Help Please

[Stryda]

Hey guys...I set my tank up about a week ago, first planted tank. The plants went in about a week ago, some are doing well and growing, and other are not! Just wondered if anyone could help me out as to the problem.
I'm doing 2 water changes a week, and dosing with TNC complete after each water change, only a couple of mil. Light is a 35 watt t8 at the moment, other one has broke so need to replace it, and no CO2. Tank is 45gallons.

IMG_9464 by Stryda, on Flickr

IMG_9462 by Stryda, on Flickr

IMG_9466 by Stryda, on Flickr
the one doing well...just wanted to ask...can i clip off the top couple of inches on this one, and replant it to get growth outwards instead of upwards?

IMG_9467 by Stryda, on Flickr

Any other advice on anything is greatly appreciated! I'm new and have spent a few hours trolling through loads of posts on this forum 😀
Thanks guys and girls.

 

[Iain Sutherland]

Hey stryda, the first few pictures show crypt melt, as they only went in the tank last week dont worry too much as this is quite normal with crypts when new. You should trim off any leaves that start to melt and over time new leaves will appear.
Im guessing you have inert substrate, unless there is something under the pink, then you need to be sure that the water column is dosed accordingly, most plants can be grown in inert gravel as long as we supply them with what they need by other means, dosing the water column or root tabs or even better both. With a tank of that size you will want to dose 3-4 times a week, follow the intructions on the TNC for quantity but divide that by 3-4. Remember no harm can come from over doing it on the ferts but it should be available all the time, no use lots of ferts monday and starving plants by thursday.
Keep reading and all will become clear(er)

 

[Stryda]

Ah excellent! Good to know the crypt behaviour is normal 😀 . With regards to providing nutrition the gravel is inert cat litter but theres several root tabs under all of the main plants, and the water column is receiving nutrients 🙂 (more frequently now 🙂) and im learning!! Just slowly!