I have tried plants a couple times in the past but they never seem to work out. My tank is a 90 gallon, the lighting is a t-5 with one 10000 and one blue actinic. The plants seem to rot but the roots are always pretty developed. I've tried the basic beginner plants java fern, amazon sword, etc. Any input on what I'm doing wrong would be great thanks!
Trouble keeping plants.
- Thread starter Liba
- Start date
How long are you leaving the light on? And are you using any CO2? Also what kind of substrate are you using?
Liba;4904792; said:
We need more info.
Do you use co2?
Are you adding ferts? Dry and or liquid?
Whats you water temp?
What kinda fish do you have?
How much light are you giving the plants?
What are your water parameters?
What kinda filtration?
What filter medium are you using?
you said "The plants seem to rot but the roots are always pretty developed." Did you mean the roots are under developed?
bigbadfish711;4905157; said:
No Co2, haven't tried ferts, water is at 77 degrees, there is a jaguar cichlid 6.5" and a couple clown loaches 3-4". Tank gets 10-11 hours of light. water is soft and params are always perfect, fx5 with two baskets of ceramic rings, and one basket which I just added today with fine particle and a polishing pad. I use pool filter sand as a substrate.
The roots always seem to be extensive and usually longer than the plant it self. Thanks hope that helps?
It's tricky growing plants with cichlids. That actinic bulb is no good for plants. Switch it to 6500K daylight bulb. The other bulb is fine. Do you get any algae issues? If you don't then you can leave the lights for the time period you are using now. If you do, drop it back to like 8 hours and see how things go from there. Plants like anubias, java fern, java moss, anacharis and even crypts don't need anythign special, in my experience. No Ferts or C02, but with it the plants grow better. I would stick to only easy plants, like mentioned, for this tank.
Can't say for sure why this is happening to your plants. Can you explain how they die? DO they gradually go yellow or brown and rot away, or do you ever see any damage like as if a fish is attacking it? Do you bury the rhizomes of the java ferns or anubias? If you do that will kill them.
Can't say for sure why this is happening to your plants. Can you explain how they die? DO they gradually go yellow or brown and rot away, or do you ever see any damage like as if a fish is attacking it? Do you bury the rhizomes of the java ferns or anubias? If you do that will kill them.
Try leaving the plants in if the roots are still good. I've had several plants that seem to die off then out of no where they come back and stay looking good.
Liba;4905348; said:
I would suggest adding some dry ferts around the your plants roots. Maybe the plants have nice root growth because they are trying to find the nutrients they need. I would think that you fx5 and regular water changes are removing most of the nutrients from the water. I have 9 Clown Loaches in my planted tank and keep the water at 82. I would suggest you raise the temp up to at least 80. You said your water is soft. So what is you ph at? I keep my plant tank at 6.8. I use crushed coral in my filter to maintain the ph at this level. You said your tank gets 10-11 hours of light a day. I would cut back to about 8 if you are having any issues with algae. What is the "fine particle" made up of? Is it sand or some thing else?