Floating plants

CaptainBarnicles said:

I cannot keep floating plants alive I suspect its because my water is super hard but honestly I don't have a clue!

I've tried water lettuce, which did grow and multiply but by the time the new plant was half way matured the mother plant was melting and perishing...

Salvinia...same sort of story, turn brown and disintegrate.

Red root floaters, roots came away for some reason and they're not growing at all...

What's left to try that will fair well in my liquid rock??

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Byron said:

I very much doubt that the GH is the problem. Light and nutrients are what plants need. Too high a light intensity might burn the leaves, but usually there are insufficient nutrients in balance with the light. Floater are rapid growing plants and thus need more nutrients. Are you using any fertilizers?

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PheonixKingZ said:

Probably too much flow, that is usually the cause. I doubt your hardness is the issue.

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Byron said:

First on the surface flow, I doubt this is an issue, especially after seeing about the cyano and black brush algae.

Cyanobacteria, if you do have this, is caused by an excess of organics in the presence of light. Black brush algae like all "problem" algae is due solely to an imbalance in light/nutrients. You can see how closely related these problems are, both involve organics/nutrients and light.

TNC Lite should be an ideal supplement here. But if the light is too bright, or the wrong spectrum, or on too long each day--all of these can play into it, and the fertilizer then begins to promote the cyano and/or algae.

What is the light spectrum, intensity, and duration?

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JennySolano said:

Should I be fertilizing the tank plants? Someone gave me this & I’ve never used it. I seem to have an inherent dislike of adding anything to the tanks except conditioner.

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