How To Grow/maximize Plants

[hexy]

If someone could help me I am having a little trouble seeing my plants excel and grow. I have had these nearly 2 months now and although my vallis grows very well and quickly, the amazon swords are struggling, as well as my riccia which I bought and has hardly grown at all!

I have a co2 diffuser (though not sure if I need to change this regularly?) also, have plant fertiliser and use this every other day... Also the substrate is flora base.

See below for my planted aquarium and if any suggestions that would be appreciated or new plants!

 

[aaronnorth]

More light = faster growth.
Faster growth requires more CO2 & more nutrients. The higher intensity light you use, the finer the balance becomes.

What wattage & diamater tubes do you currently have?
And what CO2 injecting system are you using? It doesnt sound like a pressurized kit which is essential if you are going to upgrade the lighting.
What fertiliser are you currently using, and how much are you dosing?

Thanks, Aaron

 

[hexy]

Hi Aaron,

Thank you for your response.

I am using 2 x 18W lights. I bought a Interpet ‘River Reef Plant Kit 150 starter kit http/www.fishkeeper.co.uk/Whatsnewinfo.aspx?id=102

And of this I use the Flora 24 every other day. I am completely new to plant keeping so any tips, suggestions on what I need to be doing each day/month etc would be most helpful...

The co2 I have not changed since setting it up, just added some more yeast...

Thanks
Mark

More light = faster growth.
Faster growth requires more CO2 & more nutrients. The higher intensity light you use, the finer the balance becomes.

What wattage & diamater tubes do you currently have?
And what CO2 injecting system are you using? It doesnt sound like a pressurized kit which is essential if you are going to upgrade the lighting.
What fertiliser are you currently using, and how much are you dosing?

Thanks, Aaron

 

[ian]

sorry Hexy, i also was going to answer this thread, fellow Trigon owner!

I am using 2 x 18W lights.

That's low light, you can grow most stuff under that light as long as you have good current around the tank.

And of this I use the Flora 24 every other day

It should be used daily, however, with your light being less that 1 wpg you should be OK using it every other day.

as Aaron states above the lower the light, the less demand on your plants in the way of needing C02 and ferts.

 

[hexy]

Thanks Ian. What lights were you using in your tank?
Do you recommend any particular fertiliser? Or lighting for that matter?

Also where did you buy your plants from?

Thanks
hexy

sorry Hexy, i also was going to answer this thread, fellow Trigon owner!

I am using 2 x 18W lights.

That's low light, you can grow most stuff under that light as long as you have good current around the tank.

And of this I use the Flora 24 every other day

It should be used daily, however, with your light being less that 1 wpg you should be OK using it every other day.

as Aaron states above the lower the light, the less demand on your plants in the way of needing C02 and ferts.

 

[ian]

I'm using the original Juwel T5 28 watt over my tank. That is with CO2 injection, though. I found it OK for growing without a carbon supplement. However it has really taken off with C02. With your lighting, you really should only be dosing once, maybe twice a week. There isn't much demand put on your plants in the way of lighting. You could always look on ebay for a Juwel light unit. The thing with the Trigon's is that they are quite deep and when it comes to lighting, IME/IMO T5's are a must as you need the PAR of the light to be reaching the bottom of the tank. As for the plants, they are all ordered from my local LFS, they use Aquafluer plants, which are cheaper and as just as good quality as Tropica.