Soft water plants

[Sunnyspots]

None of my plants are doing very well. Even fast growers stay still - no growth at all. But I need growing plants to help cycle my 'unexpected fry' tank. My water is really soft, GH 3, and I see many plants prefer hard water. Is there anything I could use with my soft water?

 

[Byron]

None of my plants are doing very well. Even fast growers stay still - no growth at all. But I need growing plants to help cycle my 'unexpected fry' tank. My water is really soft, GH 3, and I see many plants prefer hard water. Is there anything I could use with my soft water?

The GH is most definitely not the issue on its own. What (if any) micro-nutrient or comprehensive fertilizer are you using? What is the light? What are the plants? A photo of the entire tank would allow us to gage the plant load.

 

[Sunnyspots]

The GH is most definitely not the issue on its own. What (if any) micro-nutrient or comprehensive fertilizer are you using? What is the light? What are the plants? A photo of the entire tank would allow us to gage the plant load.

I've been using AquaDip as per the instructions for a normally planted tank. I suspect it should have been used more as my Salvinia became pale. The light came integral to the tank which, itself, was designed for aquascaping so I assume it should be good for plants. I have it on about 15 hours a day and have no issues with algae.
The plants are:

Echinodorus parviflorus
Salvinia natans
Lilaeopsis novea-zealandia
Alternanthera rosaefolia mini
Taxiphyllium barbieri
Sagittaria subulata
Eriocaulon cinereum
Cryptocoryne crispatula
Rotala rotundifolia 'Green'

Please forgive any spelling errors!

I am especially surprised by the lack of growth in the Sagittaria due to its reputation in that area. The Salvinia did multiply but has since died off, possibly due to lack of nutrients as it paled first.

I have recently added CO2 from an upturned bottle.

Apart from a very likely lack of nutrients from the fertilisers, I had wondered about hardness having come across an article on plants which listed their hardness requirements. Nearly all needed higher levels than I have.

 

[Byron]

I've never seen Aquadip here, so no experience; from the info on their website, it doesn't look too bad, but calcium (a macro nutrient) is missing. As you are in the UK, there are two products I would consider better. TNC Lite, and Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium. Also, the larger swords will greatly improve with substrate fertilization, and Flourish Tabs are top of the line for this. I don't know if TNC make tabs.

Second suggestion is reduce the light duration to 8 hours, and use a timer so it is consistent. Any idea what the spectrum is (this can be expressed as degrees Kelvin, such as 5000K or 6500K or whatever)?

I would not mess with adding CO2, this is not going to help given the plants.

 

[Sunnyspots]

Thank you Byron. I'm afraid I have no idea re the lighting spectrum. A timer was a problem as it flashed the lights before switching them all on, including the moonlight. I thought it might scare the fish. I can just switch it on later in the morning. I'll stop the CO2 and look at those different fertilisers. I am having to change everything they gave me at the shop for starting out. I was very unimpressed with their lack of advice and interest.They didn't give me anything until I asked what the plants would live off. Bad shop! I'll look online