I need help - planted not going well.

I may change out the Anacharis for Hornwort anyways.

I suppose that I'll try liquid Flourish, that way I can see each dose that goes in and it will keep me on top of tank maintenance.

How long do plants need to acclimate? I mean, it's been 3 months...
 
you really don't acclimate plant like live stock.

plants like anacharis for example.. are often grown in open ponds with daylight..so you get these really gorgeous plants..but place them in the tank the plant slowly dies back..can take weks even months for the effect to be noticed as the plant dies back slowly. even high light tanks may experience some die off.. especially anacharis since we cannot even dream of duplicating the natural sun.
 
star_rider said:
you really don't acclimate plant like live stock.

plants like anacharis for example.. are often grown in open ponds with daylight..so you get these really gorgeous plants..but place them in the tank the plant slowly dies back..can take weks even months for the effect to be noticed as the plant dies back slowly. even high light tanks may experience some die off.. especially anacharis since we cannot even dream of duplicating the natural sun.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I know. Perhaps it I'm just incredibly impatient. I guess 3 months is not long enough to wait. I just often see users on here post their setups and after a few months have a gorgeous, full plant life.

I suppose I'll keep at it and just try to wait.
 
hang in there..many of the other tanks have 2-3 wpg and the plants may not need as much time to recover
 
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OK, I read all of this and my conclusion is your water is low on potassium. If you don't fertilize and still have 10-20ppm nitrate, then you have to have 2-3ppm of phosphate in the tank. It can be even more due to fish poop. Without potassium P and N will just accumulate and plant will barely consume it. Browning of the leaves only prooves it.
Solution: Do a good water change to get the phosphate into 1ppm range. Then, dose Floarish potasium or potassium sulfate to about 20ppm slowly.
With time you will see how your nitrates start going down instead of going up -that is the sign that plants started feeding ( provided you have a healthy balance between plants and fish).
Even though your light is OK I would add maybe 20 more W, but this is my opinion and you don't really have to do it. In fact I had success with cripts with 30W in 29G.
I would try dosing something like leaf zone. It has potassium and iron and should be available in your local store.
Good luck.
 
A couple of things:

1. Do the root tabs say to replace every month? I put in root tabs every 4-6 months ussually. But that is just my tank.

2. You aren't going to have fast growth without CO2 and ferts. You can have good growth, and easily managed growth, but not fast. It all goes back to the plants physiological processes operating at a slower rate. Based off that, I would assume, that part of your problem is that your plants, while low light plants, are almost in a state of shock from reduced light and nutrients from when you originally bought them and are having a die off as they reacclimate themselves to significant light changes. This happens when you upgrade as well. Best example I can think of, is to cut down a big tree in your yard, and watch all the grass that was used to shade die off. Same idea, but in reverse.
 
No boostnbuds, it's nitrAtes should be 10-20ppm.

I have 2 20 longs with 20 watts now, no CO2. Java fern is very slow to show growth, the "lace" kind is a bit faster. Both had new small leaves & plants but they are smaller than I've had before. Different house & water, maybe a different variety. Leaves were very large in less light but higher nitrates & GH.

Java moss I had trouble keeping alive over the years (well, looking good anyway). This last batch is green & growing well. Did yours look good when you got it? Is it brown with diatoms, does it come off?

The anubias will get diatoms (brown algae) but it should go away eventually. Do you still have the 1 oto? Might get him a couple buddies, they like diatoms. Water movement seems to help sometimes as does a little shade.

Anacharis always seemed like a dirt magnet to me so I don't grow it anymore. Again, try water movement.

Never had najas.

Mostly it sounds to me like diatoms, my tank with eco seemed especially effected for a long time. Water changes & a thin layer of filter floss (pillow stuffing from walmart) in the filter can help remove some.

Replacing your bulb is a good idea. I got mine at Home depot but it didn't tell the color spectrum on all so it took a while to decide.

I like crypts, but balansae doesn't seem to grow well for me.
 
I have had good luck with crypts, java fern, java moss, and anubias in low light. I run 110watts on a 125gal aquarium. I see you live in MD. I live in northern VA and we get our water from the Potomac river. Ph 7.4 medium hardness. I have never had very good luck with anacharis. My plants took a few YEARS to look good and fill in. Check this link to my thread.

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146074&highlight=low+light+success
 
I say dont get discouraged.
I am a noob myself and started my planted tank just about 6 months ago.
at first I was realy frustrated as almost all the plants I bought were "dying" on me, but shortly after they perked up. even though I only have 50watts of light over 45g tank it is starting to look pretty good now. at least in my opinion.
I dont add CO2 and lately havent even added Flourish (I noticed more algea very shortly after dosing that so gave up on it for now).
I had great success with the variety bulb pack from Petco. it was mostly aponogeton bulbs but also a tiger lotus that grows pretty well now. almost all bulbs sprouted and now couple of those plants are around 20" tall. At $8 for about 8 plants now you cant go wrong.
One thing I learned, you have to be very patient when it comes to keeping a planted tank on a budget.
check out the link in my signature for plant and fish stock.
hopefuly it helps.

good luck
 
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