Why am I only seeing the Ricca flourish

[humerjeep]

I have a semi planted tank and have installed a CO2 unit plants also gets their doesage of liquid plant food as well, Oh! by the way I also have a deep layer of substate and although the roots of the plants seems to be healthy i'm still facing the issues below The tank has been running for approx 3 weeks the only plants that seem to be benefitting are the Bacapa new green shoots have appeared but the over all look of those plants is very weak in structure, & the Ricca that is coming on in leaps and bounds that is attached to some bogwood but every thing else is either being attacked by algae black algae( java fern) or leaves are forming brown spots (Sword plants) or leaves look like there water log and stripping (Vallis). i have a number of other plants and theres no growth at all. The CO2 unit must be working as the Ricca is covered in tiny bubbles and does look healthy. What is happening should I remove all the plants that don't seem to be thriving and if so other than Ricca what is hardy enough to used within the tank, in the past I brought plant on a regular basis don't want to be going down that route.Also are there any sites other that Aqua Journal that will give me a step by step guide in aquascaping. The second week tank setup I done a refurbishment but it still doesn't look much better than my intial attempt. Looking to create an amazon basin bio tank.

 

[djlen]

Not sure you have Riccia. Riccia has no way of 'attaching' itself to anything. It must be held in place to give the 'attached' appearance.
Perhaps you may have Java Moss?
I think more patience with the plants is in order. Stem plants will show signs of growth pretty quickly, but some of those you mention take a while to establish themselves and begin to grow. Particularly the Vals. Once established they will grow and spread rapidly.

Len

 

[humerjeep]

Hi Len,
Sorry forgot to mention the Ricca was brought tied to the bogwood. The Ricca looks very fine how is this planted or is it left as a floating plant?? this is my 1st encounter with this type of plant how is normally sold? Anyway I'm hearing you loud and clear I'll just have to be patient and wait for the other plants to flourish.

 

[djlen]

If you are lucky you can find it in large flat wads that are grown floating on the surface. Those wads can then be layed over a rock and held to it with hair netting.
I have given away softball sized wads of the stuff. For some reason it grows really well in the conditions of my 40 gal. tank. I can grow it in all of them, but it gets thick and heavy in the 40.
Riccia itself is really a large collection of almost microscopic plants that multiply and form these wads that naturally float on the surface. It can be quite pretty when held down on an object and trimmed regularly.
Yes, give your other plants some time (especially the Val.) and care and they will perform for you.

Len