# plants not growing.



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

so some info here first. im using 2 48inch t8 6500k bulbs on my 55 gallon tank. dosing with flourish comp and using seachem root tabs. temp is about 78 degrees. pool filter sand bottom. i do 50% water changes once a week and dose after water change the day after that is. so heres my problem. nothing is growing. at first there was a lil new growth. now nothing. all i have is about 7 or 8 jungle vals in my tank. my fish ate everything else. heres what my tank looked like after a week of being pplanted







i dont have a pic of it now but the jungle val is about 13 inches high an no new growth. i dont get whats going on. i want more vals like a whole tank of them but they arent growing. whats causing this? im just getting frustrated! please help


----------



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

im also been battling diatomes for about a month and a half now. i think thats from the sand?


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

How long has the tank been setup? What fish do you have and how many. What's your feeding schedule? What's your photoperiod? How much do you dose? With very little plants, I would dose less than recommended. I would suspect that the lights doesn't have enough oomph. Upgrade to T5, LEDs, MH, T5HO, or CFL with appropriate PAR for your liking (low/med/high light). 

The diatoms are either from a lot of excess nutrients, too long of a photoperiod, or your tank is still new and cycling. 

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


----------



## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

I have very little new growth in my tank too, except for some new plants that I got from a different tank. Could be that they're still using leftover stored whatever mineral is lacking, from the old tank. I have had them for at least 1-1/2 months, though.<br />
<br />
I dosed the tank with Potassium last Saturday, but only have seen a small amount of growth, and my Sword's leaves are continuing to deteriorate, brown tips and edges.<br />
<br />

pH 7.4, KH 2, GH 5, Nitrates 20 after 25% water change.

I like the layout of your tank!


----------



## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

rexpepper651 said:


> so some info here first. im using 2 48inch t8 6500k bulbs on my 55 gallon tank.(


That's your problem right there - you do not have enough light for that tank.

via Droid DNA Tapatalk 2


----------



## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

I would increase the lighting but I have some Cyanobacteria in the tank, the most on some wood and a floater right under the light. But I'll try it - 2 10w CFLs.

Re: Low Tech-> Plants have stopped growing


----------



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

the tank has been up and running for like 10 months now. i have 2 angelfish, 8 Ba tetras, 1 bloodfin tetra, 2 corys,2 black loaches,3 black skirt tetras. lights are on for 10-12 hrs a day i feed once a day in the morning when i get home from work. i thought 1.5 watts per gallon would be enough?


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

rexpepper651 said:


> i have 2 angelfish, 8 Ba tetras, 1 bloodfin tetra
> lights are on for 10-12 hrs a day
> i feed once a day in the morning when i get home from work.
> i thought 1.5 watts per gallon would be enough?


1. Get rid of te Ba tetras, for they love to eat plants. Found this true in my tank

2. Don't feed them every day. Every other day is best

3. Watts per gallon is out dated. The tank is too deep to grow anything but moss, ferns, and anubias with that light. 

Options are:
1.Make caves and buy anubias or ferns or moss. Chiclid forum has a lot of examples.
2.Upgrade your light. Cheapest upgrade is a T5HO striplight hung as Hyzer did.
3.Get a 20 gallon tank. It is short enough to have other low light plants with that light


----------



## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

rexpepper651 said:


> the tank has been up and running for like 10 months now. i have 2 angelfish, 8 Ba tetras, 1 bloodfin tetra, 2 corys,2 black loaches,3 black skirt tetras. lights are on for 10-12 hrs a day i feed once a day in the morning when i get home from work. i thought 1.5 watts per gallon would be enough?


Ditch the ba tetras. Feed every other day (this is what's causing the dialogs). Swap the lights. Your lights are too weak. 1.5watt per gallon would possibly be enough if we're talking t5, t5ho, CFL, or LEDs. For t8 you'd probably need much more as t8 is a really weak bulb. Also, watts per gallon is outdated. PAR rating is what you want to look at. Watts only measures how much electricity is being consumed. That doesn't necessarily mean you're getting more light. 65w t5ho will be a ton brighter than a 65w t8. 

Sent from my spaceship using Tapatalk 2.


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

mistahoo said:


> Ditch the ba tetras.


Yeh, for they ate my plants. He has algae problems with low lights thus possibly he is over feeding the fish.


----------



## sowNreap (Jun 10, 2012)

According to the chart using 2 white painted surface t8's hanging 25" above substrate you may be getting approximately 35-38 PAR according to this chart (chart shows single bulb fixture but you double the PAR in the chart to get the amount for 2 bulbs):











I say may because there are variables that can cause it to be different (how old bulbs are, whether ballast is good or subpar, etc). 

