Hello need advice on plant growth

So I have dwarf sag, jungle val, guppy grass, and a good amount of java moss, and a very healthy plant I cant remember what it's called lol. So the jungle val is growing slow. Well it gets tall but isnt spreading fast like I was hoping it would, then the dwarf sage is doing the same thing it's very tall all the way up to the surface. but it isnt staying short and covering the bottom like it should. Do I need stronger lights. I have the aqueon Lamp with 1 normal white light and a color max. What should I do? What bulb should i replace? I need my plants to grow outward faster. I cant do co2 but if a change of bulbs will work.

 

How is your guppy grass doing ?

 

How is your guppy grass doing ?

It's okay. Its growing but it's still fairly new so hard to say. I have 3 stems growing really well the rest of the 20 something stems are still not growing.

How is your guppy grass doing ?

Also I do have a good deal of algea growing. I have I think green hair algea on the hard scape. And some kinda growth on the old leaves of my jungle val. Its stringy and I think black. I do have a bit more iron in my tank than I would like. I just dont know how to get rid of it all i have snails but they wont touch the stuff.

 

What substrate are you using? Are you adding any root tabs? The dwarf sag is know to get pretty tall, especially with lower lighting, but I can't recommend any new bulbs as I use LEDs and just let the plants do their thing.
Also if you want your guppy grass and java moss to grow better, you might want to dose water column fertilizers if you aren't doing so already.

 

What substrate are you using? Are you adding any root tabs? The dwarf sag is know to get pretty tall, especially with lower lighting, but I can't recommend any new bulbs as I use LEDs and just let the plants do their thing.

I dont remember what substrate I'm using but it's a planted tank substrate. and I have used some root tabs but I'm out and broke lol. I do have fertz but I stopped using them when I noticed the black beard algea growing most of that is gone now. But a good bit of green hair algea is growing. I really want my dang carpeting plant to work lol.

 

I think really the best bet for you then is to wait it out. For me it feels like I have been waiting forever for any of my crypts to send out just one runner.

 

Trim the dwarf sag. It grows up towards the light but trimming it encourages it to send out runners.

 

I just have java moss and guppy grass in my tanks but they didnt really take off till I upgraded my lights. Started with the cheap led lights that came with the tank.

 

Trim the dwarf sag. It grows up towards the light but trimming it encourages it to send out runners.

Do you mean cutting off yellowing leaves near the base? I’ve heard that mowing it down can just cause leaf die off.

 

Do you mean cutting off yellowing leaves near the base? I’ve heard that mowing it down can just cause leaf die off.

Yellow leaves should be removed near the base, yes. But I trim mine down to about an inch or inch and a half and they do fine. Dwarf sag should do well even in low light (I had mine growing easily with root tabs and the basic light that came with the cheap tank I got).

 

Plants take time to get use to there new home, they will grow in time

 

Plants take time to get use to there new home, they will grow in time

Okay cool thank you. I have had them for about 4 months.

Yellow leaves should be removed near the base, yes. But I trim mine down to about an inch or inch and a half and they do fine. Dwarf sag should do well even in low light (I had mine growing easily with root tabs and the basic light that came with the cheap tank I got).

I have been trimming my jungle val and dwarf sag. I trim the sag down to about an inch and a half to 2 inches above the substrate. And I will keep it up. Just got to stick with it.

I just have java moss and guppy grass in my tanks but they didnt really take off till I upgraded my lights. Started with the cheap led lights that came with the tank.

My java moss is growing like a weed. But it's not doing a carpeting thing. I wish it would then I could use the sag in a different tank.

 

It is a little difficult to control the growth of java moss. The best you can do is continue to trim it so it will grow back thicker. You might want to try the method of taking a bunch of moss and tying it down with thread to a piece of stainless steel mesh or similar material and laying that down on the substrate. If you keep at the trimming and it grows well you will end up with a "pillow". Though I do think some other types of moss take a little better to this set up, java is just so random in growth.

