planted driftwwod

[Mattzilla]

i have a piece of planted driftwood that is looking a little poor. the plants are alive and growing SLIGHTLY...but it's not flourashing. i don't add any fertilizers or anything at the moment.

what do you think i should add to my water to 'pep up' my plants??

[Wahter]

Need more info - amount of lighting, hardness of water, size of tank (depth), what species of plants are you growing on the driftwood, etc...

For example, If you've got a 24" (~65cm) tall tank with only a 40 watt normal output flourescent light over it and very soft water, I don't think that will work. On the other hand, if you're growing java fern (microsorum pteropus), it is a slow growing plant.

[Mattzilla]

hi wahter

i have some details for you

200ltr tank
2 foot tall
one 30 watt biolux globe on a timer...on from 11.00am - 11.00pm every day
7.2 ph
60ppm carbonate hardness
0 ppm nitrite
0-5 ppm nitrate
40% minimum w/c daily

thanks all i have... any advice?

[Mattzilla]

i have circled the three types of plants on my driftwood

1. i think this is anubias??? this is growing quite well
2. some sort of sword?? this is on the majority of the driftwood and is doing the worst. it used to have lots of very large green leaves. i did have an algae problem growing on alot of the leaves and i think that killed a lot of them
3. this is very similar to the large sword (2) but much smaller and clumped together and is gowing quite well as well. it's very hard to see in this picture

what advice do you give me???

i am not interested in adding any equipment to my tank, i just want them to grow a little better so they don't look half dead

thanks

[Wahter]

All of those plants look like different types of anubias plants to me; sword plants (echinodorus) won't root onto driftwood. Anubias generally tolerate lower amounts of light and are hardier plants.

30 watts of light probably isn't going to be enough for your plants. Your tank is about 52US gallons. Don't try to substitute light intensity with duration - that will just encourage more algea growth.

Would it be possible for you to add more lighting over the tank - something like 60-75 watts of light would really help. I know you mentioned you don't want to add any equipment to the tank, but I think increasing the lighting intensity would help out the plants.

You can always go with plastic plants if you don't want to add more lighting. :)

HTH,


Walter

[Mattzilla]

i may be able to change the globe with a stronger wattage globe.


thanks for the advice

matt

[ChloroPhil]

You can always go with plastic plants if you don't want to add more lighting. :)


THOU SHALT NOT BLASPHEME IN THIS FORUM!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;D

I agree with Walter, increased light is your best bet Matt. As it is your plants don't look too bad given the circumstances.

Best,
Phil