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Hey Guys

I seem to be having problems with my planted tanks, the plants dont seem to be growing.... I have tried different Fert regiems i have tried with 10 hrs of light, 2 4 hr shifts of light and there doesnt seem to make any difference.

I need some ideas to kick start my Planted problems. I have got my CO2 diy system ready im just waiting for my glass diffuser to show up now and I should be ready to add CO2 to my 20 gallon tank. The only thing i havent tried are the dry ferts. I do have some at this point as I have tried everything else.



Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

your bulbs could be old and no good. replace those... make sure they have high enough wattage and a kelvic rating of at least 5500K.

other than that, i would think that most plants dont need CO2 in a 30g tank if there is enough light...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Lighting is a major problem with many plants, there are others as well, temp, water parameters, type and depth of substrate,
Also the type of plants you are growing.

To start of with I would like to know a lot more about your tank and its plants.
Co2 never used it but it does require some knowledge in setting it up and using it correctly.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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Here are the stats of the current tanks.

20 Gallon
HOB AQ 70
Lighting is 65W 6700k Bulb in 2 4 hr shifts with moonlighting at night
No Algae
Flourite Black Substrate
No CO2
Kept at 75 Degrees
Following Seachem Fert Regime
1 Piece of DW
1 what looks to be Petrified wood.
7 Rasboras Het
3 Ottos
5 Cherries
4 Amano shrimp
I did have nerite snails but i took them out as they were eating my plants and I have algae in my other tank.

Plants
Jungle Valasnae
Spotted Oslot Sword
2 other swords im not sure of
4 crypts
Bacopa
Didiplis Diandra
2 java ferns
bolbitis
Nana
What looks to be ludwiga narrowleaf or possibly Rotala Indica
Dwarf Lily Plant

35 Gallon
(Not at My house)
HOB AQ 110
Kept at 75 Degrees
Lighting is 96 W 6700k Bulb in 2 4 hr stints with moonlighting at night
this tank has filimentos algae right now.
No CO2
Not following any fert regieme right now
Fourite Black and Red
5 Gold Barbs
BN pl*co
8 Mixed Cories
1 Male Guppy (Not My choice)
7 Black Skirt Tetras
2 Bolivian Rams
8 or so Ottos
at least 4 Shrimp
1 Pinapple Sword Platy

Plants
Onion Plants
Several Crypts
2 Java Ferns
Unknown Swords x 3
Didiplis Diandra
Nana
Japanses Fans
Anachris





Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

FM ... I agree with brandeeno ..do you know the age of your bulbs ? Secondly the Seachem fert regime needs to be tweaked ... I would certainly up the Pottassium and Excel . Do you use Iron ...that can be a problem if its too low .

Do you do any testing ...you can test for P,N and Iron ...that could give you an idea,otherwise go to this website and see if any of your plants are displaying nay deficencies :
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm

Just a few ideas ...Hope it helps


Garry

Hi,
In your first tank, the 20G tank, you are driving the
tank too hard with the light. That's 3.25 watts per gallon.
The second tank, the 35G tank, is 2.14 watts per gallon.

Running your tanks around 2 to 2.5 watts per gallon is fine
as long as you add fertilizer. The plants will be able to
extract the carbon that they need from the organic
compounds in the tank.
However, once you hit 3 watts per gallon, the plants
cannot extract the carbon that they need in the quantity
that they need it from the organic compounds in the tank.
At that point you must provide the carbon in the form of
CO2. Generally speaking, DIY CO2 provided by a 2 liter
coke bottle(etc) will not provide enough pressure to force
the gas through a glass diffuser. You will need a
different method of getting the gas into the water, such
as a reactor of some sort.

Do have new lights, and do use fertilizers, also - the
implication is that you are running the lights for 8 hours
and the moonlights for the remainder of the 24 hour period.
These are tropical plants, and as such they need 10 - 12
hours of light (usually we all use 10 hours) followed by
a period of darkness (no light). The moonlights should
come on after the daylights go off, and should be on for
a few hours (till you go to bed, for instance) giving the
plants about 8 hours of darkness (rest).

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

i would try kick up the temperature a couple degrees. also the dry fert you are talking about is tablets or powder? i would use the tablets as most of your plants are rooted types, that would help them out a lot. i m not a big fan on liquid ferts myself

So okay,

To answer a few questions,

Garry / Brandeeno The bulbs are 4mths old at most, they were replaced either right after or before xmas.

Frank, My lighting schedule is as follows:
730AM - moonlights for 30 mins
6am - 12pm - 6700k lighting
12pm - 4 pm lights off
4pm - 8pm 6700k lighting
7:30pm - 11:30am moonlights

Does this need to be adjusted?

