Why are my bottom plants thriving but not my amazon frogbit?

[Blackwater guru]

So I have been keeping this 145 liter blackwater aquarium for 3 months that features 30 fishes and a variety of plants with pieces of oak driftwood from the local forest along with rocks from the same area.

So far my bottom plants have been thriving and the color of my fish have been showing because of the added tannins from the roiboi tea to create the ideal blackwater enviroment .

The only plants not thriving are my floating amazon frogbit plants which I have struggled to make more of and I only have 9 - 11 of them even though in the beginning I used to have more of them.

This is a video of my aquarium that I uploaded on youtube

Once I get home I will try uploading some close up images of my amazon frogbit plants so that you can see what I am doing wrong.

As for what I have tried so far I have decreased the flow on my pump and I have also tried reducing the water levels a bit but so far I have had no success.

I am also thinking of adding some water lettuce later on to add some variety to the top portion of the tank besides the 6 marbled hatchetfish and the frogbit that I have.

What do you recommend that I try out?

 

[vanalisa]

I really like the look of your tank and enjoyed the video.

Let me know when you find out the secret to growing Amazon Frog-bit !!!

 

[thuctoanvietnamese]

Maybe some kind of bug eat them so they can't grow well

 

[Irksome]

My frogbit rots if any tiny bits of flake food get caught on or around the leaves, the fish just don’t find it.

 

[Barry Tetra]

It might be the light.

 

[seangee]

Have you definitely got amazon frogbit. I struggled with plants I bought on ebay and amazon. Finally I got some tropica123 plants grown from tissue culture. It cost me Bit more but was well worth it.

Just my theories but either my original plants were European frogbit or were grown in cold water and could not adapt to tropical temperatures. Now I can't stop it growing and thin it out almost every week.

 

[TheTenthDoctor]

Perhaps they aren't getting enough light or perhaps you need to thin them out. When my floaters start to fail I remove the weakest ones and up the light.

 

[utahfish]

What kind of fertilizers are you using? Frog bit as a floating plant is going to get all its nutrients from the water column if the water is lacking in nutrients the plants will suffer.

 

[Blackwater guru]

What kind of fertilizers are you using? Frog bit as a floating plant is going to get all its nutrients from the water column if the water is lacking in nutrients the plants will suffer.

The fertilizer that I use is a spray bottle that you spray on the water surface a few times once a week during water changes.

 

[Essjay]

Isn't frogbit supposed to rot if its leaves get wet, by condensation dropping off the lid, for example (or by being sprayed)? My Salvinia did that, which is why I got water sprite after all the Salvinia died.

 

[Blackwater guru]

That could be a possibility but I am not sure
I am only home every other week and when I am not home my dad takes care of the aquarium this is because I go at a border school in another region.

Next time I get home I will see when he uses the plant nutrients and I should see if there is any condensation on the leaves by accident.

 

[vanalisa]

Thanks, everyone!
I'll have to pay closer attention.
I don't add any fertilizers.
I've been told surface agitation and not enough light.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

It is probably your light.

Do you actually spray your floating plants with fertilizers?

 

[AbbeysDad]

Our aquariums typically don't have enough of the essential nutrients to grow floating plants well. You need to add modest amounts of liquid aquatic ferts to the water. I have never heard of a fertilizer SPRAY for aquatic plants and would question the effectiveness of such a practice.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Our aquariums typically don't have enough of the essential nutrients to grow floating plants well. You need to add modest amounts of liquid aquatic ferts to the water. I have never heard of a fertilizer SPRAY for aquatic plants and would question the effectiveness of such a practice.

The OP may have just have taken a liquid fert and poured it in a spray bottle.