# My plants aren't growing?



## lkfishy (May 13, 2012)

I have a pretty planted tank with nice plants in it, they have all been in my tank for at least 6 months, some over a year. I have a fluorescent light that says "color max" on the side that came with the tank I have. All my plants are alive and green but they don't seem to be ever growing or getting bigger. With the exception of the java moss. Is there a bulb that is best for plant growth? I know how pretty my fish are, I don't need a special light to see them under  I would prefer a more natural light that my plants can use! Any suggestions? For lights, or plants...


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

Are you using fertilizers or co2 at all? Just light and fish waste alone isn't enough for many plants. Mosses, however, can do just fine like that, so that's why the moss is growing for you. Liquid ferts will really help stem plants, and root tabs will help root feeders like crypts and swords. With high light, co2 is necessary for plants to really grow and be able to out compete algae. Depending on the size of your tank, diy co2 is a really easy and cheap solution, and can have considerable results.


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## lkfishy (May 13, 2012)

Thanks I will look into the co2, I would love for my plants to grow


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

make sure you have some sort of fertilizers in there. Co2 helps a lot, but you need a balance of all three to do well


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Which plants do you have - their specie names? Some plants are just slow growers. I have higher light, CO2, and dose ferts and still have some plants that aren't super large and have had them over 18 months. Stem plants you will see a lot of growth but your rosette type plants you won't.

I don't think ferts or CO2 is what you're missing, although you will see improved growth rate with CO2. The light is low light and the less light you have, the less growth rate you have. Everything evolves around the light. What is your tank size and light fixture/watts? Be careful what you ask for....I spend a lot of weekly time pruning plants that sometimes wish I didn't have to.


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## Hawk1018 (Apr 12, 2012)

I have very low light on my tank. It is a 55 gallon and I have probably less then a watt per gallon and no co2. The plants that are growing well for me are the hornswort, crypts (recently), also just had an italian val sprout up. My java ferns, anubias, and amazon sword plant are growing slowly....but I believe they are supposed to be slow. (I also had the ferns planted wrong to start with). I also use a fertalizer by tetra...but when it runs out I am gonna get excel... another plant taking off is the water sprite (it is floating ). It can be done with out all the extra stuff ...just gonna take more time....a lot more time. Also what kind of substrate are you using? I am using kitty litter and a lot of folks use eco-complete....if using gravel you probably need root tabs.


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## lkfishy (May 13, 2012)

I do think that my light is too low and I am going to get a brighter bulb. I don't know what wattage my light currently is because it came with my tank (craigslist) and it doesn't say anything besides "colormax" on the side. I got flourish excel yesterday and put in a starter dose after I did my weekly water change and I will dose every other day from now on. What wattage per gallon is best for the light? I also have been wanting to add a bubbler to my tank for a while now, will that benefit the plants? I think that my plants are java moss, java fern, water sprite,amazon sword, wisteria, a marino moss ball, and a mystery plant or two that I got for free from my lfs. I have a couple inches of small natural gravel. The java moss is growing well and the amazon sword has a huge bunch of new growth in the center but the baby leaves have been babies forever now. Thanks for the responses


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

You need to get some ferts going. The excel will help, but plants can only grow to the max of the lowest amount of ferts, carbon, or light. You've got the light and carbon figured out, but I think you might be neglecting the ferts entirely, and because of that won't have great growth. Seachem Flourish is a good liquid fert, and root tabs would be great for the sword plant. The fact your plants aren't growing is probably because they don't have fertilizers - these contain the chemicals that plants need to be able to grow. It's like trying to build a brick house with only a foundation and support beams, but no bricks. You're missing a major component!

The bubbler won't help or hurt your plants since you aren't using actual co2, so there is no gas that you need to keep in the water. If you ever do go into co2, remove the bubbler since it will counteract the co2, and benefit nothing.


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## lkfishy (May 13, 2012)

I will look into getting some fertilizer and adding it to my routine. It's funny because I am an avid indoor and outdoor gardener, and I frequently fill up CO2 tanks for my indoor garden, but for some reason I looked right past the fact that my under water plants need the same things! I always thought fish waste was all the fertilizer they needed and didn't even know aquarium plant fertilizer existed. Good thing I decided to join this forum  I was so concerned about my fish for the first year that the plants got neglected for a while, but now I am on top of things  Thanks for all the responses.


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

hahaha no prob, i tend to forget to water my garden because i'm so used to plants being in tanks


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If ferts are needed in a low light tank, that need will be pretty small. Excel is not a fert. I have on hand a pretty good quantity of ferts to use with my hi-tech tanks but with my non-CO2 shrimp tank I don't use them. Only shrimp in there and no fish to provide the plants extra nutrients that fish can provide. Shrimp can do the same, just in lower quantity. I still have plants that will grow out of the top of the tank if I don't trim them and no plants suffer any health problems.

The light drives the need. Lower the light, less the need. If you get ferts for this tank I would use no more than once per week. Otherwise, you'd probably just be throwing away your money.


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