I have a fluval 800 with a pleco, 7 neons, 2 guppies, 2 mollies, 9 danios and 4 other tetras. I have had my tank for about 8 months and have never been able to keep my plants alive. The temperature is always steady along with the pH. I have gravel not sand. Someone suggested to me a while ago to change to sand but its too much hassle, anyone have any suggestions?
Problem With Plants Dying All The Time
- Thread starter ptyson21
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RadaR
The things we do for our fish..
Is it the Uno or Duo? The Uno comes with 18W and the Duo with 36W of light. Both are low light tanks and so you would do well to give java fern, java moss, anubias and crypts a go. Changing the bulbs to interpet daylight plus may help as they have good output.
Purchase some root tabs and a good trace fertiliser to give the plants the nutrients they need.
Co2 is optional. It isnt necessary but you should see growth accelerate.
Purchase some root tabs and a good trace fertiliser to give the plants the nutrients they need.
Co2 is optional. It isnt necessary but you should see growth accelerate.
My light is a 15W and that aint any you mentioned, it is the light they gave me with the set up. I have increased the time it is on to 14 hrs. Can I just replace it with another more powerful bulb? Was thinkin bout puttin some moss on my wood, is it easy enough to do? What are root tabs? Sorry about all the quetions, not the best on this topic. Cheers again.
RadaR
The things we do for our fish..
Yes you can replace it with a new, more powerful bulb. There wont be more Watts but the intensity will be more with a new better brand bulb. Attatching moss to wood is easy. Just place the moss on the wood and wrap cotten thread around it. Root tabs are tablets that release nutrients into the gravel (you place them in the gravel).
Cool mate so ill buy a new bulb, what do you recommend that I get n is it just best to get it from the pet shop? Ill try that with the moss then. Im addin a bubble curtain to my tank in the next few days, just waitin for it to be delivered. Then if the bulb doesnt help my plants ill get some root tabs. Cheers
RadaR
The things we do for our fish..
Well the bulb is 15W so get another 15W. Make sure it's the same length too (probably 18").
Interpet daylight plus is a really good bulb. Usually in shops but if not then Aquaessentials have them.
Interpet daylight plus is a really good bulb. Usually in shops but if not then Aquaessentials have them.
Cool cool mate cheers ill look for another bulb. Just realised its actually the fluval uno 600 65litre tank that I have. If anyone has any other suggestions please feel free to share your opinions. Gonna get some moss too! Cheers
Themuleous
Fish Connoisseur
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Surrey pet supplies are a source of cheap aquarium lighting. In addition to the daylight plus Fred recommended I can highly recommend the arcaida freshwater tube. Whilst not vital its often a good idea to get a mix of bulb types as no two tubes are the same which means you get difference in the light spectrums they produce which helps the plants and often also helps the colours of your fish 
Sam
Sam
I bought a new bulb today from my LFS so I will have to wait and see if my plants come back to life, it certainly looks brighter already. I have some moss on the way so fingers crossed that I can make my tank look full of life!! Cheers guys
Well its been a while now since I added my new bulb and things dont seem to have changed much at all. I have java moss trying to grow at the moment but seems to be disappearing. Will my pleco be eating it? Does anyone have any ideas to improve my tank for growing plants? I have dropped the water level by about an inch to see if that would help. Would I be right to look at CO2 diffusers? or buying a new more powerful light unit? Cheers!!
In my experience CO2 does help in low light tanks (around 1w per gallon) but it only gets 'essential' once you reach 2wpg or more. Even then you don't need it but it does help with plant growth and algae control if levels can be kept correct and stable. You'd need to ditch the bubbles though, all they do is drive off any CO2 in the water before the plants get to use it so the CO2 is then pointless to add. The Nutrafin ladder kit is an excellent starter setup for only £15-£20 and even better you can use the pinned homemade recipe (which has the added benefit of working better than the ingredients that Nutrafin supply!).
A decent liquid fertiliser (e.g. SeaChem Flourish) will be useful (it seems expensive but you don't need much at each dose so it works out very cheap), and maybe some root tabs to go into the gravel near any plants that like nutrients through the roots (e.g. Amazon Sword). If you don't have a decent reflector on the light tube then this wouls really help aswell: I can second the Interpet Daylight Plus tubes, I really like the colours they bring out on the plants/fish. Consider that it is advisable to change the tube every 6 months or so as the light output deteriorates as the tube ages.
A decent liquid fertiliser (e.g. SeaChem Flourish) will be useful (it seems expensive but you don't need much at each dose so it works out very cheap), and maybe some root tabs to go into the gravel near any plants that like nutrients through the roots (e.g. Amazon Sword). If you don't have a decent reflector on the light tube then this wouls really help aswell: I can second the Interpet Daylight Plus tubes, I really like the colours they bring out on the plants/fish. Consider that it is advisable to change the tube every 6 months or so as the light output deteriorates as the tube ages.
Cheers for the advice,so you think the air curtain is a waste coz i really like it? Ill have a look for some root tabs coz your the second person to say that. I have the daylight plus one, I know you might think im daft but you know how the bulb is half clear half reflector, which side faces the water? Cheers
Half clear half reflector? I'm lost on that one, all the tubes I have used/seen are opaque and simply clip into mounts in the tank hood. The reflector then either clips to the tube or is mounted on the hood.
The reflector should reflect light into the tank, so the tube etc need positioned so this can happen.
If your fish stock levels ore OK then the air curtain is of no benefit to the fish. They can look nice but they are not good for plants if you add CO2 as they will dissipate the CO2 into the air very quickly hence making it pointless to add CO2. I kind of look at air curtains now as un-natural, as in you don't get them in nature and that is kind of what I am trying to recreate in my aquariums....whether I manage or not
The reflector should reflect light into the tank, so the tube etc need positioned so this can happen.
If your fish stock levels ore OK then the air curtain is of no benefit to the fish. They can look nice but they are not good for plants if you add CO2 as they will dissipate the CO2 into the air very quickly hence making it pointless to add CO2. I kind of look at air curtains now as un-natural, as in you don't get them in nature and that is kind of what I am trying to recreate in my aquariums....whether I manage or not
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