I need help - planted not going well.

Well, I was dosing Excel to artificially inject some CO2 into the water, but the tank is healthily stocked with fish and the plants are not very large yet, so I can't really fathom how there could be a CO2 shortage in the tank.
 
Your pH is a bit high, but I doubt that's the problem. Nitrates look good, maybe a little on the high side(this wouldn't stunt plant growth, so I wouldn't worry about that).

Duh, I should have just read your sig.

This is indeed a quandary. Almost all plants require a certain level of hardness(GH) in order to grow, if your hardness is too low, it'll stunt growth. However, since your pH is 7.8, I'm guessing your local water is something like 8.4 out of the tap. I've rarely heard of soft slightly basic water.....usually hard basic or soft acidic.

I'll have to think for a minute. In the meantime, I'm sure others will chime in to help.
 
boostnbuds said:
Your nitrates should be 0. Do a water change. 10-20 is an acceptable nitTRITE range not niTRATE. is your tank cycled or are you over fertalizing?
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What? Nitrites are not acceptable in any range. Nitrates are acceptable. This tank has been cycled for 3 months now. I think you might be confused...

And I am not over-fertilizing since I am not fertilizing at all right now except for root tabs.
 
boostnbuds said:
Your nitrates should be 0. Do a water change. 10-20 is an acceptable nitTRITE range not niTRATE. is your tank cycled or are you over fertalizing?
Click to expand...


You are confused. Plants require nitrATES to grow, in fact in a planted aquarium, nirtATE levels between 10-20 ppm are desireable. NitRITEs are harmful to both fish and plants at any level. In a properly cycled tank, there should be no nitrite. In a heavily planted tank, nitrates are often zero, and in fact people with high tech, heavily planted tanks, actually have to add Nitrate in the form of a fertilizer.

Nitrogen Cycle:

NH3--->NO2--->NO3 and then either a water change or plants remove the nitrate.
 
jmhart said:
Your pH is a bit high, but I doubt that's the problem. Nitrates look good, maybe a little on the high side(this wouldn't stunt plant growth, so I wouldn't worry about that).

Duh, I should have just read your sig.

This is indeed a quandary. Almost all plants require a certain level of hardness(GH) in order to grow, if your hardness is too low, it'll stunt growth. However, since your pH is 7.8, I'm guessing your local water is something like 8.4 out of the tap. I've rarely heard of soft slightly basic water.....usually hard basic or soft acidic.

I'll have to think for a minute. In the meantime, I'm sure others will chime in to help.
Click to expand...

Actually, the pH of the water out of my tap is 7.4. I have some flagstone in the tank which might be causing the pH to rise a bit.
 
Hmmmmm, that flagstone probably is messing with your hardness too. Again, I doubt this is really a problem for the plants...could be for the fish, but if they aren't showing signs of concern, don't worry about it.

You could try getting back on the Excel. With your light, you really shouldn't need it. While it can cause some problems for certain plants, none of your plants should be affected. I've heard of it messing with crypts, but when I've used it to treat algae outbreaks, my crypts have been fine. However, more likely it would effect valisneria, which you do not have.

I would leave the anubias nana in there. It is a wonderful plant, very pleasing to look at and a great low light plant. Most high light people find they have to give it up because of algae concerns.
 
Thanks for all your replies, JM.

What about also dosing Fourish? Perhaps trace elements are the problem? Would dosing both Flourish and Excel help?

Also, I try to propagate the anacharis by cutting the stems and replanting. The cut piece usually survives, but the bottom half of the cut always seems to brown and die off after the cutting.

I'm just extremely discouraged and frustrated, but I'll keep at it.
 
one thing yo may want to consider. the plants may need to acclimate to your tank .
sometimes this can take time and you may not see the die off right away.

I had anachari do this..died off till there was hardly anything left..then iot recovered and filled back out.
btw, while anacharis(Egeria) may do ok in low light .. it will do best floating in this situation.
if you really want to see it grow..give it plenty of light.
 
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