Your my last hope people!

[Hera6891]

Hi all I’m new to the group….I am literally close to shutting tank down I have had enough. I’ve had fish for 10 years plus but never been able to keep plants. Thought I’d give it a try.
I have a 240 litre established, excuse it at the moment I’ve stripped it down ready for bigger tank just 350 coming. To get going I’ve been trying everything for about 8 months and it’s so stressful nothing is growing well at all and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.
1. I’ve bought a Fluval plant 3. I’ve attached settings to this thread.
2. I’ve bought a full co2 setup… running roughly 2 drops per second it comes on hour before lights come on and turns of hour before they go out.
3. I’m dozing with profito and easy carbo what’s recommended dose.
4. Temp at 26 deg.
5.water perimeters are good.

Spent a fortune. Read countless times blind posts watched countless videos and I just can’t do it 😭😭 please help.
I’ve just started growing algae on tank glass now.
Any advice gratefully appreciated

 

[Hera6891]

Fluval stratham in there too

 

[PARAGUAY]

Hi welcome to the forum, sounds like you have spent a lot with thinking it's a guarantee it will be successful, it can be of course but IME l would recommend starting with low tech non CO2 going for a three or four plant "easy range"plants include fast growing stems, Algae is common to some degree in all aquariums,
for now look at lighting ,is it too much? and have a good look in at the articles and tutorials ,you will have success, check your goals ,don't let algae get the best of you Tell us more with pictures and your routine and members will have advice

 

[Hera6891]

I’ve attatched photos of my light schedule…I’ve said what co2 I’m putting in I don’t know how much more info I can provide?

 

[ElleDee]

5.water perimeters are good.

Can you elaborate on that? What information do you have about your tap water (or whatever water you use) and what is going in your tank?

I am not familiar with the fertilizer you are using at all, but the marketing copy says it does not have nitrates or phosphates. If you aren't having plant growth, shortages in one or both of those is something I would check. (I'm also skeptical of any fertilizer that advertises a bunch of elements that are not plant nutrients, as yours does.) Proper CO2 usage is always high on the list of things to double check, but I am not the person for that.

It looks like you have all fairly easy plants, so if you aren't seeing any real growth something is way off, especially with injected CO2.

 

[Hera6891]

I’ve attached picture of water parameters
Something is deffo off I just can’t work out what. The fertiliser has really good amazon reviews

 

[PARAGUAY]

Sorry you did,,show pictures @Hera6891 Profito somebody can comment as l don't use it Plants need maybe demand with CO2 plenty of nutrients ,so if have CO2 ,high light ,without enough nutrition ,its likely algae will be an issue ,water change routine 30% twice or 50% are needed weekly on CO2 aquarium Aquarium looks sparsley planted

 

[Le duke]

I’ve attached picture of water parameters
Something is deffo off I just can’t work out what. The fertiliser has really good amazon reviews

What people mean is what are the KH, GH, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, and other parameters from your local water supply report.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Jorge O'Reilly]

IMO, the best advice is to start low tech. Grab some regular soil, cap with inert gravel and give it four months after planting heavily from the outset.

That said, do this only if you have the spirit to continue... Perhaps having a large tank without plants and with fish, while you experiment with a small tank until you get the hang of it?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Welcome to UKAPS,

nothing is growing well at all and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

We will try to help you.

2. I’ve bought a full co2 setup… running roughly 2 drops per second it comes on hour before lights come on and turns of hour before they go out.

Plants can only make use of extra CO2, if all the other nutrients required for plant growth are available

3. I’m dozing with profito and easy carbo what’s recommended dose.

I'm guessing that this is your problem.

Cheers Darrel

 

[Hera6891]

Sorry you did,,show pictures @Hera6891 Profito somebody can comment as l don't use it Plants need maybe demand with CO2 plenty of nutrients ,so if have CO2 ,high light ,without enough nutrition ,its likely algae will be an issue ,water change routine 30% twice or 50% are needed weekly on CO2 aquarium Aquarium looks sparsley planted

What do you use?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I am not familiar with the fertilizer you are using at all, but the marketing copy says it does not have nitrates or phosphates. If you aren't having plant growth, shortages in one or both of those is something I would check. (I'm also skeptical of any fertilizer that advertises a bunch of elements that are not plant nutrients, as yours does.)

I’ve attached picture of water parameters
Something is deffo off I just can’t work out what. The fertiliser has really good amazon reviews

The problem is that they aren't supplying all the nutrients that plants need.

Cheers Darrel

 

[PARAGUAY]

What do you use?

At the moment l use TNC Complete on 2 low tech aquariums but it is an ideal one for a CO2 aquarium, contains all essential nutrients

 

[G H Nelson]

Please read the guidelines for plant help!

Dear Member Please give as many details as possible regarding your aquarium set-up, when requiring advice/help! The above will be posted at the start of each help request. Why do we ask these questions? It will reduce the member posting multiple times, plus adviser's don't need to scroll...

www.ukaps.org

 

[hypnogogia]

I’m dozing with profito and easy carbo what’s recommended dose.

Here’s part of your problem. Profito does not provide nitrate of phosphate. You’re better off using something like TNC Complete. Also, your temperature is quite high for plant growth. Reduce the temp to say 23 and it will hold more CO2.

In terms of information to provide, these are the guidelines:

Please read the guidelines for plant help!

Dear Member Please give as many details as possible regarding your aquarium set-up, when requiring advice/help! The above will be posted at the start of each help request. Why do we ask these questions? It will reduce the member posting multiple times, plus adviser's don't need to scroll...

www.ukaps.org

 

[Siege]

A few thoughts

- It is rarely ferts


- 99% of the time co2 is the issue

• Look at how you are injecting it CO2 I assume your tank has a Fluval 407? If so swap to normal 16/22 tubing and inject it that way. You won’t have to worry about diffuser placement. This is your main issue I think.
• Start CO2 much earlier. Perhaps 4 hours before lights. Less if you have soft water.
• reduce lighting to 6-8 hours. This will reduce co2 demand.
• reduce temp if poss. Just 1-2 degree drop will have a big impact.

Lastly. Perhaps consider your fish. Are they compatible with fine high demanding stem plants?
Perhaps a cool piece if wood and stone. Ferns over it. Some hard wearing midground plants instead.

Just a few ideas!

 

[ElleDee]

I’ve attached picture of water parameters
Something is deffo off I just can’t work out what. The fertiliser has really good amazon reviews

What are these tests? GH, something yellow (kh or ammonia?), nitrates, nitrite? Posting a picture of the tube is unhelpful for the GH and KH tests because you need to count how many drops it takes to get the solution to change colors.

If I'm right about the nitrate test then you aren't definitely aren't short there, but it looks like your fertilizer hardly has any K in it either. Definitely get a different fertilizer, I'm not sure who this one is for.

 

[ElleDee]

A few thoughts

- It is rarely ferts

I typically agree with that, but OP isn't really doing macros at all.

You may be right about the CO2 issues, but most of those plants should be able to grow low tech anyway.

 

[The Miniaturist]

Easy life Profito contains micro elements, despite the text on the front of the bottle saying it's a complete fertilizer.
They sell Nitro, Fosfo & Potassium separately as macros to be dosed accordingly.

 

[Andy Pierce]

Show us a picture of your drop checker when the lights are on. Part of the algae problem is not enough plants. Get something super easy like Hygrophila polysperma and grow huge masses of that. Others will advocate floating plants, but I'm not a fan. Low tech is good but requires a very different mindset to CO2 injected and there is no reason why you won't be able to make CO2-injected work for you.