Can't even grow hornwort!

[screech]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I have a 30 gallon tank stocked mostly with neon tetras, fancy guppys and swordtails. This tank has been in operation for abot 10 years and my fish thrive pretty well (egg layers do better than live bearers). I decided to try to create some habitat for fry to hide in. Want a few to survive but not all of them. I bought some anacharis several months ago and after 2-3 weeks it just fell apart. Put some hornwort in about 2 weeks ago and it is falling apart. I did rinse these plants in tap water for about 30 seconds to clean them before I put then in the aquarium. Several months ago I tied an anubis (sp?) to driftwood and it is doing well.

This tank is probably 20 years old. I bought it used 10 years ago.
The tank is 36" long but the light is only 24" and the floating plants usually are at the end of the tank because of the water flow. Is that a problem?
I'm using a Corrallife 20,000K, 20 watt, t-12 bulb that is several months old.
Undergravel filter
Whisper 2 hob filter.
Ph 6.8
Nitrates 5
Nitrites .25
Water is soft but I don't know the hardness

I'm guessing either my lighting is inadequate or I need to add nutrients. Any help would be greatly appreciated. This is a great site!

Thanks,
Dan

 

[GuppyGirl1230]

Hey Dan! Well, from what I know, you need at least 2 watts per gallon, and you aren't getting it with that light. You also want light coverage over most of (99%) the tank, so if the floaters are not under any light, it will be a problem. I run a t-5 and 2 t-8 bulbs on my 55gal, I have 2 10 watt cfl grow bulbs on my 10 gallon planted tank. Root tabs and liquid fertilizers are a must for plants and also some sort of co2. DIY CO2 is really easy-sugar, yeast and water, or you can use Seachem Flourish Excel. You can use both but I am too worried about CO2 overdose in my tanks to do it. A good source for root tabs and plants is www.bobstropicalplants.com It's run by a fellow member of AC and he has great root tabs. I use liquid ferts along with root tabs, I find that if I eliminate one or the other my plants don't do as well. Good luck, and I hope this helps!

Maribeth

 

[dbosman]

The water is too warm if both anacharis and hornwort are falling apart in two weeks and anubias are doing fine.
The fish you have will produce enough nutrients for both.
More light wouldn't hurt at all, but isn't the limiting factor.

 

[maverickbr77]

You don't need CO2 ferts or special lighting for a number of plants (crypts, anubias, and a number of floaters are pretty standard options). hornwort has a tendency to shed all of its leaves in a new tank and usually comes back. I have had issues with it in tanks with a lot of surface agitation or overall water flow.

 

[screech]

Hmmm...... Never thought about water temp. It's 78 degrees. Is that too warm?

Thanks for the replies! I'm learning a lot already.

Dan

 

[Arakkis]

also check your phosphates, if phosphates are low, the plant doesn't use the nitrates properly

 

[screech]

Got home, checked my water temp. It was actually 80 degrees, so I will gradually lower the temp. a few degrees.

Checked phosphates. My test kit is old but it read zero. Is there something I could add to increase phosphates and stimulate plant growth? I remember when I first set up this tank, I added something to the water to stabilize the PH. The tank got very cloudy because the phosphates were off the chart from the PH stabilizer. Don't want that to happen again!

Maybe it's time to upgrade my light. Not sure if you can get T-12 bulbs anymore.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[gmh]

The 20000k bulb is less than ideal for plants. You could replace it with something between 5000k and 10000k and should get better results, but if the plants stay in a dark corner of the tank you may still have problems.
I think rinsing hornwort in tapwater can stress it out. Those little needles fall off readily if the plant is unhappy. Maybe just gently swirl it in a container of tank water before putting it in.

 

[petluvr]

Decrease the temp in the tank, reduce flow and add another watt or so of light...ps I consider hornwort to be an evil plant.

 

[Kashta]

Hornwort almost always sheds like that when it gets moved. Sometimes it'll even do that being replanted somewhere else in the same tank it was in. That's how it reestablishes itself.... and a large reason why it's reputed for being messy. It can't handle being disturbed. Once it makes a huge mess of itself like that and comes back, it doesn't continue shedding.