Sooo... My plants aren't growing... and I have no idea why.

What is the K rateing??? 6500K, 6700K??
 
6500 I think.

And good God, I've got that gravel from a friend when I first got the tank, about 5 years ago. I've never really bleach washed it, so those are cumulative algae stains.
 
LOL, sorry. Gotta cover all the bases ya know? After seeing pics I'm not quite sure that over-lighting is the problem, but photographs can be misleading.

Do you have a picture of your DIY light set up by any chance?
What sort of dry dosing schedule were you using? (Amounts and frequencies)
 
Looks like you could have a Sagittaria subulata...which would account for why your "vals" are not growing ;)

Any chance you could uproot one and get a pic?

I might be able to tomorrow... I did a W/C today, so it's full up. If I reach my arms in there, itt'l overflow (I'm a big guy)



Do you have a picture of your DIY light set up by any chance?
What sort of dry dosing schedule were you using? (Amounts and frequencies)

Pic tomorrow maybe

Alternating every day

K2PO4 1/16 of a tsp (a tiny pinch) (phosphates)
K2SO4 1/8 tsp (potassium)

then

CSM+B (don't know the exact amt, but I mixed it in a 233 ml bottle, and 1 ml did it for the day.(trace)
KNO3 1/4 tsp (nitrites)
 
Everything you are doing seems OK. How old are your bulbs??
 
Everything you are doing seems OK. How old are your bulbs??
OP already answered that they were about a half a year old. That might account for slowing growth now, but not for the first half year. That's why I'm hoping for pics of the hood set-up. Might be some clues there. WPG is a fiddly measurement when you don't know exactly how people have stuff set-up.
 
for cfl's i'm a big fan of ge daylight 6500k bulbs. they do great for me. since it might be time to change your bulbs anyway you might try that.

is your water soft? you might want to add some gh booster and see how that works out for you.
 
you mentioned that you used flourish excel, di you ever try just flourish, im using that in a low light plant tank, with gravel and laterite mixed in, i have a 29g, jave moss, flame moss, anubias, water wisteria, money water, red ludiwiga, and java fern and they all do well
 
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