leaves look like they are chewed?

[Paccula]

I'll add that I've been giving my fish a piece of zuccini every week now, to make sure they have enough green food. I leave it in there for 2-3 days.
Also, it's my hygro polysperma that is most affected. The bottoms have short shoots which are fairing alright, but the upper stems are long and the only leaves left are a few tiny ones at the very tips. They never last long. My scarlet hygro is fairing much better, only a few of it's leaves are damaged at the very ends.

 

[midiamin]

Sounds like a water quality issue. Plant nutrients? Trace? What's the specs on your tap water?

 

[Lupin]

my clown loach really limits me. I hate it.

Get Javan ferns.

 

[Paccula]

tap water is
ph 6.9
kh 0
gh below 20mg/l
calcium below 20mg/l

My lfs was concerned about my tank ph being so high (7.8). I think it may be a side effect of raising the kh 4-5, but I'm not possitive if that's why... I'd like it to be lower, and I add co2, but it's still high. *shrugs*

I can't figure out why the plants are fading, and neither can anyone at my lfs (they are actually knowlegable there). My plants were growing like crazy until a few months ago. I hadn't changed anything about my maintenance routine or ferts. I asked my landlord and she said nothing has changed in the buildings water to her knowledge (no new water heater, pipes, etc). If the cities water was bad, other people would have similar problems, and no one I know has. My lfs has the same water and they are fine.
I think the problem is in the water supply, though, and not my substrate, because even my hornwort is not growing as it used to.

So, this weekend I am going to tear appart my tank and start again. I bought sera florapo to go under some fine gravel. (I had been useing regular gravel and seachem flourite mixed, and some sera fert tabs occasionally). I think the sera products may work better since I have nearly their whole line of ferts now, and I'd think they are designed to work together, so I shouldn't be missing anything.