I have been following the seachem fert regime for the 20 gallon this week. I have all the equipment but the tubing for the CO2 setup on my 20 gallon ready. Im just waiting to get the right tubing. I have 2, 2litre bottles with a scrubber ready.

I also ran some tests on the 20 gallon tonight and came up with the following information.

Amm - 0 ppm
NitriTES - 0 ppm
NitrATES - 0-5 ppm
Phosphates - 0 ppm
PH - 7.6 - 7.8
Non-Chelated Iron - 0 ppm
Chelated Iron 1.0 ppm
Calcium - 20 ppm
GH - 40 PPM
kh - 60ppm

My tank has a tanning color look to it also, its not the bright green like alage but a darker green/redish look

Again thanks for the help

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Hi,
We try to duplicate nature in our tanks. In "my" world
the sun comes up, and stays up until it sets. There is
no black out period in the middle of the day.
Those that do the four hour shifts of light are doing it
in hopes of trying to eliminate, or control, an algae
problem.

In "my" world, we do have dark dreary days caused by
heavy cloud cover. Passing weather fronts can cut the
sunlight down appreciably but its never as if it were
night time. Plants have to "wake up" so to speak and
"go to sleep" so to speak, and they don't do it in the
blink of an eye. It takes time for them to start to use
the sun and shift gears.
IMO, those that are using dark periods between lights on
periods, might find it more realistic to use a couple
of different lights to try and mimic passing cloud cover
or frontal system.
A set of say, 1wpg, and another of 2.5 or 3+ (even)
or light dimmers, to try and discourage algae
while keeping the plants to a photo period of
10-12 hours a day.

Using the moonlight in the morning is interesting. Most
have their lights set so that they come on sometime
during the morning, and stay on until a hour or two
after they come home from work, and then the moonlights
come on for another few hours and go off at bedtime or
shortly after.

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Frank

I was thinking of changing the photo period. i was going off what some others in here have said about their tanks and algae control. The reason I have the moonlights come on before the main light is so that the fish dont get jolted when the main light comes on. Kinda warm them up to it.

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Hi,
While I understand your logic, unless you have the tank
in a room with no windows and no other lights in the room,
(like in a photography dark room) your chances of
"shocking" them with the light turning in is pretty nil.

Generally folks use the moonlights at the other end of
the photo period. With the tank lights on during the
day for 10 hours and going off shortly after arriving
home, there is not much chance to enjoy the tank, so
folks will shift to the moon lights for a "different look"
and to enjoy the tank till they go to bed. Others use
the moon lights, after the photo period as a sort of night
light as they go to bed and slightly after.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Frank

Yeah totally understand that. i have the moonlights on at night also. I was told by a member here that putting them on shortly before would be a good thing. Anyways I have some good news, I have seen some new growth in my 20 Gallon tank already since starting to add the liquid ferts. I have also changed my photo period to a straight 10 hours.

Also I did a small water change last night aswell. I have the DIY CO2 generator almost ready to go. I just need to verify if i put water in the scrubber or not??? This is the bottle between the CO2 generators and the actuall diffusor.

Any ideas???

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Hi,
When I was doing DIY CO2, I went directly from the
generator to the reactor. Looking back it was probably
not a good idea. If the mix had reacted too strongly
or the cat knocked the generator over, the mix would have
gotten into the tank and created all sorts of chaos.

Probably the use of a trap (scrubber) is a better idea.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Well i have a scrubber in place in my DIY with traps to stop the water, I also have changed the lighting scheme to 10 hr straight period.

also just a small update for you all, I have been adding liquid ferts all week and I am starting to see growth on some of the plants, I have my CO2 ready to go, i just need to get the yeast to create the genorators. Water tests are okay, i havent had chance to check phosphates or nitrates since the last test.

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Hi Shane:

glad to see that you are still dabbling in planted tanks and sorry to hear that they do not seem to grow. To add insult to injery: despite heavy neglect (skipping ferts)my plants are exploding and I did not change the lighting regimen at all. removed an armload of plants last week to allow for swimming room (the plants were actually growing out of the water!). Absolutely no algae problem and I still attribute this to my scientific lighting. Clueless why they grow for me. If someone needs plants ... I will be moving and am afraid that I can not take them with me. Suggetions welcome. Sorry for the rambling, must be due to the fact that I was away for a while

Claudia

I would be happy to take those plants off your hands, I need the extras...

However here is the latest

Well Now im in major troubles....lol

So ok i went away for the weekend and I came home to a tank in a complete mess. I left a piece of lettuce in there over the weekend which I forgot to take out before I left for vegas. The lettuce is now virtually gone, Im completely ridden with what looks to be Ramshorn snails.

My Dwarf lilly has expanded emensly... the leaves are HUGE!!..

the other plants are growing but at a much slower pace.... so im not sure what or where I have gone wrong....

HELP???

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html