Live Plants - Frustrated

[markinatlanta]

So, have had my tropical tank up a while now, and things have gone well with the water, and the fish.  What hasn't gone well?  Success with live plants.
Tried bulbs first - no success there at all.  Have planted 3 different types of 'existing' ones.  One didn't last at all, and the other 2 are still planted, but neither have grown a bit.  At all.
I'd like live plants because (I assume) it has to lead to a healthier ecosystem - so what's the secret?

 

[Robbo89]

Are you using plant fertilizers? 

 

[markinatlanta]

No, have not.  Is that necessary?

 

[Robbo89]

Nope, not required. Just worth a shot as I'm sure many people will swear by it

 

[eaglesaquarium]

It comes down to balance. You need balance between your lighting, carbon dioxide, and the requirements of the plant.

What's your lighting, and your tank size?

 

[SO19Firearms]

No, have not.  Is that necessary?

Do you feed your fish?

 

[MissKaylakay93]

What type of lighting do you have -- wattage, bulb type, size of tank, ect. I have a 10g set up with no hood and a regular grow light hanging over top -- this one here http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055F4VB4/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. We have had great success with thriving low-moderate light plants and have had some moderate-high plants as well (we just had to play with placement of the plants.) This ended up being a much cheaper alternative than picking up a t5 bulb and fixture.
 
We also put co2 booster and fertilizer in. I wouldn't say that it would make up for lack of lighting, but if you are looking to push your plants from surviving to thriving, I would recommend it.

 

[PrairieSunflower]

I got for easy plants... haven't managed to kill an anubias of any sort yet!  But they are quite slow growing.  I think one of mine (I have several of them actually) is called anubias congensis (? something like that) and that one shows more obvious growth than any of the others... I've had 3 flowers on my anubias nanas this year.
 
So, anyway... that's my thing... if all else fails... anubias.

 

[dgwebster]

I've had success with plants that are more like weeds to be honest (cabomba etc.) when it comes to zero tech additions other than liquid plant ferts and rabbit poop.
 
When I did want to make a decent plant growth, Co2 became a must. My plants went from "there" to "THERE" from just a tiny modest addition (yeast & sugar method using a home brew mixture in a nutrifin canister & diffuser). Just adding this alone, the plants developed richer greens and grew instead of surviving.