The plants have not been thriving

[IchthyPen]

This is my more recent tank. It has a couple plants: Water wisteria, unidentified crypt,floating plants, and a struggling anubias. For substrate, I had ordered a substrate that specified that it supports planted tanks. The floating plants have been dying and making a gross tangled mess at the bottom, the other plants have not been growing well and i had to remove a few who were just struggling too much.
The water parameters have been 7.5 pH, nitrites 0, nitrates 20-40 ( has recently risen a tiny bit) The water is stained by tannins a little bit. I do put in liquid fertilizers. The light is a clip on aqueon planted tank light. (it's so unbelievably bright)

In the tank are 1 betta, 1 snail and a small population of pest snails, 2 panda corys, 4 neon tetras, and 3 harlequin rasboras. What do I need to do to make the plants thrive more? I really want to have a lush tank but i have more a brown than a green thumb. I need help

 

[UnknownUser]

What liquid fert are you using? Some aren’t complete so they would overdose certain things while underdosing others. Do you know the kh/gh of the water?

The anubias might be struggling from the high lighting. Mine melts when the light is too much. It’s a low light plant.

Lots of floating plants die if the top of their leaves get wet.

 

[3Fishnight]

Pretty sure plant growth is slower when your nitrates get above like 40ppm, we would need more info about your tank. Temperature, what fertilizer do you use, how long is your light on and what are the specs of your light it should say on the light itself/ box if you have it. If your plants aren't growing its usually ur light or not enough nutrients, or it could be water parameters what are you gh and kh?

 

[IchthyPen]

Pretty sure plant growth is slower when your nitrates get above like 40ppm, we would need more info about your tank. Temperature, what fertilizer do you use, how long is your light on and what are the specs of your light it should say on the light itself/ box if you have it. If your plants aren't growing its usually ur light or not enough nutrients, or it could be water parameters what are you gh and kh?

the kh is 240, gh 180. The tank is a tropical freshwater so in between 75-80 some degrees. The lights i have on for around 12 hours. I don't have a timer attached so it can vary a little. I no longer have the box still.

 

[UnknownUser]

12 hours of bright lighting is too much for the anubias, I’m willing to bet that’s the issue for that one specifically, especially if it’s close to the top of the tank.

What fertilizer are you using?

 

[IchthyPen]

I'm using fluval gro+ +iron liquid ferts. Iron deficiency has been a rampant issue in my tanks, especially my 20 gallon, and it was the only fert i could find that pretty much completely fixed that issue.

 

[3Fishnight]

I'm using fluval gro+ +iron liquid ferts. Iron deficiency has been a rampant issue in my tanks, especially my 20 gallon, and it was the only fert i could find that pretty much completely fixed that issue.

Hello i just did some quick research on your fluval gro+ and it is very low on all your macro nutrients meaning the nutrients your plants need the most of. It also is pretty high in iron so you probably shouldnt be addding an iron dose on top of that. Your macro nutrients are nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Your missing potassium and phosphorus, u have plenty of nitrogen(nitrates) as u said about 40ppm earlier. U wanna keep ur nitrates around 10 ppm in a planted tank im pretty sure. U could look into buying seachem potassium and phosphorus and dose those seperately, u coukd get dry ferts which saves money, u could look for fertilizer thats high in your macro nutrients i listed above and continue to dose your fluval gro+. As i use easy green aquarium co op for that but this is also high in nitrogen if you used that you would have too much nitrates.

Also if your light is really that strong i would try keeping the light on somewhere between 6-10 hours prolly try 8. and you need to get a co2 source if you want very good fast growth. Maybe try liquid nitrogen supplements like flourish excel. Or invest in a co2 set up.

Liquid co2 supplement*

 

[Backblast72]

A planted aquarium can be a tricky environment to deal with and so I sympathize with you in this matter. However, if you want to keep and maintain a planted aquarium you have to make sure all your parameters are on par; otherwise, you will consistently have issues which may be a little hard to deal with depending on their severity. Now, with all this said, if you are going to have CO2 injection / fertilization you have to make sure you pay attention to three major things. 1) duration of light (don’t worry about intensity ) the key factor here is duration. 2) CO2 fertilization (ensure you are using a drop checker which is the MOST EFFECTIVE way to visually ensure your carbon dioxide is at the CORRECT concentration within your water column). And 3) you have to make sure to use a all in one liquid fertilizer. It will have both the Macro and Micro nutrients your plants will ever need. These three factors above all else are going to either make or brake you when keeping a planted aquarium.

now I’m respect to your lighting. You said you have 20 gallon tank so you have to take in account the height of your tank and understand that depending on the types of plants that you currently have in your tank or wish to have will be affected by the intensity of your lighting fixture. Try to find out the specifications for your light bar or fixture and this information will be either in Kelvin units or Nano meters / PAR value. PAR stands for Photosynthetic Ambient Radiation fancy word which describes the light spectrum your light fixture is able to generate. If you have plants like your Amazon sword which like a LONG duration of light at average 8-12 hours you can plant these on the back part of your tank and the low light plants like your Anubias towards the front of the tank. Try to position your light bar so that the brightest intensity of light hits the plants which like or need that type of light and the lowest towards the front. You should be able to see this effect I am describing if you look at your tank from the side and should see the triangle of light coming down into your tank from your light fixture.
As far as the liquid all in one fertilizer I use NilocG Thrive and use the EI method of dosing. I have a 75 gallon planted and dirted tank. So for my tank I dose everyday for seven days 2mL for every 13 gallons of water and on the seventh day I do a 50% water change.
I run my light no more than 9.5 to 10 hours a day and my light bar is rated at 7,000K.

