Why does my anacharis grow so thin?

[Dejitaru_Davis]

I have a low tech planted tank going -- no ferts, no CO2, no fancy soils. My lighting is an incandescent fixture with CFL bulbs. (I wanna say 15w "equivalent to 60" -- it's been a while since I bought them, but they're whatever the highest output is before the bulbs bump up in size.)

All I grow in there is anacharis and java moss, so I didn't think it'd be a big deal. My anacharis grows really spindly, though. At the store the anacharis has lots of close leaves and it's dark and bushy. Once it starts growing in my tank the stems grow long between each set of leaves.

It certainly grows well enough...I've trimmed the stems quite a few times, and each of those stems has grown equally tall...but it's all so thin.

Is there a reason it grows like this?

 

[FSM]

The incandescent equivalence rating is irrelevant, they're 15 watts not 60.


Stem plants tend to do that in lower light levels. You can get 23W CFL bulbs.
Also, some fertilizer wouldn't hurt.

 

[Bubbles2112]

I agree--throw in some ferts and thin the anacharis if you have lots all twisted together.

 

[kj5kb]

Sounds like not enough light to me too.
What size tank with how many/what size CFLs?
If you can find 23W ones to fit (they come in different shapes) that would help.

I have anacharis growing in a 10G tank with a 15W wide spectrum t8 tube..it does OK.
And other times I just can't get it to grow at all...it gets all spindly and falls apart.

May want to try najas grass or hornwort instead of anacharis.

How's the java moss?
Java moss will get a bit spindly/sparse under really low light or insufficent ferts conditions, but it's pretty hard to kill.

Could be low on nitrogen or iron too.

 

[Dejitaru_Davis]

Whoops! Though I put it in my first post, but it's a 10 gallon tank. I kinda suspected lighting might be the issue -- I'll have to see what I can do in the way of better bulbs. Should I look somewhere specific for a properly sized 23w bulb? I suspect if I pull the reflector out of my current fixture I could fit a larger bulb in it.

The java moss....it seems to grow well enough, but I have a hard time gauging this sort of thing. I'm a plant novice, but I hated the thought of going plastic. My shrimp love to climb around on the plants and I suspect the big glob of java moss around the rocks is to thank for my high yield of cherry shrimp (they were in with a minnow and some guppies).

Since I know nothing about ferts, could someone recommend me something? Obviously I have inverts, so nothing that kills shrimp or snails :/

 

[theicequeen]

Water Wisteria is a nice plant to. I have to cut mine in half about once a week , it grows like crazy. It's very bushey and looks nice, the fish love playing in it

 

[_Ty_]

Anacharis... Is it the true tropical type or the cold/sub trop. water type? One of the LFS here buys the cold water type and sells it as tropical... so watch out for these.

Anacharis is tall and spindley when growing up to reach the light. Adding more light can help. I'd leave the one light bulb that you have and add a small grow light.

Java moss is easy to grow usually. It will look bright green at the tips where it is growing out, but primarily is a pine or forest green color when healthy. My rotalla, jungle val, bacopa, and others are pearling and the moss is still a nice dark green.

If you are not adding trace elements, then you should look at "Flourish" by Seachem or another comparable product. This will add many necessary minor minerals and such like iron. I use this stuff even in my "low-tech" planted tanks that are not fertilized, co2 injected, etc.

I would not bother dosing macro's or using ferts at all other than the trace elements UNLESS you also increase all of the other plant growth factors. Meaning, ferts should be added along with increased lighting and co2 injection. Anacharis is not that demanding and there should be adequate macronutrients available from the uneaten food and fish poopy.

 

[dundadundun]

as far as i know feeding fish provides no source of potassium. that's a macro i definitely dose in my low tech tanks. i've definitely got plenty of fish.

i would definitely dose micros regardless. i would do plantex though.

i like ambulia as an easy floater. people don't usually use it that way but it works well enough for me.

i get my fertilizer at aquariumfertilizer.com.

kno3 is potassium nitrate (good if your nitrates drop around 5 in a planted tank)
kh2po4 is potassium phosphate (doses potassium and phosphates and is typically what's recommended for both)
plantex csm+b is your micros and a little iron
k2so4 is potassium sulfate (used for supplemental dosing of potassium) (typically optional on most setups)

those ferts will last you a lot longer than anything you can buy at the lfs. for a 10... low tech... almost forever.

you could dose a carbon source for better growth and overall health too. i know of excel and/or florin axis that should help there. i would keep the dosage real low though if you did.

i would definitely do kh2po4 and plantex at the least. there are people that maintain low tech without ferts quite successfully though.

for bulbs (spiral) i'd go with ge daylight 6500 k as my first option. obtainable at walmart and i think some ace hardware stores now.

second choice imo... n:vision daylight cfl... from home depot or a local hardware store.

all recommendations are shrimp safe. EDIT: not just my recommendations, but all so far.

 

[Dejitaru_Davis]

for bulbs (spiral) i'd go with ge daylight 6500 k as my first option. obtainable at walmart and i think some ace hardware stores now.

second choice imo... n:vision daylight cfl... from home depot or a local hardware store.

What wattage do you use? I'm trying to find a 23 watt bulb but the Walmart I've been to doesn't seem to have one...hops from 20 to 26. There are two options for 23's, but one is a Sylvania and is only available in 2700 K. The other is Greater Value or some-such and has no Kelvin value indicated on the box. I'm gonna guess it's a "soft white" or something.

 

[7itanium]

because you have no light

a 15w CFL bulb is 15w of light.. that equivillency thing means nothing.. incadescent light is useless to plants.

when we way 1wpg or 2wpg were referring to 1WATT of flurescent (CFL) light


anyway the reason it is growing thin is because it is stretching itself to get closer to the light... using all its mass and energy to group UP instead of OUT