Questions From A Plant Newbie

[DaveA76]

a while back i bought some plants from my lfs and it was all going well. 1 type is vallis i think and the other is common 1 but cant remember the name of it (grows fast long ste with thin hair like bronches) and like i sid all was going well infact i had to nip some of the tops off the 1 i dont know the name of and replanted the cuttings, now they all seem to have stopped growing and gone lanky the water stats are still the same as they were before, the only thing that has changed is that my mt snalis have had a population boom
can you help ?

 

[flyhawk]

are you dosing ferts?
substrate?

 

[bordercollie05]

Yup, more tank stats would help. Also a picture of them may be helpful, especially of the one you don't know the name of.

Laura

 

[Colin_T]

it could be lack of light or lack of nutrients (including carbon dioxide). Often the plants have built up a reserve of energy at the plant farm. They go into the shop and then your tank where they grow rapidly for a few weeks. Then they suddenly stop or slow down. Adding some plant fertiliser should help and make sure they get some light. If there are only a couple of plants in the tank make sure there is some surface turbulence.
What sort of light do you have and how long is it on for?

 

[DaveA76]

hi the substrate is sand, i am not feeding the plants with anything, the light is a 40w aqua glo 42" in a 48" tank, there is 4 airstiones running (gently) in the tankj will this effect is and the filter is a Fluval 4 and i have a tube attatched so the outlet is the opposite end of the tank
can you help

 

[Colin_T]

try adding some basic plant fertiliser like Sera Florena, and keep the light on for about 12 hours per day.

 

[aaronnorth]

try adding some basic plant fertiliser like Sera Florena, and keep the light on for about 12 hours per day.

Keep them on for 8hrs, because the plants are not doing so well, having a shorter photperiod will mean the plants will need less nutrients and CO2, so by the end of the day they wont be starved.