Ok where do i start, i have a 250l planted (lol) tank containg 5 angels 3 mollies 3 platies 4 corydoras and a sailfin plec, anyways as the title suggests im having big probs with my plants.

The plants are a mess, i just feel like ripping them all out, but then one will get new growth and then i think its getting better but it dies off. I have a couple of amazon swords, purple temple some type of anubia and some kind of maybe mondo grass not too sure. I add fertilzer and prune the dead leaves off when required.

I think its the mollies and platies eating them but would that destroy the plants, i thought they werent getting enough vegetable matter in their diet and gave them veggie flakes but they still keep eating the plants. I've only been keeping fish for about a year and im really trying to keep it successful but i need help so if anyone feels like guiding a newbie like me please dont hessitate.


Thanks

What sort of light do you have? I have never had success with light loving plants because I have just an ordinary single tube fluro.
As for the Mondo - I have kept it in my tank before, and while it doesn't die, it never grows. Mondo is a true terrestrial, so keeping it in a tank isn't ideal.

yeah i have a single fluro its buit into my tank hood, is it possible for me to install more tubes in the hood? Its just letting the tank down alot ive got good water quality healthy fish but shit plants. I guess im gonna have to get stuck into it and work something out thanks for the reply. oh and the mondo grass your right its the greenest plant in the tank but has not grown at all.

Yes, mondo is Not an aquatic plant, so it tends not to grow.

Just like fish, its unbeleivable how much money you can save by researching plants that suiteyour tank recquirements. :) Why not read up on some species that will suite your local water. Its a far better solution than hit and miss tactics!! :P And it saves u $$$$

Im not so sure its your lighting, although that could be one factor involved. But im more concerned your lfs is selling you non-aquatic plants. How certain are you that they are aquatics?

Here is a link, called lantgeek, it should help you alot uif you read up on it. It comes with pics too so its real handy to book mark! :D

www.plantgeek.net

thanks for your reply, i better go check that site out .

awesome site!!!! thanks for the info mr miagi, another thing is i recently spotted a sera plant care set in my lfs ( didnt take too much notice of it ) anyway it contained fertizers and a co2 start up concoction of some sought, if anyway knows anything bout it it would be much appreciated.

You might try the low light plants like java fern, java moss, elodea and moneywort. Is your light in a full hood that covers the entire tank. I have a 75gal and to increase the lighting on it I have added two shoplights to it. My plants have taken off. Mondo grass isn't a aquatic plant and will end up dying in your tank. I would take it out and acclimate it to soil and just stick to the aquarium plants.

The thing is im not sure if its mondo or not, it looks kinda the same but its the greenest and best looking plant in my tank. Are there any aquarium plants that look similar to mondo grass? Another thing i read is too much water movement is bad for plants, because im running two eheim cannister filters at the moment. I was having bad oxygen levels and my lfs reccomended to get another filter and increase surface tension. Im unsure what to do, i want a planted tank but i want healthy fish aswell maybe im stating the obvious but i had good plants and sick fish now i have healthy fish and crook plants!!!!!!!! HELP......

Mondo grass will look green for awhile then it will start dying. As long as you aren't sure what it is I would take the plant out of the tank. Try the plants that I have suggested for low light and you will see a lot of difference. If you upgrade to higher watt lights like more than 2 watts per gal, you will need to start looking into CO2 injection. It is possible to have healthy plants and healthy fish. Just pick the right plants for your situation. As for the water movement being bad for plants, it depends on the plant. I have lots of low light plants in mine and lots of water movement, everything seems to be ok there.
I have a pic posted but it does need work, going to adding different substrate next week (2 days off) :woo:

i wanna really plant up my tank! but me plants are always dying or growing way to fast and loosing their leaves! i looked at a c02 unit the other day and it worth $1600!!! but he said that instead of getn the unit! i could buy this fertaliser stuff that u mix with the gravel, does this stuff actually work???

Opiate, you could always make your own co2 unit ;) Much more cheaper and probably looks better IMO. It works for me. With the ferts there are root tablets, liquid and the stuff you mix into the gravel is when you are seeding the gravel from a fresh start. It makes the gravel full of nutrients and iron ready for planting, but ones the plants start to grow larger the gravel would need to be refertilized with root tablets. But root tablets wont be enough for your plants. If you plants are losing leaves it mainly the cause of not enough lighting or lack in nutrients in the tank. Lighting is mainly set at 3wpg (wpg=watts per gallon) and iron about 0.2-0.8(with caution). Too high in iron is better than too less iron. Too high of iron can cause plants to die due to iron poisoning and also the algae with dramatically increase.

Once your plants are growing nicely, about once every 2 weeks to once a month you would have to prune your plants, cut away the dead leaves, and if you happen to prun stem plants, you can easily replant the stems to form a brand new plant. This actually saves alot of money in the long run. 1 of each bunch of plants in more than enough, after a few weeks you will have twice as much plants through pruning. Over the month you would most likely have enough plants to start another tank.

Hope to see all your tanks nicely planted, for any more help on planted aquariums, feel free to post on the plant section of this forum.

Mango :D

Wooly, the way I have flow in my planted tanks isnt much of surface movement. I have the outlet in the middle of the tank, little water movement from the surface (still have oxygen exchange) but will provide nice flow under the surface. Also I really depends on what fish you have, because if you have peaceful fish they usually dont like the high flow, but if your keeping catfish like me, they love the flow, the higher the better.

The health of plants is mainly explained in my previous post, they need different ferts. to maintain the best of their health. Also lighting is very important (as explained in my previous post as well). Crook plants usually is caused by too high flow, too little light or even lack in nutrients. All can be fixed very easily. Flow can be cut down by placing the outlet in mid-water as explained above. The lighting can be increase, I recommend PCs (Power Compacts) with the tempreture of 6,500K. 6,500K lighting is recommended by most aquatic plant hobbylists as they photosynthesis more using most of the lighting they recieve. With the nutrients, its similar to the fertilzers. You can purchase a product by Seachem called Flourish. It consists of high levels of iron which helps the plants to grow health without making leaves growing into funny shapes.

The mondo grass is a non-aquatic plant, that means it will not do will in the aquarium and will eventally die. They will require high levels of lighting and will probably be too hard for you to keep in the aquarium. There are many plants in the aquarium industry that isnt true aquatic plants and should be avoided. Futher readings about the non-aquatic plants can be found on the internet.

Hope all goes well for you mate.
Cheers
Mango :D

i thought id give a before and after pic from when i posted this topic to my current tank, i think its a big improvement but only time will tell

Before-

After-

A big improvement mate. Well done! :D

mango i wuv u lol....i'm gonna go to the aquarium this wednesday and buy up and follow ur instructions!!! thx!

looks good wooly!

I love you too :gay2:

Show us some pics when your done ;)

All the best mate :)

The only plants I can get to grow are the dry bulbs you can get at Wal-mart, my fish loved them.

Geez im ashamed when i look at that first pic, :wtf: was i doing

Mate what lighting do you have again? Maybe you should get a nice green tiger lotus :P

powerglo 30w single tube, in the before pic it was just a standard 30w. But i know now that the powerglo isint really suitable either.

Heya, I'm new here, but I heard your mention about planting. I have a mix of Java fern and Java moss in my tank... and I use no lighting at all, apart from my window, lol!
So, If any one would like any Java moss (I have a small ton of it now!) I have plenty available to trade or whatever, feel free to EMAIL me @ Quirlys@hotmail.co.uk

Quirls.