A Little Help

[bigcheed]

hello all, im looking for a little advice. the plants in my 33g community tank arnt doing so well. namely amazon sword and anubias. ive tried some fertilizer but suffered fish deaths afterwards. it came from pets at home part of their love fish range. my problem is that I have snails and shrimps in the tank so im worried about what to use as I believe most ferts can be bad for inverts. I do have some plants that are flourishing but don't know the names. any advise on ferts or otherwise would be most welcome.

 

[the_lock_man]

Fertiliser shouldn't cause the deaths of either fish or inverts. What is the name of the ferts you are using?  Also what sort of lighting are you running and how long are they on for each day?

 

[bigcheed]

my tank is a fluval roma 125. im using the lights it came with. I think they are t8's not sure on the wattage. the fertilizer was pets at home love fish brand. not long after using my guppies and silver tips died. I stopped using and the deaths stopped. I usually leave the lights on for 10 hrs. the only other thing I changed was the addition of silvania natans. which grows like mad. I cull it regularly so it doesn't block out the light completely.

 

[stanleo]

I know anubias don't do well planted in the ground. They should be attached to driftwood or bogwood and amazon swords get most of there nutrients through the roots so some root tabs could help.

 

[bigcheed]

ive had mixed results with anubias. I have a lovely large one in my betta tank that's just weighted and sits on the gravel. never had any trouble with it. the ones in my 33g are attached to a piece of bog wood and the rhizomes are going brown and the leaves are falling off. only on one section mind you. there is lots of new growth on the other half of the plant. ill try the root tabs for the amazon swords. thanks for the tip. what im wondering about is co2. im not using any. could this be a problem. my other plants are fine. java fern java moss. wisteria.

 

[DrRob]

With the selection of plants you have you shouldn't need CO2, although the higher tech you go the better things will grow. It's also more expensive and adds up to more work. You have an old school collection of plants, things that I've grown under incandescent bulbs with little trouble, so you should be getting good results.
 
Worth considering that anubius can grow incredibly slowly, and can get sulky for a time if messed with. Swords, if new, are almost always grown emersed and will melt when put underwater, before churning out new growth. I have a sword at the moment that has melted and is sitting with tiny leaves, turning them over slowly but surely. One day it'll throw up a proper leaf, once it decides that it's happy again, and it'll go beserk.

 

[bigcheed]

Thanks for the tips folks. Some of what you've said makes sense. So onto ferts then. Where you all stand on seachem flourish excel. I already use prime and have been impressed. Are there other products as good.

 

[stanleo]

I use seachem flourish excel and seachem flourish iron. I dose once a week with both after the water change. Don't use root tabs and my growth seems to do fine.