 

[3Fishnight]

A planted aquarium can be a tricky environment to deal with and so I sympathize with you in this matter. However, if you want to keep and maintain a planted aquarium you have to make sure all your parameters are on par; otherwise, you will consistently have issues which may be a little hard to deal with depending on their severity. Now, with all this said, if you are going to have CO2 injection / fertilization you have to make sure you pay attention to three major things. 1) duration of light (don’t worry about intensity ) the key factor here is duration. 2) CO2 fertilization (ensure you are using a drop checker which is the MOST EFFECTIVE way to visually ensure your carbon dioxide is at the CORRECT concentration within your water column). And 3) you have to make sure to use a all in one liquid fertilizer. It will have both the Macro and Micro nutrients your plants will ever need. These three factors above all else are going to either make or brake you when keeping a planted aquarium.

now I’m respect to your lighting. You said you have 20 gallon tank so you have to take in account the height of your tank and understand that depending on the types of plants that you currently have in your tank or wish to have will be affected by the intensity of your lighting fixture. Try to find out the specifications for your light bar or fixture and this information will be either in Kelvin units or Nano meters / PAR value. PAR stands for Photosynthetic Ambient Radiation fancy word which describes the light spectrum your light fixture is able to generate. If you have plants like your Amazon sword which like a LONG duration of light at average 8-12 hours you can plant these on the back part of your tank and the low light plants like your Anubias towards the front of the tank. Try to position your light bar so that the brightest intensity of light hits the plants which like or need that type of light and the lowest towards the front. You should be able to see this effect I am describing if you look at your tank from the side and should see the triangle of light coming down into your tank from your light fixture.
As far as the liquid all in one fertilizer I use NilocG Thrive and use the EI method of dosing. I have a 75 gallon planted and dirted tank. So for my tank I dose everyday for seven days 2mL for every 13 gallons of water and on the seventh day I do a 50% water change.
I run my light no more than 9.5 to 10 hours a day and my light bar is rated at 7,000K.

I got a question, does the drop checker work with flourish excel.

 

[-Mak-]

So substrate - it looks very shallow. It's better to have 2-3 inches for deeper rooting plants like crypts. Also, just because it's marketed for a planted tank it doesn't mean it's actually that good for plants. An unfortunate side of the hobby. If it's Flourite or Eco-complete, it's going to be like gravel in terms of nutrients. If it's an aquasoil, you're mostly set. You'll likely still need some form of water column fertilization though. What has been said about the lack of macros in the one you're using is spot on.

Though I think your light is okay for those particular plants, it's important to note that just because it looks bright to us that doesn't mean it is a suitable intensity for plants.

Can you tell us more about your water change and cleaning routine? How much, how often, how you clean, etc

The anubias might be struggling from the high lighting. Mine melts when the light is too much. It’s a low light plant.

Though anubias is touted as a low light plant, it can handle high light just fine if the tank is balanced to fend off algae. If yours is melting under intense light I would look to reasons such as sudden environmental change

Pretty sure plant growth is slower when your nitrates get above like 40ppm,

Not true, a lot of EI users aim for 40 ppm

I got a question, does the drop checker work with flourish excel.

No, because flourish excel does not add actual CO2 gas or if it does, it's a minuscule amount

 

[Backblast72]

I got a question, does the drop checker work with flourish excel.

No the drop checker come with a specific liquid that is design to react to the pH change in your water column. The one I have gives me three distinct color displays. Blue for the co2 being low, bright green for when is correct, and bright yellow when it’s to high. You fill the bulb to either 2/3 or 1/2 full and you change the fluid once a month. It it is the most reliable way to visibly check the correct concentration of co2 in your water column. If you look at the picture of my tank, you’ll see the drop checker on the left corner of the tank.

 

[IchthyPen]

I don't want to mess with co2 yet. Thanks for the information I'll be getting a fertilizer that fulfills the macronutrient need of my plants as well as making the improvements y'all had written. Thanks for your input

 

[Backblast72]

I don't want to mess with co2 yet. Thanks for the information I'll be getting a fertilizer that fulfills the macronutrient need of my plants as well as making the improvements y'all had written. Thanks for your input

NA NilocG makes an all in one liquid fertilizer which has both macro and micro nutrients for low tech tanks. I believe they call it ThriveC.

 

[LeviS]

If your still following this post and your dosing the excel its killing some of your plants. It will destroy hornwort and jungle val. It will kill some plants but be ok for others its 50/50. Excel contains gluteraldehyde, id recommended that you google that and if you get it on you be sure to wash your hands. If stop dosing excel and just monitor your fert dosing you should be good.

Edit: was directed as general comment for those using excel, misread a response in reference to the excel and drop checker.