Struggling with stem plants.

[Niton]

Hi all,
My tank is over a year old now and I have consistently struggled with growing stem plants.

60 ltr aquarium
I'm not running co2
I have a photo period of 7 hours at 50 percent with a twinstar 600
I dose macro and micro frets as per instructions for tank size.

I've attached a picture of some rotala that is sadly typical of my experience. The plant nearest the roots seem to die off?



Over all the tank is pretty well established but stem plants always fail! I thought they were meant to be easy!



I'd be grateful for any thoughts you have as to what I could look at changing.

 

[Zeus.]

With all the floating plants your stem plants might not be getting enough light IMO, uproot one and let it float at top of tank in a spot with plenty of light and see if it picks up 😉

 

[Niton]

With all the floating plants your stem plants might not be getting enough light IMO, uproot one and let it float at top of tank in a spot with plenty of light and see if it picks up 😉

I've actually thinned out the floaters this week and increased the lighting strength a bit. If I don't have enough floaters I get algae issues... But its only been almost a week so I'll give it longer.

 

[MJQMJQ]

Maybe the other plants(esp floaters as they have more co2) took up the nutrients and left none for your stem plants?I think light might be a problem as zeus suggested also.U can dose more nutrients safely as yours is a lush planted tank.

 

[Niton]

Thank you for the advice. I will look at increasing ferts after I've run the increased light strength a little longer.