My Plants Never Grow !

[Djs7137]

Does anyone have any tips on getting my plants 2 grow i can never get them 2 grow right. i have a 10 gallon tank with 1 Dalmatian molly, 2 bloodfin tetras , Serpae tetra, 1 pleco algae eater. any suggestion on what types of plants. i keep hearing about this co2 stuff for plants can someone inform me about this im new to putting live plants in my fish tank i would like to because i herd its very beneficial for my fish

 

[Truck]

how much light is over the tank in watts? and are they T5s or T8s?

 

[Djs7137]

how can i find out ill go look right now

i have one T8 strip light

 

[Truck]

how many watts is the fitting? it should say on the ballast or tube.

 

[Djs7137]

on the tube itself it says .....Marineland Natural daylight F15t8/18"
and there is also something that says Rated 120VAC, 60 Hz, 17W

 

[Truck]

what plant species are you trying to grow? it could simply be that there isn't enough CO2 for the light available, but my money is on a lack of fertilisers, do you dose any?

 

[Djs7137]

no no i haven't used anything im really new to putting live plants but i would like too. can you recommend anything for beginners easy plants 2 grow and the usage of co2. anything would be helpful thank you in advance ive listed the fish i have in the first post if u where wondering

 

[Truck]

try some cryptocoryne or anubias species, they're slow growing so its easy to spot problems with them. they should be fine with no ferts/CO2, maybe a few floating plants to cut out some of the light?

 

[Djs7137]

thank you ill give it a shot

 

[snowflake311]

T8 are not the best for growing plants. 17 watt is ok. For very low light plants. With low light under 2.wpg you don't need co2 you could use flourish excel to add extra co2. Your fish willproduce co2. With low light the plants use less co2 that's why you don't need it. When you have higher light 2+ wpg your plants grow faster there for need more co2 .

Water sprite is wonderful stuff it's easy to propagate and grows like a weed under most conditions.

JAva fern and java moss are hardy low light plants too.

Root tabs are good are ferts will help.

What kind of plants Have you tried to keep?

 

[RadaR]

T8 are not the best for growing plants.

Depends what you mean by best. They're not as intense compared to Metal halide or t5s but you can do very well with t8s. Two t8 bulbs spanning the length of a tank can be used to grow anything. I know some people that prefer t8s over t5s.

17 watt is ok. For very low light plants.

17W over 10gallon is good and should be able to grow anything with that when using nutrient and carbon additions.

Even "high light plants" can be grown in low light conditions so long as they have the necessary Co2 and nutrients.

 

[AdAndrews]

Even "high light plants" can be grown in low light conditions so long as they have the necessary Co2 and nutrients.

I agree, however circulation needs to be a priority in such a setup

 

[gregswimm]

17W is plenty for a 10g. You can do CO2 very cheaply. I made this one and works AMAZINGLY, found here. Some great plants are java moss, some anubias, water sprite, wisteria, and tape grass; there are others of course. What substrate are you using?

 

[Trollfest]

17W is plenty for a 10g. You can do CO2 very cheaply. I made this one and works AMAZINGLY, found here. Some great plants are java moss, some anubias, water sprite, wisteria, and tape grass; there are others of course. What substrate are you using?

Sorry to hijack but just looked at the DIY reactor looks great but didn't understand the final comment about running an airstone at night to prevent pH fluctuations. What does this mean? Disconnect the yeast bottle or run a seperate airpump?

 

[RadaR]

17W is plenty for a 10g. You can do CO2 very cheaply. I made this one and works AMAZINGLY, found here. Some great plants are java moss, some anubias, water sprite, wisteria, and tape grass; there are others of course. What substrate are you using?

Sorry to hijack but just looked at the DIY reactor looks great but didn't understand the final comment about running an airstone at night to prevent pH fluctuations. What does this mean? Disconnect the yeast bottle or run a seperate airpump?

You could do both.
Personally I see no need to run an airstone at night if you are using DIY yeat CO2 because there is little to no chance you will gas the fish. The pH change isn't a problem either. A CO2 conc of 30ppm will on average decrease the pH by 1. Fish aren't bothered by it, neither are the plants. Plenty of us run CO2 pressurized 24/7 with no problem.
If it makes you feel better then run the airstone at night. Just make sure it turns off 2 hours before the lights come on, to allow the CO2 to build back up otherwise algae will get the upperhand.