Help with aquarium plants....

Hey all,

3 weeks ago i trimmed the stem plants and replanted the tops.I see that they are gone,missing,some melted.I tried raising light intensity by removing the shading screen that was put on the light. I changed the ferts from only seachem flourish and root tabs to these plus tropica liq fert(the green one) and potassium, twice a week. Yesterday i noticed some algae on the front glass. I also reduced the flow of the hob filter. What am i doing wrong?

 

What temperature do you keep your tank at?

Low temp 24-27c you can get away with low flow in a low tech tank.

27+c as you start to see low oxygen as an issue and must increase flow or add an air stone, or spray bar.

What are you doing wrong? Changing to many parameters simultaneously. More light, more fertiliser, less flow. Bound to get algae.

It’s a tight rope, so adjust one at a time. Observe any changes before thinking about adjusting again.

 

29c and the past days it was even higher,the summer here is warm.
I have air stone on a timer, 2 hours every day(noise of the bubbling is too annoying).

What about the plants not growing?

 

29c is towards the upper limit for plant growth. My aquariums run between 29-31c and I’ve really struggled with most plants.

I managed this with a fairly high tech setup and copious injected CO2.



.. but it was a constant struggle to keep everything alive, let alone healthy, and in retrospect I wish I had a way to get the tank down to 25c.

You might try Anubias and Java Fern, but not much will grow well at 29c.

I’m giving up on plants until I find a way to cool my tanks.

 

Oh,ok then i ll wait till temp drops and probably add more plants in autumn

 

Hi 11panos04

I don't think the 29C (84F) temperature is the issue. Many plants can tolerate temperatures into the upper 80's had higher and continue to grow. I say that because I was growing some young Discus at 84F and had not problems with growth - and I was dosing minimal nutrients to maintain water quality.

The first thing I would do is plant the watersprite 'floaters' in your tank, they can drastically reduce the amount of light that is reaching the plants below. Next I would check my water parameter such as nitrates, pH, dKH, and dGH. If you changed to Tropica Specialised Nutrition that is a pretty good fertilizer however depending upon the pH of your tank you many need to supplement a different source of iron.

After you have water parameter information contact me and I will try to assist further. -Roy

 

Good morning everyone,hi roy,i have the info you asked for.I used sera liquid tests. It s a shrimp only tank with blue dreams in. Its a 27lt cube, i did a 15% w.c. yesterday morning.

ph 8-8,5 (tap water)
no3 10-25
gh 12
kh 9
o2 4

As for the sprite, i had an issue for months now. Although i ve seen pice of it as a rooted plant,and to be honest,when i ordered it it came to me as a rooted plant,with a long,main stem,everytime i tried planting it, the point which was rooted melted and the rest was self-freed and became floated. I even tried a trick,useng airline suction cups with holes,tried passing some of the roots through the holes and placing the suction cups somewhere on the back,close to the substrate,but not touching it.Once again,it self-freed it self. It even changed form, it looks like that,and it seems to like emercing it self,sending many leaves above the surface. Any help with that, any ideas?

 

Hello P, I received your message.

Still enjoy watching a thermometer in your tank, I see

Replanting the top works, but I'd let the tops float first till you see some roots emerging, then stick roots only in the substrate.

The idea with stem plants is to trim often, upon which 2 new shoots grow after each cut, and so on and so on. This creates a "bushy" plant. Typically, by the time the plant reaches the water surface, you cut back/trim a very large part and take it out. Where you made the cut / trim, again 2 new shoots emerge.

Trimming a plant often will speed up stunted growth, though.

This is the reason that in the process of creating a bushy plant, you replant some of the tops to rejuvenate. But again, I would let the tops float first.

+++

Increasing light intensity.......after all we've been through
Remove a floater instead.

 

Good morning everyone,hi roy,i have the info you asked for.I used sera liquid tests. It s a shrimp only tank with blue dreams in. Its a 27lt cube, i did a 15% w.c. yesterday morning.

ph 8-8,5 (tap water)
no3 10-25
gh 12
kh 9
o2 4

As for the sprite, i had an issue for months now. Although i ve seen pice of it as a rooted plant,and to be honest,when i ordered it it came to me as a rooted plant,with a long,main stem,everytime i tried planting it, the point which was rooted melted and the rest was self-freed and became floated. I even tried a trick,useng airline suction cups with holes,tried passing some of the roots through the holes and placing the suction cups somewhere on the back,close to the substrate,but not touching it.Once again,it self-freed it self. It even changed form, it looks like that,and it seems to like emercing it self,sending many leaves above the surface. Any help with that, any ideas?

Hi 11panos04

Based upon your water parameters you have a very high pH, your nitrates are good, and the two hardness reading (dKH & dGH) although high should still be fine for your Ceratopteris cornuta (I grow that species as well). You said it is a shrimp tank, are you using additives to get the pH and hardness up that high? I don't see any shells or coral in the tank but it is possible that the white rock is calcium carbonate?

Tropica Specialised Nutrition does not state the type of iron utilized in it's formula (there are several types) but most likely it is ETDA chelated iron since it is the least expensive. Unfortunately EDTA chelated iron becomes unavailable to plants as the pH increases above pH@6.2. (See Chart). I would suggest using Seachem (Flourish) Iron to supplement the iron in your tank. It is made from ferrous gluconate and is more easily utilized by plants when water pH is above 7.0.


Also, what are the same water parameters for your tap water?

Lastly, looking at your picture the roots do not seem to have the finer, smaller 'hair roots' I would expect to see. I suspect most of the hardness in your tank is from calcium and you have minimal magnesium available to the plants. High levels of calcium effect the uptake of magnesium by plants (Mulder's chart).

I would add 1.27 grams (about 1/4 teaspoon) of magnesium sulfate to your tank about once a month. This will add about 5 ppm of magnesium to your tank and should minimize the rotting of stems as well as improve root growth. Magnesium sulfate is Epsom Salt. Go to your local drug store and buy the cheapest Epsom Salt on the shelf with no additives or scents.

Do the above and report back in about a month and let us know what changes you have seen, hope this helps! -Roy

 

Rocks have been tested prior to putting in,they don t release any calcium. The parameters of my area water have been tested,are the same(didn t test for nitrates though). We have high ph that s true,which is why i had so many shrimp losses the first weeks,till some started giving birth,and the offspring are used to my water.

It s only the thermometer ruud,heaters are off,as promised

 

Temperature water follows room temperature, albeit with a little less amplitude.
So if you know your room temperature, you kinda know your tank water's temp.

Close to 29C at the moment...

 

I have pretty much the same water. This helped me out too! I was using Leaf Zone, which say chelated Iron, now I will switch back to Seachem Iron and Potassium.