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CaptainBarnicles

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I cannot keep floating plants alive 😭 I suspect its because my water is super hard but honestly I don't have a clue!

I've tried water lettuce, which did grow and multiply but by the time the new plant was half way matured the mother plant was melting and perishing...

Salvinia...same sort of story, turn brown and disintegrate.

Red root floaters, roots came away for some reason and they're not growing at all...

What's left to try that will fair well in my liquid rock??
 
Duckweed. Pretty indestructible but once you have it in your tank it will probably be there forever whether you like it or not.

Also how far above your water line is your lights? if your lights are really close to your water you might need to raise them up little.
 
😭😭😭 I was afraid duckweed was going to be the answer!

The lights are quite close but I can't do anything about it really apart from lower the water level...which I'd prefer not to do if I can help it because of the water marks that get left on the glass....what a pickle ☹
 
Hornwort. Mine grows so much I have a one gallon jar I keep the smaller pieces in! :)
 
I cannot keep floating plants alive 😭 I suspect its because my water is super hard but honestly I don't have a clue!

I've tried water lettuce, which did grow and multiply but by the time the new plant was half way matured the mother plant was melting and perishing...

Salvinia...same sort of story, turn brown and disintegrate.

Red root floaters, roots came away for some reason and they're not growing at all...

What's left to try that will fair well in my liquid rock??
My fish uprooted several plants, so I allow them to float. Thriving & attractive
 
I very much doubt that the GH is the problem. Light and nutrients are what plants need. Too high a light intensity might burn the leaves, but usually there are insufficient nutrients in balance with the light. Floater are rapid growing plants and thus need more nutrients. Are you using any fertilizers?
 
I very much doubt that the GH is the problem. Light and nutrients are what plants need. Too high a light intensity might burn the leaves, but usually there are insufficient nutrients in balance with the light. Floater are rapid growing plants and thus need more nutrients. Are you using any fertilizers?
TNC lite...which I've stopped using because my tank is all weird, I've got cyano and black bears everywhere so just giving ferts a break to see if it changes anything
 
Probably too much flow, that is usually the cause. I doubt your hardness is the issue.
Hmm...never considered that. I do have a lot of surface movement, I'm waiting on a powerhead so there will be even more, as advised due to the issues I have at the moment.

Maybe I should just give up on them 😔
 
First on the surface flow, I doubt this is an issue, especially after seeing about the cyano and black brush algae.

Cyanobacteria, if you do have this, is caused by an excess of organics in the presence of light. Black brush algae like all "problem" algae is due solely to an imbalance in light/nutrients. You can see how closely related these problems are, both involve organics/nutrients and light.

TNC Lite should be an ideal supplement here. But if the light is too bright, or the wrong spectrum, or on too long each day--all of these can play into it, and the fertilizer then begins to promote the cyano and/or algae.

What is the light spectrum, intensity, and duration?
 
First on the surface flow, I doubt this is an issue, especially after seeing about the cyano and black brush algae.

Cyanobacteria, if you do have this, is caused by an excess of organics in the presence of light. Black brush algae like all "problem" algae is due solely to an imbalance in light/nutrients. You can see how closely related these problems are, both involve organics/nutrients and light.

TNC Lite should be an ideal supplement here. But if the light is too bright, or the wrong spectrum, or on too long each day--all of these can play into it, and the fertilizer then begins to promote the cyano and/or algae.

What is the light spectrum, intensity, and duration?
Should I be fertilizing the tank plants? Someone gave me this & I’ve never used it. I seem to have an inherent dislike of adding anything to the tanks except conditioner.
 

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Should I be fertilizing the tank plants? Someone gave me this & I’ve never used it. I seem to have an inherent dislike of adding anything to the tanks except conditioner.

This is a very good habit to get into...never adding what is not essential. However, as we need conditioner for the fish, so we need nutrients for the plants. And while in some cases there can be sufficient from the fish being fed, the more plants the less likely this works. So a supplement is OK.

Flourish Comprehensive Supplement is very similar to the TNL Lite. TNC is only available in the UK, so I use Flourish Comprehensive. Another similar is Brightwell Aquatics' Florin Multi. Tropica also makes one, it came up in another thread earlier today.

Whichever, you want a complete (comprehensive) supplement. Some nutrients will be in plentiful supply naturally, so overdosing is not desirous. Flourish Tabs are incredibly effective for larger rooted plants like swords, aponogeton, lilies. And they do not release nutrients into the upper water column which is a fish-plus.
 

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