Quoting Hoppy: 
_"I don't believe there is any consensus about the definition of low, medium and high light. But, here is my definiition, subject to, and almost certain to change:
Low light - 15-30 micromols of PAR - CO2 is not needed, but is helpful to the plants
Medium light - 35-50 micromols of PAR - CO2 may be needed to avoid too many nuisance algae problems
High light - more than 50 micromols of PAR - pressurized CO2 is essential to avoid major algae problems"_

So 2-T8's should be enough to grow most low light plants. You may not see real fast growth and some red plants won't be real red but they will grow.


----------



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

im not seeing really any growth. i might keep my tetras since they dont bother the java ferns or the jungle val so an all val tank is fine. i wish i would of came on here for help when i was setting up my tank an what have you. i got miss leading info from another forum. so what i get from all this is. feed less, better lighting and i should see better results? for the lighting i plan on going with the t5s home depot has. ill just keep my diy light fixture and change out the ballast and bulbs. one bulb or two? arent the t5's from home depot only normal output?


----------



## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

For a 55 I would do at least 2. Might be worth the hassle to wire in separate switches.

via Droid DNA Tapatalk 2


----------



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

alright cool someone was suggesting 3 cfls but i dont think those would work but do they?


----------



## Hardstuff (Oct 13, 2012)

Try to dose Excel, & you did not say what filter you are using. I see a lot of surface agitation going on . You could be outgassing a lot of Co2, which is going to hurt your situation. 
Switching to canister filters keeping them below the surface to create a gentle surface ripple is the way to go. Increase bio mass! Your lights are fine if you keep the spectrum in the 6500k-6700k spectrum fertilize lightly & watch the nitrates & PO4 carefully. Keep nitrates from crashing & the same for the PO4. Dose Flourish lightly do your water changes & dose Excel , you need more carbon, the lights could work if you stay with low light plants.
Watch that sand BGA loves that stuff! I really think the lights will work as long as you use the proper spectrum & adhere to above advice. They will grow slowly but that can be nice meaning low maintenance . My 2 cents, Roger


----------



## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

1. Plants generally do better in the lower 70's. at 78, they are likely just going to stunt a bit and inching a few degrees up will show yellowing. You'll see in discus biotopes that only certain plants can survive the temps.

2. Increase plant density. Regardless of your feedings and dosing, there's simply not enough plants in the tank to make use of all the nutrients, hence the algae... 

The problem in your tank is attributed to an imbalance and the algae is just a sign of it. Adding more light at this stage would only increase the algae growth exponentially. deal with the algae first before focusing on your plant stunting as there would be less variables to contend with. lower the temps a tad and add fast growers.

IME, having fast growers in a large tank helps to establish an equilibrium and also allows for some flexibility in the event that one overfeeds or doses nutrients excessively. Using either co2 or excel would help with the algae but know that's only a bandaid to cover the tank imbalance. people have successfully run their tanks in thsi manner for ages and you can too but just know common practice is sometimes not the best because when either the co2 or excel runs out, the problem rears its ugly head again... you also havent listed any plants which are demanding enough to require co2, which is why i am commenting here. if you want some fast growers, send me a pm.

If you are dosing enough co2, dont worry about having too much surface aggitation. The reality is people dont acknowledge the current in tank which sways the plants actually fosters the co2 exchange between the plants. one really cant talk about one without acknowledging the other. the return pipe in your cannister can be adjusted so that you have the plants sway a little, but not to typhoon levels of course...

good luck!


----------



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

hmm so more jungle val is needed your saying?


----------



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

i use a aqueon 55/75 filter i did have an air stone on but turned that off after about a week of the plants being in the tank. ill order more order more plants or take a trip out this weekend and look for some. ill try an get 5-10 more vals and see how it goes from there. all so much helpful info thank you everyone


----------



## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Your Planted 55G*

Hello rex...

You can have a nicely planted tank with the setup you have, you just need to get the right plants. Your lighting is fine, just subdued or low. If you want to keep your current lighting, then get some plants that prefer low light. Attached is a pic of a 45G with no more lighting than you have. This tank is even taller. I use a couple of 6500K, 32 watt, florescent bulbs.

The ground plants are Anubias and Java fern. The stems are floated close to the light and I have Anacharis (Waterweed) and Pennywort. 

Vals need stronger light and some varieties don't tolerate the Seachem liquids very well. There's a form of carbon in the product that's not good for some Vals. If you want to dose liquids, API, Tetra, Earth Juice and Nutrafin are good. I rotate the ferts every few days to give my plants a variety.

Large, weekly water changes provide healthy levels of nitrates, phosphates and sulfates too. 

Just a couple of thoughts.

B


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

rexpepper651 said:


> For the lighting i plan on going with the t5s home depot has. ill just keep my diy light fixture and change out the ballast and bulbs. one bulb or two? arent the t5's from home depot only normal output?


Changing the balast to add T5 to the unit? T5's that are 18 watts are NOs. If they are about 24 watts they are HO (high output). Make certain that you can buy a replacement bulb there for the fixture. Last time I looked at a T5 light strip they didn't have the replacement bulbs at the store I was at.

