have in them- cichlids are plant eaters and my common pleco and friends would disturb plants too much so his tank is fake.
Things I have learned over the years are:
- that plants like stability-no swings in ph, water quality the same, even water current (some plants like current others will melt or die if they don't like their spot in the tank. Lighting is stable too, (you will notice changes in plant growth both good and bad when you change bulbs--let alone a whole new lighting system) Plants get used to the lighting
- if you are just starting it is best to stay with the low light plants, anubias (many kinds in many shapes and sizes), java fern, java moss, crypts (these will likely melt at the beginning as they don't like change-they will likely come back if the roots are good).
-What I call second level plants are vals, swords and dwarf sag- they are said to be easy but need better lighting then low light.
-Do not start with stem plants of any kind at the beginning unless you are going all out with substrate, lighting and CO2. They look lovely and are all bushy and nice in the store but planting them and keeping them planted and healthy is hard. This includes wisteria and hornwort and penny wort in my case cant keep any of them alive, nor any stem plants but my substrate is wrong for them.
-if the plant has roots they likely need root tabs of some sort-except anubias and java fern which are above the substate. Thou in my tanks the anubias roots have extended into the gravel or sand and they are rooted in a sense but their rhisome is above.
- Most importantly is enjoy the experience
- It is a bit of trial and error try different plants and see what grows and work with that and then branch out. I have tried numerous occasions and different tanks with stem plants and others including sword plants and they just don't grow thrive or survive-- so I know that I should not waste my money on those plants- Anubias, crypts, java fern, java moss, vals are my go to plants they like me and my tanks.
Good luck with your plants and if you need a break from them silk or plastic plants can be an option too.

 

Java fern is the only greenery I can keep alive so I live with that and driftwood and green plastic plants. I can grow plants in the garden, but not in the tank.

 

Never give in. Never, never, never!

I am by no means a well versed expert in the art of keeping fish or the plants in an aquarium. However, I'd like, if I may, to share "our" experiences with you. Father Christmas was kind enough to give my daughter a 70g (US) aquarium for Xmas. We've spent a lot of time putting it all together. From the outset she was keen to have live plants in the tank. She has a dual gauge regulator and solenoid to control the delivery of Co2 into the tank. She has added fertliser daily and has two Fluval Plant 3 LED's. I've stressed this because in "our" quarantine tank we have no Co2 and a Fluval Aquasky. We have been adding fertiliser once a week.

Plant growth in both tanks has been good. I think what I am saying is that you don't necessarily have to throw money at this to get plants to grow. We can, however, increase the speed of growth in my daughters tank by turning up the amount of Co2 that's delivered into the tank. We don't bother too much with that now as it simply seems counter-intuitive. I think the only reason we would want to increase the speed of growth would be to bring the level of nitrates down. But we have a complete cycle in her tank (in both tanks). We have about 10ppm nitrates in our tap water and both filters are [genuinely tested] bringing those levels down to about 1ppm.

In the last month we have put all the plants in both tanks in small plant pots filled with Tetra Complete which is a nutrient enriched "soil". So far so good. Also useful "if" a plant does fail. Noting we haven't had many of those.

All the plants we chose were "easy" to grow. We haven't looked at the difficult plants yet.

We have had issues with high levels of phosphate in our tap water (more than 1.8ppm which is where our test kit stops measuring) and that has caused an algal bloom in my daughters tank. After cleaning it up we turned the lights off for 2 weeks and turned them back on for shorter periods of time. I am considering RO water to overcome this problem but that's on hold currently as I don't have the time to set it all up.

I'd suggest you buy one easy to grow plant. Maybe put it in a plant pot? You're choice of course. And focus on getting that one plant to grow. And if you don't succeed then try again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Two photographs below of my daughters tank taken about 8 weeks apart. The third photo shows the quarantine tank which is about three months old now. If you look closely at the bottom left hand side of the quarantine tank you can just see the tops of the plant pots we've used.