 

It is a little difficult to control the growth of java moss. The best you can do is continue to trim it so it will grow back thicker. You might want to try the method of taking a bunch of moss and tying it down with thread to a piece of stainless steel mesh or similar material and laying that down on the substrate. If you keep at the trimming and it grows well you will end up with a "pillow". Though I do think some other types of moss take a little better to this set up, java is just so random in growth.

I gotten some to stick to the gravel. But it really doesn't seem to want to. Its growing all over some of the hard scape. I just trimmed some today and left the clippings in the tank to float around and go were they feel like going lol. Right now my problem is the green hair algae that is taking over. I'm hoping to convince my wife to let me get some algae eaters for the tank. I have no clue which I want some of them I would have to get rid of some of the fish in the tank the big problem is getting a fish or 3 that are friendly but wont destroy plants and wont be jerks lol. I'm thinking of guppies. Maybe a couple honey garamies I have mollies but man are they jerks to each other.

 

I think really the best bet for you then is to wait it out. For me it feels like I have been waiting forever for any of my crypts to send out just one runner.

Hey thank you for the advice. I waited it out kinda. I pulled everything out of the tank. I took the old substrate put some of it in Filter media bags the all plastic ones. And capped it all with sand and gravel mix. Looks so much better and with having less planted tank sub the algea levels dropped drastically all my plants are growing very well. Well except I lost all the moss. The jungle val and the sag are finally sending out runners. I've even had to move them because they were growing under my hard scape lol. But I kinda want to remove all the val and find a cool stem plant to put in and have a nice leafy plant as the centerpiece for the plants. I'm not sure what plants though. I want something cool for the centerpiece. But the stem I'm looking for needs to have plenty of hiding spots for the fry I'm hoping my cherry barbs will breed and I want the young to survive till I can catch them. And the val is just way to tall and triming it is killing the whole plant.

 

But I kinda want to remove all the val and find a cool stem plant to put in and have a nice leafy plant as the centerpiece for the plants. I'm not sure what plants though. I want something cool for the centerpiece. But the stem I'm looking for needs to have plenty of hiding spots for the fry I'm hoping my cherry barbs will breed and I want the young to survive till I can catch them. And the val is just way to tall and triming it is killing the whole plant.

I like pogostemon stellatus octopus for a stem plant. Grows fast and fills in space nicely. For a centerpiece you could do a large java fern with the rhizome glued to a stone, always easy to remove if you don't like it or want to move it.

 

I like pogostemon stellatus octopus for a stem plant. Grows fast and fills in space nicely. For a centerpiece you could do a large java fern with the rhizome glued to a stone, always easy to remove if you don't like it or want to move it.

I will have to look into that plant. Thank you.

 

Java Moss is definitely the way to go for aquarists who just want to throw a plant into the tank and call it a day. In my opinion for growing the Guppy and java moss, you need to maintain some criteria properly.
For the growth of guppy grass, the optimal temperature conditions for growing guppy grass is 20 – 26 °C (68 – 79 °F). It is tolerant of a wide range of temperature conditions though.
pH: The ideal pH value for guppy grass is between 6.0 – 8.0.
Hardness: Guppy grass can easily tolerate soft or hard water. The water hardness tolerance range is between 2 – 20 GH.
Light. Although you may consider moss to thrive in damp conditions they are still plants that use photosynthesis to produce their food. Sunlight is vital to ensure moss will grow. This is the primary balance of moss conditions – that of light and water. Guppy grass will do well in low – medium lighting conditions, and ideally, the lights should be kept on for at least 8 hours and 12 hours maximum daily. In addition, low lighting may be okay for growing Guppy grass, but you should equally know that the more light (closer to medium) it has, the greener it will be. Under high light, it gets a reddish tint. Keep in mind that, high lighting might also burn Guppy grass.
Guppy grass can thrive without CO2 injection, but you can dose liquid carbon if the plants are struggling.
Fertilizer application is essential because it helps to replenish lost nutrients in the tank water. In this case, I would recommend the use of liquid fertilizers from time to time.