# Plants not growing or pearling



## Jaap (Jun 24, 2005)

Hello people....greate forum. After the following setup I donnot see any significant change in the health of my plants after 3 days of doing so. Not many bubbles on my plant leaves indicating photosynthesis.

My setup: I had this tank for 4 years and neglected it the last 3 years due to overseas studying. Now that I am back I am reviving it.

30 gallon tank
added tropiflora fertiliser 
900l/h filter
DIY CO2 bottle
no fish yet, just a few snails 
two 25 watt each plant promoting fluarascent lamps (red)
one 25 watt blue marine fluaroscent lamp 
=> therefore 3 flueroscent lamps of total 75 watts all NEW
gravel and substrate (don't know what kind) which is 4 years old.
tank dimensions 75cm long, 45cm deep, 40cm width

During the years I neglected the tank, I made water changes and the filtration was always on with no fish in the tank. 
The plants in my tank are of 2 kinds only which I don't know the name. One is short and has brown leaves and the other grows long green leaves. It seems they both have minimum requirements because they are the only plants that servived these years.

What do you reccomend for me to do in order to start the growth and repopulation of my tank with healthy green plants? 

PS: I didn't buy any other plants since I would like to make sure that I Know how to treat these first. If these plants grow well then I will buy more "spectacular" ones.

Thanks people sorry for the long message.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

The lighting is the most important factor in growing plants, so I would get rid of the marine blue light and get another plant bulb.

I would also go with substrate made for plants, like flourite or Eco-complete. Get enough for a depth of 2-3".

One bottle of DIY C02 will more than likely not be enough, so hooking up a second bottle will help. Keep your C02 between 20-30ppm. To find out your C02 reading test your PH/KH, then go here.

You will need test kits for N03, P04, KH, PH.

You will need to dose micros, macros & iron. You may also need to dose other ferts such as (K)N03, P04 once you find out what your parameters are. Not familiar with Tropiflora.

Last but not least, make sure to keep up on tank maintenance. Do weekly water changes of 25% or 50% bi-weekly. Clean glass, filters & media on a regular basis. 
Also make sure to plant with plenty of fast growers in the beginning to help suck up nutrients that algae also feed on. You will need to stick with plants for low-medium light levels.


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