Keeping Plants Alive In Sand Substrate

[jonnyf84]

hi, i changed my substrate to sand about 3 weeks ago, slowly i have noticed that my plants are dying, i realise that the roots have nothing to grip to but there must be a way to keep them alive, will a co2 system do the trick? any advice would be greatly apprciated, the tank in question only has about 10 plants in it.

many thanks

jonny

 

[shelaghfishface]

thats strange, when i had sand mine grew better than when i had gravel, the roots seemed to spread like wild fire

 

[aaronnorth]

hi, can you list:

Size of tank & measurements
Lighting (watts)
plant species.
any fertilisers

Thanks.

 

[jonnyf84]

hi, can you list:

Size of tank & measurements
Lighting (watts)
plant species.
any fertilisers

Thanks.

hi there,

120 litre, 3x1x1.5 foot
2wpg

cabomba
amazon sword
java fern
micro grass
indian red sword
moneywort

no fertilisers, no co2

 

[SJ2K]

yehh i wouldnt put the issue down to sand, its a good planting substrate, make sure to use root tabs though and bury them nice and deep

 

[aaronnorth]

hi, can you list:

Size of tank & measurements
Lighting (watts)
plant species.
any fertilisers

Thanks.

hi there,

120 litre, 3x1x1.5 foot
2wpg

cabomba
amazon sword
java fern
micro grass
indian red sword
moneywort

no fertilisers, no co2

With your lighting level there is not enough nutrients or CO2 for the plants to use.

Get at least a liquid fertiliser (tropica plant nutrition+ would be ideal), root tabs will also help. for CO2, create a DIY system (2 bottles linked with t-piece)

http/www.fishforever.co.uk/carbondioxide.html

or if you can afford it, go pressurized, a cheap option is to use a fire extinghuisher (see sig for eqipment and a guide how to set it up.)

 

[jonnyf84]

fantstic, thanks aaron.