plants not growing

[suzannegirl]

i now use tropica soil instead of gravel ,aquasky light on for 6 hours its 125l well planted but all of them even 53b have stopped growing i use liquid c02 daily how much daily should i feed tnc complete daily please thanks

 

[tienvan]

i now use tropica soil instead of gravel ,aquasky light on for 6 hours its 125l well planted but all of them even 53b have stopped growing i use liquid c02 daily how much daily should i feed tnc complete daily please thanks

use my reply as an checklist for your aquarium
does your aquarium have light?
how often do you clean water?
are there natural ledlight?
if you have all threes, i recommend u to use flourish to help aquarium plant grow quicker and healthier, and make sure if you have large cleaner fish i don’t recommend get one since they would unburied or eats the plants.

 

[Metalhead88]

There is no such thing as liquid co2 under normal atmospheric conditions.

Post a picture of the tank and plants not doing well and answer above questions.

 

[StevenF]

Typically plants stop growing when they cannot get a nutrient they need. Now soil will have some nutrients in it but they will eventually run lut. Using a complete liquid fertilizer can resolve you rtissue. It isn't clear to me if you are using a liquid fertilizer or not. Is your tap water soft? Soft water typically has low levels of calcium. TNC fertilizer like many on the market doesn't have calcium which plants need to grow. so if you are using TNC complete and your water is soft that might be your problem. It would be a good idea to get a GH test kit and use it to check the GH of your tank water. If your water is soft you can increase your water GH with an aquarium GH booster.

Note TMC complete has the following in it:
.5% N, 0.2% P, 5% K, 0.8% Mg, 0.08% Fe, 0.018% Mn, 0.002% Cu, 0.01% B, 0.01% Zn, 0.001% Mo, EDTA

 

[itiwhetu]

Why do you use Tropica soil instead of gravel

 

[Colin_T]

Probably lack of light and fertiliser. Most aquarium plants like a bit of light and if you only have the light on for a couple of hours a day, they struggle. If the light doesn't have a high enough wattage they also struggle. Try having the tank lights on for 10-12 hours a day.

If you get lots of green algae then reduce the light by an hour a day and monitor the algae over the next 2 weeks.
If you don't get any green algae on the glass then increase the lighting period by an hour and monitor it.
If you get a small amount of algae then the lighting time is about right.

Some plants will close their leaves up when they have had sufficient light. Ambulia, Hygrophilas and a few others close their top set of leaves first, then the next set and so on down the stem. When you see this happening, wait an hour after the leaves have closed up against the stem and then turn lights off.

Some good plants to try include Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma, H. ruba/ rubra, Elodia (during summer, but don't buy it in winter because it falls apart), Hydrilla, common Amazon sword plant, narrow Vallis, Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta).
The Water Sprite normally floats on the surface but can also be planted in the substrate. The other plants should be planted in the gravel.

If you add an iron based aquarium plant fertiliser, it will help most aquarium plants do well. The liquid iron based aquarium plant fertilisers tend to be better than the tablet forms, although you can push the tablets under the roots of plants and that works well.
I use Sera Florena liquid plant fertiliser but there are other brands too.

Do not bother adding carbon fertiliser to the tank because they are not necessary.

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Stress from tank lights coming on when the room is dark can be an issue. Fish don't have eyelids and don't tolerate going from complete dark to bright light (or vice versa) instantly.

In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the tank light on. This will reduce the stress on the fish and they won't go from a dark tank to a bright tank instantly.

At night turn the room light on and then turn the tank light off. Wait at least 30 minutes (or more) before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to settle down for the night instead of going from a brightly lit tank to complete darkness instantly.