Growing Plant

[jerrygarry]

Hi, do you guys know how to keep the bunch plants healthy in a tank, if the lighting is consider to be enough.

My one become yellow and smelt down in every 2 months, and I have to buy another to keep the tank nice.

I have put the JBL roots Fertilizer for it already but the plant still not growing really well.

Is it the problems of water is the water in the AKL area to hard for the plant and how to made it soft??

Thanks

[Ira]

What kind of plant is it? What are your water conditions? What's your lighting, tank, etc?

I'm clueless about plants, but, that'll save the experts having to ask you.

[Goldie]

Another important factor is the water temperature. Some plants just do not do well at a high water temp. I reduced the water temp in my discus tank to allow the plants to grow. The discus has adjusted well and at last after a couple of years I am getting a planted tank which is beginning to look good. 27 degrees C is what it is at for I would not wish to go lower for the sake of the discus which normally would have water temp of 29 - 30 C

[Warren]

Discus are fine anywhere between 24'C and 32'C. It is a major misconception that discus need warmer temperatures. In the wild they only see 30-32'C for a short time over summer. That drops to 24'C or lower during the rainy season when it floods.

I've been keeping my discus at temperatures from 25-27'C for years now with no problems. They still breed like made. Also, their lifespan is increased at cooler temperatures.

So, 25-27'C is the perfect temperature to keep the plants and fish happy.

To properly assess why your plants are not growing you will need to supply more information. You'll need this info:

Phosphate Level (ppm)

Nitrate Level (ppm)

Iron Content (ppm)

Type of lights (including wattage and colour temperature)

Size of Tank (dimensions, not litres)

Type of filter(s)

Temperature

Your local fish shop should be able do the water tests for Phosphate, Nitrate and Iron. Once you have these details we can start to figure out why...

[Chris.L]

Wow Warren, do you breed Discus?

[Warren]

Yes, but not many.

[Dark]

i had plants do the whole 'melting' thing, turning yellow and bits floating off etc.

although you said 'if the lighting is considered to be enough' thats usually what i have to do to fix the problem.

example, i added some hairgrass and stargrass to a tank and they started to die, i doubled the lighting and the problem went away. i think the main problem there was getting enough light saturation to get light to the bottom of the tank.

if you have checked out all the water chemistry options try the light thing again, or perhaps even tackle the ratings of your lights - something that i can't really comment on yet - always still learning!

[Warren]

As Dark says, it could be a lack of light. Plants at the substrate level usually only get about half the light energy at the water surface (depending on tank depth). You may need more light. I've noticed the plants near the substrate in my planted tank struggle a little once my lights get about a year old. A change of lights and they are off again.

You need a lot more light for a planted tank than you need just for fish.

What lights have you got and how big is the tank?

[Alan]

Another thing to consider if you have just got them from your LFS,

is that a lot of the plants are grown hydroponically.

So you are putting emmersed raised plants into an immersed state.

Something a lot don't appreciate too much.

Alan