Hope that is of some help

Best

AiY

 

Hey Leeman75 it’s easy to tell the difference between CAE and SAE. CAE have a suction cup mouth. You don’t want that. The problem is between SAE and the flying fox. Below are SAE
notice the black line goes through the tail and the white lines above and below the black line.
Cleaning a tank yesterday I thought of you. I removed a few overgrown plants. Pm me and I will send them your way .

KribensisLover1 don’t buy$150 worth of plants in one shot. Buy your plants a few at a time. See what grows. Once the first set is growing look for some more. Buying a lot of plants at once not knowing if any will live is a recipe for disaster. Planted tanks take time. Start with crypts,swords for rooted plants. I cut plants regularly if interested just pm me .

Lighting is the top requirement! Aquasoils and co2 are not for beginners and not needed. Once you have your tank growing try these on your next tank. I use neither and All my tanks are planted?

 

Hey Leeman75 it’s easy to tell the difference between CAE and SAE. CAE have a suction cup mouth. You don’t want that. The problem is between SAE and the flying fox. Below are SAEView attachment 699971notice the black line goes through the tail and the white lines above and below the black line.
Cleaning a tank yesterday I thought of you. I removed a few overgrown plants. Pm me and I will send them your way .

KribensisLover1 don’t buy$150 worth of plants in one shot. Buy your plants a few at a time. See what grows. Once the first set is growing look for some more. Buying a lot of plants at once not knowing if any will live is a recipe for disaster. Planted tanks take time. Start with crypts,swords for rooted plants. I cut plants regularly if interested just pm me .

Lighting is the top requirement! Aquasoils and co2 are not for beginners and not needed. Once you have your tank growing try these on your next tank. I use neither and All my tanks are planted?View attachment 699976

I second the comment on lighting being the top requirement. I think we all underestimate how much we need. In the world of LEDs selection is confusing. I remember back in the day when it was recommended watts per gallon, and it was so much easier. And now with LEDs fixtures labeled as "planted", you might buy one thinking you're fine, but actually need two of them.

@88 ssint- what are your plants at the top of your tank the center?

 

I do like the swords a lot.

I just picked up a beautiful sword from PetSmart this morning! No pressure if you really have given up - but I think live plants are worth it. They are so beneficial to your tank, aside from being pretty to look at

 

Tuggerlake that’s westeria. Westeria needs lots of light . I have a piece of driftwood suction cuped to the tank and the westeria roots attached on the left. The current pushes it to the right. I cut that back weekly.

 

Never give in. Never, never, never!

I am by no means a well versed expert in the art of keeping fish or the plants in an aquarium. However, I'd like, if I may, to share "our" experiences with you. Father Christmas was kind enough to give my daughter a 70g (US) aquarium for Xmas. We've spent a lot of time putting it all together. From the outset she was keen to have live plants in the tank. She has a dual gauge regulator and solenoid to control the delivery of Co2 into the tank. She has added fertliser daily and has two Fluval Plant 3 LED's. I've stressed this because in "our" quarantine tank we have no Co2 and a Fluval Aquasky. We have been adding fertiliser once a week.

Plant growth in both tanks has been good. I think what I am saying is that you don't necessarily have to throw money at this to get plants to grow. We can, however, increase the speed of growth in my daughters tank by turning up the amount of Co2 that's delivered into the tank. We don't bother too much with that now as it simply seems counter-intuitive. I think the only reason we would want to increase the speed of growth would be to bring the level of nitrates down. But we have a complete cycle in her tank (in both tanks). We have about 10ppm nitrates in our tap water and both filters are [genuinely tested] bringing those levels down to about 1ppm.

In the last month we have put all the plants in both tanks in small plant pots filled with Tetra Complete which is a nutrient enriched "soil". So far so good. Also useful "if" a plant does fail. Noting we haven't had many of those.

All the plants we chose were "easy" to grow. We haven't looked at the difficult plants yet.

We have had issues with high levels of phosphate in our tap water (more than 1.8ppm which is where our test kit stops measuring) and that has caused an algal bloom in my daughters tank. After cleaning it up we turned the lights off for 2 weeks and turned them back on for shorter periods of time. I am considering RO water to overcome this problem but that's on hold currently as I don't have the time to set it all up.

