Hi
I’m really struggling with some plants, so any pointers much appreciated.
Plants that have worked: frogbit (floating surface plant); anubias bateri; marimo moss balls; anacharis (elodea densa) all doing very well.
Plants that haven’t survived at all (despite in some cases having been replaced several times):
- None left of any of the following: Vallisnera spiralis (have planted at least 40-50 stems); water wisteria (Hygrophila difformis) and water sprite (Ceratopteris aka indian fern)
- Java moss (a few remnants), java fern (2 leaves left), 53B (a few stands left). The photo shows the tank before most of the plants disappeared. I subsequently added some more (e.g. 53B), but that has also largely gone. My guess may be the light is too low and/or too short, but I thought some or all of these plants ought to be ok in relatively low light conditions. The frog bit was only introduced maybe 6 months in (after this photo was taken), so the light would have been stronger before that.
The tank is now c. 1 year old, but plants have been an issue throughout.
2 photos shows the tank within maybe a few weeks of the introduction of plants (initially vallis, ferns, etc), then the 53B about a month or two ago. I've also included a current photo (with only a tiny bit of the 53B left).
I've just ordered some Easy Life Profito, as I'm guessing it's the lack of macro nutrients that's a big part of the problem. I've also since learned that Flourish is best dosed daily or every other day, as it doesn't last long in the tank in a way that can be taken up by the plants.
NB. I gather it's not possible simply to swapped out the T5s (or T8s) in the Juwel unit for LEDs - you have to buy a whole new lighting unit for c. £140. I rather avoid that if possible. So I guess I'm either looking at replacing bulbs annually (though that also adds up), or finding another way to replace the tubes with another (cheaper?) light. Timing duties are via a smart plug, so no programming needed.
Ferts: Dosing about once a week with c. 2.5ml Seachem Flourish. Some root tabs.
Substrate: Tropica Aquarium Soil (3kg) and c. 2kg Fluval Stratum volcanic soil for planted or shrimp aquarium (c. 2 kg), capped with c. 12kg of fine white sand. Some of the soil has come up on top of the sand.
Tank/lighting: Juwel Rio 125 litre (33g), with “pimped” biogravel filter. Low tech, relatively low light (given floating plants). Lights (T5s I think) are on for 6.5 hours a day. I bought the tank second hand, so I suspect the fluorescent tubes are fairly old (certainly >1 year). The tank is fairly well stocked.
Water: London tap, so pretty hard (DH13), pH c. 7.5. Changing c. 50% every week or so.
I have another 19L/5 gallon shrimp tank (blood mary/RCS and bamboo/wood shrimp) and am having the same issues there (Fluval Stratum substrate).
I’m really struggling with some plants, so any pointers much appreciated.
Plants that have worked: frogbit (floating surface plant); anubias bateri; marimo moss balls; anacharis (elodea densa) all doing very well.
Plants that haven’t survived at all (despite in some cases having been replaced several times):
- None left of any of the following: Vallisnera spiralis (have planted at least 40-50 stems); water wisteria (Hygrophila difformis) and water sprite (Ceratopteris aka indian fern)
- Java moss (a few remnants), java fern (2 leaves left), 53B (a few stands left). The photo shows the tank before most of the plants disappeared. I subsequently added some more (e.g. 53B), but that has also largely gone. My guess may be the light is too low and/or too short, but I thought some or all of these plants ought to be ok in relatively low light conditions. The frog bit was only introduced maybe 6 months in (after this photo was taken), so the light would have been stronger before that.
The tank is now c. 1 year old, but plants have been an issue throughout.
2 photos shows the tank within maybe a few weeks of the introduction of plants (initially vallis, ferns, etc), then the 53B about a month or two ago. I've also included a current photo (with only a tiny bit of the 53B left).
I've just ordered some Easy Life Profito, as I'm guessing it's the lack of macro nutrients that's a big part of the problem. I've also since learned that Flourish is best dosed daily or every other day, as it doesn't last long in the tank in a way that can be taken up by the plants.
NB. I gather it's not possible simply to swapped out the T5s (or T8s) in the Juwel unit for LEDs - you have to buy a whole new lighting unit for c. £140. I rather avoid that if possible. So I guess I'm either looking at replacing bulbs annually (though that also adds up), or finding another way to replace the tubes with another (cheaper?) light. Timing duties are via a smart plug, so no programming needed.
Ferts: Dosing about once a week with c. 2.5ml Seachem Flourish. Some root tabs.
Substrate: Tropica Aquarium Soil (3kg) and c. 2kg Fluval Stratum volcanic soil for planted or shrimp aquarium (c. 2 kg), capped with c. 12kg of fine white sand. Some of the soil has come up on top of the sand.
Tank/lighting: Juwel Rio 125 litre (33g), with “pimped” biogravel filter. Low tech, relatively low light (given floating plants). Lights (T5s I think) are on for 6.5 hours a day. I bought the tank second hand, so I suspect the fluorescent tubes are fairly old (certainly >1 year). The tank is fairly well stocked.
Water: London tap, so pretty hard (DH13), pH c. 7.5. Changing c. 50% every week or so.
I have another 19L/5 gallon shrimp tank (blood mary/RCS and bamboo/wood shrimp) and am having the same issues there (Fluval Stratum substrate).