How about adding some Hygophila difformis. It is actually a weed thus can grow in any situation.



Hardstuff said:


> Watch that sand BGA loves that stuff! I really think the lights will work as long as you use the proper spectrum


Algae eater would keep that in check. Oh I forgot the 10000K bulbs in T8s are better for deep tanks like yours. The fact that plants aren't growing isn't important. With low light some just survive. With a big tank like that you certainly want more plants. Thus unless you add a rock background I don't you are going to be happy with amount of plant growth with the lights you have.


----------



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

its a home made light basically a box with two sets of lights in it.i wired everything. all i need to do is replace the t8 ballest with a t5 and get same bulbs. its not a fixture premade like you see in youre garage or stores. i built it just for the tank sits right on top


----------



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

BBradbury said:


> Hello rex...
> 
> You can have a nicely planted tank with the setup you have, you just need to get the right plants. Your lighting is fine, just subdued or low. If you want to keep your current lighting, then get some plants that prefer low light. Attached is a pic of a 45G with no more lighting than you have. This tank is even taller. I use a couple of 6500K, 32 watt, florescent bulbs.
> 
> ...


i dont know if i want to spend more m oney on plants that might get ate. id rather keep the fish and fill the tank with more vals and change lighting or possibly move the fish to a diff tank but i havent even begain to set the other 2 tanks up yet.


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

rexpepper651 said:


> its a home made light basically a box with two sets of lights in it.i wired everything. all i need to do is replace the t8 ballest with a t5 and get same bulbs.


What about the end caps. Sure it is not cheaper to just by a T5 light strip at Home Depot or Lowes? That reminds me the Lowes strip lights I looked at had a better warranty.


rexpepper651 said:


> i dont know if i want to spend more m oney on plants that might get ate. id rather keep the fish and fill the tank with more vals and change lighting


Then to fill the space you could make a rock wall made with styrofoam and cement. Should check out the cichlid forum.


----------



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

i get paid friday so ill most likely go out and get some more plants and price out some lights. ill add more plants first to see what happens then ill start thinking about lighting if i dont see any change. it seems that most of you who have posted here agree that lights and lack of plants is causing my lack of growth and diatom problem.


----------



## Zlookup (Mar 3, 2013)

From the looks of your tank, you have mainly jungle val and some water sprite. I had those with low/medium light and saw plenty of new growth. Focus on the base for the vals and see if new leaves are forming. I'd caution making the jump to t5HOs too quickly. If you are going with double bulbs, add one bulb first and see how that affects things for a week and adjust height for correct balance before deciding on adding another bulb. I switched from 2 T5NOs to 2 T5HOs and created a rather sudden downward algae spiral that I'm just starting to bounce back from after adjusting lighting photoperiod and distance. I will say that the larger vals seem to grow slower for me than the smaller varieties based on what I have observed in past month. YMMV. 

More plants may certainly help. Not sure how much they eat up in nutrients, but the banana plants that are readily available at pet stores seem to grow super fast for me. Getting new leaves every other day or so which are always noticeably bigger than the one before, all this, in spite of all the constant rescaping and stressing of it I've caused. 

Didn't see you state anything about ferts, so that may be something to consider as well or perhaps its just the plants settling in. Only been running for about a month and a half right? Could see better growth as they now are settled more.


----------



## Tetranerd (Oct 26, 2012)

You can grow vals in the amount of light you have - T5s don't solve every issue. If you want to grow vals, excel is not the solution, either. Vals are notorious for not getting along with excel very well. Add a few more vals to your tank & try some judicious fertilizer addition. Seachem comprehensive worked well for me until I switched to dry ferts. Sometimes plants hibernate or get a little shocky after being added to a tank. Patience & a clean environment will usually bring them around

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

rexpepper651 said:


> i get paid friday so ill most likely go out and get some more plants and price out some lights.


You get more for your buck buying plants from members of this forum. I have always gotten more than I had paid for. If you see any wisteria, water sprite or Anacharis get them. For they are low light, fast growing stem plants. Also check craigslist for lights.

Here is a 55G tank will Vals and no Co2 added.


----------



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

water sprite and wisteria i had an was stripped clean in a day by my fish. ill try some anacharis an see how that goes. i saw that dwarf sag was a great low light plant as well? i dont know if shes on here but i know a member on another forum who offered to sell me plants for cheap before they go online an she lives rather close.


----------



## Hilde (May 19, 2008)

rexpepper651 said:


> water sprite and wisteria i had an was stripped clean in a day by my fish.


Then sags, anubias and ferns are best to have. You can make caves to fill the space. Here is some inspiration


----------



## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

this guy was going to give me some el nino ferns for free just had to ay for shipping but i couldnt find much info on them. dang that is sick! thanks for the ideas for my empty 55 i have!


----------

