Some Plants Grow, Some Don't

[soybean]

Edit: Now adding EasyCarbo and TNC Complete, need advice on accurate dosing, post added below.

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I'm not hugely into plants, I just prefer them to fake ones - as long as they're green and alive, and not brown and disintergrating, I'm happy.

Doing marvellously: Amazon sword, wisteria, bacopa, and after a brown shrivelled start, java fern.

Once doing well and now awful: Amazon frogbit and straight vallis. The frogbit was once covering half of the tank, with lovely long roots, but I've now removed the last of the tiny rotting yellow stalks and given up. The vallis used to grow and spread like a weed in my old tank under an 18w light - now it puts out new runners but they fade and shrivel away. I try to make sure the crown isn't covered but 8 corys don't help with that.

I have 2 x 45w t5 juwel lights on for 8 hrs a day. Dose liquid ferts which tend to vary depending on what's on offer when I buy it! Decent brands, follow the dosage.

Don't want to get into CO2.

Any suggestions for the best floating plant for me and an alternative/ideas for the vallis?

 

[RadaR]

Classic case of too much light and not enough of everything else.
Do you see any types of algae?
Discolouration of the plants indicates lack of nutrients. Structural failures indicate lack of CO2.
Two options, lower the lighting to one bulb by adding a reflector the underside, or give the plants what they need.

 

[soybean]

Do you see any types of algae?

Nope.

Two options, lower the lighting to one bulb by adding a reflector the underside, or give the plants what they need.

Give the plants what they need? That's not very specific. A certain fert? Root tabs?

I can't afford to go down the Co2 route, I don't have a single spare penny for such things at the moment, else I would.

Could I just remove a bulb? Shorten the length of time the lights are on?

Plant suggestions for what may work for me instead?

 

[RadaR]

Do you see any types of algae?

Nope.

Dang. That could have offered us an even better understanding regarding what the plants are lacking.

Give the plants what they need? That's not very specific. A certain fert? Root tabs?

I was going to elaborate if you decided to go down this route.
Check out the Back to Basics. Should explain everything.

Could I just remove a bulb? Shorten the length of time the lights are on?

Unfortunatly the juwel lighting systems wont work if one of the bulbs is removed. I decreased the lighting in my Juwel by fixing a reflector the underside of one of the bulbs. Works a treat.

Plant suggestions for what may work for me instead?

Vallis is easy growing so I don't know what else would work in it's place. Perhaps Crypt Balansae.

 

[soybean]

If I can find some cheaply enough, I might give liquid carbon a go, would that be worth a try?

Seachem Excel, Easylife Easycarbo or AE AquaCarbon? Or are they all much the same? The most economic would be best!

 

[RadaR]

If I can find some cheaply enough, I might give liquid carbon a go, would that be worth a try?

Definetly worth a go but bear in mind that this will increase the plants metabolism, which means it's demand for nutrients will shoot up. Therefore anyone that doses liquid carbon or injects CO2 most also regularly dose macro and micro nutrients. TPN+ is a good all in one fert. TNC complete (from Fluidsensor nutrients) is also a good product.
As a result of the plant's metabolism increasing, they will also produce more metabollic waste which should be removed via large weekly water changes. Or 2x25% per week.

Seachem Excel, Easylife Easycarbo or AE AquaCarbon? Or are they all much the same? The most economic would be best!

They are primarly the same stuff. So go with what ever is cheapest.

 

[soybean]

Ok, I'll give liquid carbon and a better liquid fert a go. I already do generous water changes a week so no problems there. Thanks for your help.

 

[soybean]

Following the suggestions, I bought EasyCarbo and TNC Complete.

Tank: 180 litres, 2x45w T5s for 8 hours a day, lightly planted as in sig.

TNC Complete dosing instrutions: 1ml per 10l water per week for heavily planted tanks, ie 18ml a week. As my tank is lightly planted, I planned to halve this to 9ml. Allowing for displacement by the internal filter and decor, I knocked another couple of ml off, leaving 7ml - so it makes sense to me to dose 1ml of this a day. Yes?

EasyCarbo: 1ml per 50 litres, rising to 2ml per 50l for heavily planted tanks. So at the most I will need 3ml a day, but I'm wary of overdosing so have been adding 2ml daily. Will I still see an improvement?

Any suggestions for a better regime?

 

[RadaR]

You can try 1ml daily of TNC. Just keep an eye out for deficiencies.
As for easycarbo, I used to dose 5ml of easycarbo daily on 125litre so I think you are safe with 3ml.

 

[soybean]

Lovely, I'll see how I go with 1+3 from now on.