plant frustration..still

tank is 18" deep, lifeglo flor. bulbs. (don't know if NO or CF??).
fish: 1 4" bn pleco, 4 fully grown dwarf gouramis, 4 gold tetras, 1 cory, 1 molly, 3 large platys, 2 medium swords, 2 ottos, 1 zebra snail.
I put a pic of the tank (sorry it's blurry but you get the idea) and a pic of the plant leaf with the problems.

all in all I'm happy with my tank, it's just the hygro has had holes pretty much since a week after it got in there, no matter what I try. also, I just want to be sure that my sag and new crypt are going to be okay. I'd take the hygro out if it's just not right for my tank. thanks.

tank.jpg plant leaf.jpg
 
The (blurry) tank looks fine from what I can see.
Based on the info. supplied, I suggest you just let it develop as a 'low tech' tank. Stay with the plants that grow as you'd like them to, and consider the ones that don't as '...not right for my tank.'
Crypts should do great, and I'd consider Anubia for your tank as well. They should both do well in that environment. Keep an eye on the Pleco.....he may be rasping on your plants.
Consider an all-purpose fertilizer, a bottle of Flourish, and if you're not patient a bottle of Excel. The Excel is not really necessary and the tank should develop fine but slower without it. The plants will do fine without the root tabs, and if you go with the all-purpose fert. and Flourish(just noticed you already have this), dose at 1/4 to 1/2 strength, increasing if necessary. The tank looks nice. No sense, IMO in risking algae issues by over fertilizing, and I suggest the all-purpose fert. rather than just the Seachem's K because it'll give you a better balance of nutrients(NPK) for the same reason (to avoid algae).
Your lighting tube is probably NO (normal output) and should be replaced at 6 mons. to 1 year (it will lose some of it's brightness over that period) for better results.

Len
 
That would be NO (normal output), as opposed to PC (power compact).

Len's right, of course, I jumped to the conclusion that you should have some NO3 in the tank. It could well be the test kit, they're finnickey at best.

From a purely "personal experience" perspective, which means that it's not necessarily the general case, I find that my low-tech tank mostly fertilized by fish and fish food occasionally needs a little boost to K, otherwise my anubia get holey. That's not to say that I think that that's what's wrong with your hygro, I've had plenty of hygro look like that, namely the lower leaves under lower light conditions.
 
it's nice to know someone's else's hyrgo has looked this way. I swear I was beginning to think I was crazy. I think I'll take the hygro out and get something else.
I'll go with flourish maybe once a week and use the K only if needed. (and i'm defintely not patient so I guess a bottle of excel is in order too!
just one more question...you said to get an all-purpose fertilizer, I thought that's what flourish was? which all-purpose fert would you recommend?
thanks for the advice. people sure are helpful here. :)
 
I think that Flourish only provides traces. What I think Len means is a comercial product like "PlantGro" of something of the like that can be found at the lfs in the plant fertilizer section. These generally work well on low light tanks, but aren't worth the money on high light tanks which require a little finer tuning.
 
I actually have plantgro also, but bought flourish b/c I was told it was a better product. they appear to have the same stuff in them, just some difference in amounts. djlen.....?
 
Yes, Flourish is for Trace Minerals. You will need something to supply N/P/K, which are your Macro nutrients. Most all-purpose fertilizers will give you a relatively balanced dosage of each. Try to find one that supply's N/P/K only. If it lists Micros(Traces) as well, you don't need to dose Flourish. You don't need/want to over do it with plant food with your lighting. Just not necessary.
In fact, I would suggest just using the Flourish for a while(lightly) and seeing how things go before spending money on Macros that you may not need. Fish waste and plant food leftovers can take care of most Macro needs for your purposes.
Excel will give you your carbon source, but with your 1+wpg don't expect miracles from a fast growth standpoint. You can only push plants so fast with low lighting.
I have seen beautiful tanks that were developed in low/moderate lighting over time.
As I said before dose very lightly initially and see how the plants respond.

Len

Len
 
I think I will skip the excel b/c the ambulias grow like weeds anyway and I just got lots of Java fern to replace the hygro. the vals and sag are nice enough at their size so as long as everyone is healthy we'll see how it goes. wish me luck!
 
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