I'd suggest you buy one easy to grow plant. Maybe put it in a plant pot? You're choice of course. And focus on getting that one plant to grow. And if you don't succeed then try again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Two photographs below of my daughters tank taken about 8 weeks apart. The third photo shows the quarantine tank which is about three months old now. If you look closely at the bottom left hand side of the quarantine tank you can just see the tops of the plant pots we've used.

Hope that is of some help

Best

AiY

View attachment 699922View attachment 699923


View attachment 699924

Great suggestions and appreciate all the thoughts! BEAUTIFUL tanks as well!!

 

I love planted tanks 11 of my 13 tanks have plants in them. My other two are non planted or planted with fake due to the types of fish I have in them- cichlids are plant eaters and my common pleco and friends would disturb plants too much so his tank is fake.
Things I have learned over the years are:
- that plants like stability-no swings in ph, water quality the same, even water current (some plants like current others will melt or die if they don't like their spot in the tank. Lighting is stable too, (you will notice changes in plant growth both good and bad when you change bulbs--let alone a whole new lighting system) Plants get used to the lighting
- if you are just starting it is best to stay with the low light plants, anubias (many kinds in many shapes and sizes), java fern, java moss, crypts (these will likely melt at the beginning as they don't like change-they will likely come back if the roots are good).
-What I call second level plants are vals, swords and dwarf sag- they are said to be easy but need better lighting then low light.
-Do not start with stem plants of any kind at the beginning unless you are going all out with substrate, lighting and CO2. They look lovely and are all bushy and nice in the store but planting them and keeping them planted and healthy is hard. This includes wisteria and hornwort and penny wort in my case cant keep any of them alive, nor any stem plants but my substrate is wrong for them.
-if the plant has roots they likely need root tabs of some sort-except anubias and java fern which are above the substate. Thou in my tanks the anubias roots have extended into the gravel or sand and they are rooted in a sense but their rhisome is above.
- Most importantly is enjoy the experience
- It is a bit of trial and error try different plants and see what grows and work with that and then branch out. I have tried numerous occasions and different tanks with stem plants and others including sword plants and they just don't grow thrive or survive-- so I know that I should not waste my money on those plants- Anubias, crypts, java fern, java moss, vals are my go to plants they like me and my tanks.
Good luck with your plants and if you need a break from them silk or plastic plants can be an option too.

Thank you so much for all the info. Not just me with the stupid stem plants!!

 

Hey Leeman75 it’s easy to tell the difference between CAE and SAE. CAE have a suction cup mouth. You don’t want that. The problem is between SAE and the flying fox. Below are SAEView attachment 699971notice the black line goes through the tail and the white lines above and below the black line.
Cleaning a tank yesterday I thought of you. I removed a few overgrown plants. Pm me and I will send them your way .

KribensisLover1 don’t buy$150 worth of plants in one shot. Buy your plants a few at a time. See what grows. Once the first set is growing look for some more. Buying a lot of plants at once not knowing if any will live is a recipe for disaster. Planted tanks take time. Start with crypts,swords for rooted plants. I cut plants regularly if interested just pm me .

Lighting is the top requirement! Aquasoils and co2 are not for beginners and not needed. Once you have your tank growing try these on your next tank. I use neither and All my tanks are planted?View attachment 699976

Thank you for clearing that up! Maybe I need to get a couple of those SAEs. I already have an Oto, Rubber Lip Pleco, and 9 corys. Would there be any problems there?

Part of my problem is that I dropped a fair amount of money on plants all at once. Just like you said, it was a recipe for disaster and is what precipitated this whole post.

I will take your advice and take it slow...not get too impatient to want to have my tank look like so many of the beautiful tanks on this forum in 1 month.

You are too kind to send some of your clippings my way! I will PM you my address.

I am overwhelmed by the support, knowledge, and kindness of so many on talking me off the ledge here!