Plant Help

[JohnMoss]

I have a 55 gallon tank that has been up and running for well over a year.

My plants look ok, but they are definatly not thriving and I want thriving.

I have some

anubias coffeefolia
Val
Amazon Swords

Both the anubias and swords get new growth, yet the growth seems stunted, the leaves on my anubias stay very small, after a couple weeks the edges get black (or dark green) algae and stop growing. (these are not "planted" rather they are on driftwood). The swords get new leaves, but again dont seem to thrive and get to full size.

The Val's seem not to grow at all, nor die, just sort of hang.

I change about 20% water every 2-3 days
have 2.5 watts of full spectrum light
PH is around 6.5
Tank temp is around 86

Tank subtrate is Seachum Flourite

The only thing I have not been doing regular is adding fert.......

Any tips suggestions?

BTW. I have

5 discus
5 SAE
1 GN pleco
10 cardinal tetras

[Chad Hughes]

I'd add a light fert. Nothing too crazy since your light is low and you aren;t using CO2. I'd perscribe seachem flourish and seachem excel. That should help. For the plants tat are in the substrate, you may want to consider supplementing the substrate with some fert stick or tabs. That'll make a big difference.

Best wishes!

[rickztahone]

I'd add a light fert. Nothing too crazy since your light is low and you aren;t using CO2. I'd perscribe seachem flourish and seachem excel. That should help. For the plants tat are in the substrate, you may want to consider supplementing the substrate with some fert stick or tabs. That'll make a big difference.

Best wishes!

hey Chad where do you get your excel and flourish from? i think i should start using these products to have healthier plants. do these products get really expensive? i ask because i've read about members dosing like once a day and to me that seems like you would go through bottles quite quickly.

[rickztahone]

i found this one:
http://www.fish.com/item/seachem-flourish-phosphorus-250-ml/710374%20PHO/

is that a really tiny bottle that i shouldn't even waste my time with? let me know please.

[zn394]

One word of caution. The Seachem Excel will melt vals. I have seen this in my own tank as well as the opinions/experience of others.

[exv152]

I would use fertilizer at least once a week for those kinds of plants & your setup, and some root tabs would benefit the swords hugely. Seachem Flourish & tabs are pretty good.

As for the algae, from my own personal experience, I found the most common cause of algae is usually one of two things, or both. Low CO2, and/or poor water circulation.

[JohnMoss]

So everyone seems to think the most likely culprit is lack of fert.

BUT, I am being told that Seacham will melt my Vals (nice visual).

Anyone have comments on Leaf Zone fert? Should I dose more than once a week since I change out water so often? My sense would be the dose on the bottle assumes min water changes (IE a non discus tank)

Finally, I dont to invest the $ on a CO2 (and dont want to spend the time on DIY). Any suggstions on how how to make this easier. BTW never measured CO2 in my tank I dont have air bubbler either since I figure my plants dump enough O2 in.

[Chad Hughes]

hey Chad where do you get your excel and flourish from? i think i should start using these products to have healthier plants. do these products get really expensive? i ask because i've read about members dosing like once a day and to me that seems like you would go through bottles quite quickly.

I don't use either anymore. I used too years ago. I use dry ferts and CO2 injection.


So everyone seems to think the most likely culprit is lack of fert.

BUT, I am being told that Seacham will melt my Vals (nice visual).

Anyone have comments on Leaf Zone fert? Should I dose more than once a week since I change out water so often? My sense would be the dose on the bottle assumes min water changes (IE a non discus tank)

Finally, I dont to invest the $ on a CO2 (and dont want to spend the time on DIY). Any suggstions on how how to make this easier. BTW never measured CO2 in my tank I dont have air bubbler either since I figure my plants dump enough O2 in.

IME I've never seen excel melt vals, but I was always cautious to not add ferts to the tank unless they were diluted in tank water first. I would never advocate dumping any type of raw fert (or any other chemical for that matter) directly to the tank.

I believe that the leaf zone fert is just about the same as Flourish. You could hold the bottles side by side at the store and see what, if any, the big differences are. The biggest thing that I have noticed with bottled ferts is that no single bottled fert will have everything you need in the quantities that you need it. It's almost like they set up these ferts so you have to buy the micro and the macro seperately.

Anyway, I would start with a fert of your choice and substrate supplement. Use it until it's gone and see what impact it has. If you start to get algae, then dose less. If you arent getting some results, consider a different bottled fert or go to dry (www.aquariumfertilizer.com). They have everything that you'll ever need. I think they have a root tab or something equivelant.

Hope that helps!

[exv152]

...BUT, I am being told that Seacham will melt my Vals (nice visual).

Anyone have comments on Leaf Zone fert? Should I dose more than once a week since I change out water so often? My sense would be the dose on the bottle assumes min water changes (IE a non discus tank)

Finally, I dont to invest the $ on a CO2 (and dont want to spend the time on DIY). Any suggstions on how how to make this easier. BTW never measured CO2 in my tank I dont have air bubbler either since I figure my plants dump enough O2 in.

Excel will definitely melt vals and some others too like riccia, anacharis and a few others, if used in higher doses than what's recommended on the bottle.

Leaf zone is really only a source of iron and K, whereas Flourish is a more complete fert. As far as dosing is concerned, I would start with once a week and increase it from there.

For CO2: measure your KH and pH, and follow the chart at the bottom of this link to know where your CO2 is. *This is only a rough guide.

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm