Plants Forever Dying. Where Am I Going Wrong?

[totally tropical]

After keeping malawis for a few years (minus plants), I decided to revert back to community tropical fish which I had last owned many years ago. Anyhow, I own a 300 litre tank which has been cycled for 6 months and have had no fish losses whatsoever - I keep clown loaches, platies, khuli loaches, bristlenose plecs and red-line torpedo barbs.

What I am really struggling with is keeping my plants alive, I buy really healthy amazon swords and various other popular tropical plants and within days they are dying. Whether I use the already potted varieties of plants or leaded it makes no difference plus I follow the instructions in books etc as to plant species correctly. I tried to do my homework i.e. the entire base of the tank has Tetra Plant Complete Substrate below the fine gravel and I have added top quality plant solutions to the water also and still no joy.

Maybe you could suggest really hardy plants. Any other ideas as to where I may be going wrong?

Thank you all.

 

[Jallen]

Java ferns are practically invincible, just tie the base of it to a small bit of wood or a rock with cotton (black is invisible when tied to wood), fishing line works also.

It will survive in low light, nutrient defficient conditions and will create lots of little plantlets for you eventually.
Just don't plant it in the substrate.

The same applies to anubias - hardy, planted the same as java fern.

However by the fact that you said you kept malawi I have suspicions that your light is very high temperature (blue end of spectrum) and quite bright.
What lighting do you have? Wattage is the most important number for us to know. I have a feeling you may need CO2.

 

[Truck]

what fertilisers are you dosing?

and is the little bulb at the bottom burried in the substrate?

 

[Teephphah]

I am not an expert at this by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd also be interested to know what's happening to the plants. They're dying, yes, but how?

I noticed that you've got a bristlenose pleco in there. While I've heard that bristlenoses aren't plant killers, many a "regular" pleco has been known to enjoy feasting on amazon sword leaves.

Just throwing that out there. . .

 

[aaronnorth]

most plants are usually grown emmersed, sowhen you place them in the aquarium they have to grow new submersed leaves while the "old" leaves die off. Allow up to 2months for this to happen IME.


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