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Plant difficulties blair thompson 12-12-2007
Posted by blair thompson on December 12, 2007, 5:23 pm
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I used to be able to propagate plants in my tank. Not the really
demanding ones, but the duckweed, etc., but now, absolute NOTHING
thrives in my 20 gallon tank. The fish seem happy enough however.

Our water is fairly soft, and I pay attention to the PH, though it
tends to run towards acid... 6.4 when I tested it today. I use an
outside box filter (Eheim) which doesn't give a whole lot of aeration,
though the fish are not gasping. A couple of sprigs of Hygrophila
Polysperma as floaters have just "passed away". I was giving the tank
at least 8 hours of fluorescent light per day, Water changes of about
25% weekly.I was told by a LFS that this plant is pretty hard to
destroy, but for me, no problem! :)

I have 4 corys, a pair of Siamese algae eaters, 4 neons and 4 cherry
barbs. Down to one solitary male guppy now.

Should I try a plant supplement, get a Gro-Lux tube or what?.
Bulletproof plant suggestions would be appreciated. Wouldn't mind
repopulating with some more livebearers, so some sort of
surface-floating plant to provide a a safe haven for fry would be
preferable.

This aquatic brown thumb needs advice. Thanks.
Blair.

Posted by Reel McKoi on December 12, 2007, 10:54 pm
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>I used to be able to propagate plants in my tank. Not the really
> demanding ones, but the duckweed, etc., but now, absolute NOTHING
> thrives in my 20 gallon tank. The fish seem happy enough however.
>
> Our water is fairly soft, and I pay attention to the PH, though it
> tends to run towards acid... 6.4 when I tested it today.

This is too low for many aquarium plants.

I use an
> outside box filter (Eheim) which doesn't give a whole lot of aeration,
> though the fish are not gasping. A couple of sprigs of Hygrophila
> Polysperma as floaters have just "passed away".
I was giving the tank
> at least 8 hours of fluorescent light per day, Water changes of about
> 25% weekly.I was told by a LFS that this plant is pretty hard to
> destroy, but for me, no problem! :)

Before buying any aquarium plants it's best to see what PH they need to
thrive. My Hygro' thrives at 7.4, the PH of my tanks now that I add rain
water. Don't forget to fertilize them with a good aquarium plant
fertilizer. My lights are on 12 hrs a day.

> I have 4 corys, a pair of Siamese algae eaters, 4 neons and 4 cherry
> barbs. Down to one solitary male guppy now.

Guppies do better in water over PH 7 and slightly hard to hard water - in my
experience.

> Should I try a plant supplement, get a Gro-Lux tube or what?.
> Bulletproof plant suggestions would be appreciated. Wouldn't mind
> repopulating with some more livebearers, so some sort of
> surface-floating plant to provide a a safe haven for fry would be
> preferable.

Just a suggestion but I'd get that water PH up a little more. Is that what
comes out of your tap?

>
> This aquatic brown thumb needs advice. Thanks.
> Blair.
--

RM....
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }<((((*> ~~~ }<{{{{(ö>


Posted by carlrs on December 13, 2007, 11:32 am
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> I used to be able to propagate plants in my tank. Not the really
> demanding ones, but the duckweed, etc., but now, absolute NOTHING
> thrives in my 20 gallon tank. The fish seem happy enough however.
>
> Our water is fairly soft, and I pay attention to the PH, though it
> tends to run towards acid... 6.4 when I tested it today. I use an
> outside box filter (Eheim) which doesn't give a whole lot of aeration,
> though the fish are not gasping. A couple of sprigs of Hygrophila
> Polysperma as floaters have just "passed away". I was giving the tank
> at least 8 hours of fluorescent light per day, Water changes of about
> 25% weekly.I was told by a LFS that this plant is pretty hard to
> destroy, but for me, no problem! :)
>
> I have 4 corys, a pair of Siamese algae eaters, 4 neons and 4 cherry
> barbs. Down to one solitary male guppy now.
>
> Should I try a plant supplement, get a Gro-Lux tube or what?.
> Bulletproof plant suggestions would be appreciated. Wouldn't mind
> repopulating with some more livebearers, so some sort of
> surface-floating plant to provide a a safe haven for fry would be
> preferable.
>
> This aquatic brown thumb needs advice. Thanks.
> Blair.

Most of the Gro lux tubes are rather minimal in lumens per watt.
If you upgrade lighting, I would recommend a 6500 K bulb with a high
lumens to watt output as well as at least 2 watts per gallon.

As already stated your pH and likely your KH and GH as well are too
low.

Here are a few parameters for healthy plants (as well as some sources
for these):

*GH: 100 ppm or higher (this is more important than many realize for
planted aquariums; "during photosynthesis, a rise in pH can occur in
low alkalinity water (20 to 50 mg/L) or in water with moderate to high
bicarbonate alkalinity (75 to 200 mg/L) that has less than 25 mg/L
hardness")

*KH: 50 - 100 ppm; important for good CO2 assimilation. I recommend
Sea Chem Alkaline
Plant Buffer for use in planted aquariums that tend towards low KH.

*CO2: 20-25 ppm; Sanders Floramat CO2 Generator and diffuser or other
CO2 unit, Sea Chem Flourish Excel

*NO3: 5-30 ppm; Fish waste/food and proper aquarium maintenance
procedures, Potassium Nitrate (KNO3)

*K+ (Potassium): 10-30 ppm; SeaChem Flourish , fish food (adequately
fed)

*PO4: 1.0-2.0 ppm

*Fe (Iron): 0.2-0.5 ppm; Azoo Plant Grower Bed or similar, Plant
tablets such as Jungle, SeaChem Flourish

*Ca: 100 ppm +

I also have found that regular water changes with properly mineralized
water go a long ways in plant growth (as well as algae control).

This article may be of help as well (with additional references
within):
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumPlants.html

Carl

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