Any Plants That You Just Cannot Grow?

[stu40]

I'll start, my nemesis' are Staurogyne SP & currently struggling to get my Hygrophila Pinnatifida to grow, app they're both easy too lol.

My Stau is struggling, don't think i've quite got the flow right.
Gave up on the H.Pinn.Don't be to hard on yourself, 'Tropica' don't rate it as easy.

Twisted vallis for me. I've given up on it now; maybe my water's too soft, though the normal and giant types do fine

Me to.Can grow regular vallis very easy.Could not get the twisted variety to stay alive

 

[Ps3Steveo]

I think my Hygro.P is going through the emmersed to submersed chnage, I've had it a little while now but I know its a slow grower. Bit like my Crispus Red, it died back badly and now it spilt its bulb and I have two about 6 inches tall, taken 4 months to grow back to 6 inches tho.

 

[FishBlast]

I'm not sure about my Ceratopteris. Now I know what they mean about it being a crazy plant. Used to grow well when I had next to no light but also the basket it came with. Then my fish had fry and my catfish just had to tear the plant apart to see what was moving in it... Then it came out of the basket and started losing old leaves which turned yellow and rotted away.
Then parts of it floated to the top and are still green now, making new sprouts. What remained at the bottom also makes new sprouts, but one of my apple snails (Lorenzo) went rogue and ate 2 sprouts. -.- Now I have 3 sprouts at bottom and at least 5 at the top, getting carried by the current or sitting in the fry net.
So can't tell if I can or cannot grow it yet, it's been over 2 months now.

Now trying Java Fern. Gathered 3 rocks around their rhizomes (I have 3 separate rhizomes but I bunched them up) and made sure that they are not covered by sand, in fact they actually float, hanging by the roots. It came with a load of black spots and a black tip when I bought it. This is the first day that it is in my tank. Will see how it turns out...

 

[DrRob]

I also have the soft water vallis problem, but can keep the straight forward vallis alive.

I've never been able to keep amazon swords alive past about 9 months, they melt, they grow, they thrive, they die.

Now dwarf hair grass I can do, so long as the fish don't dig it up, which they generally do.

 

[Steve H.]

Sagittaria Subulata is my current head ache.

I read all over the internet what an easy plant this was to care for, and "a great plant for beginners".
So, my struggle with this plant is making me feel like a dufus.

I'm getting crazy runners off the mothers, but the longer leaves on mother are either dying or growing horizontal and not vertically.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Strange, its one of those threads tho mate, my Staurogyne problem does my head in and thats an easy one, sag grows like mad in my tank lol maybe it depends where ya live lol cos it seems everyone has some plant that just wont grow.

 

[FishBlast]

Must be something in the water. Or lack of it in the water.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I think that is just it. The variables in water chemistry from tank to tank must be enormous. I know I have to carefully acclimate my fish when moving from one tank to another, even from the same tap my different tanks have completely different ph readings from wood and co2. I have plants doing well in one tank but the same plant died after transfer to another.

 

[FishBlast]

I think that is just it. The variables in water chemistry from tank to tank must be enormous. I know I have to carefully acclimate my fish when moving from one tank to another, even from the same tap my different tanks have completely different ph readings from wood and co2. I have plants doing well in one tank but the same plant died after transfer to another.

I wonder if the addition of certain rocks may make tanks suitable or unsuitable for certain plants...

Seems like good news about one of the Java fern leaves: it has some edge where a new plant may grow on it. Not entirely sure that is what it is, but it certainly is more raised than the rest of the edges. And it hasn't melted yet, let's see how it does within its first week.