# plants pale leggy washed out light green



## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

ok - 55 gallon tank - GH 6 , KH 3 , PH 7.8 - walstad soil substrate - gravel top - temp 78 degrees - 2x55 AH supply GE 9325 bulbs - 2 two liter DIY co2 generators - 2 bell diffusers - 12 hour light duration - set up 1 1/2 weeks ago - i stocked heavily with plants of many species - now my question - they all look a pale washed out light green and kinda leggy - seems to me that they need something to get them going until the substrate works itself out and starts releasing nutrients - any ideas ? i am installing eheim 2213 today for circulation


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

rechecked values
PH 7.0
KH 8
GH 8
CO2 24 ppm

anyone ?


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## ray-the-pilot (May 14, 2008)

surpera1 said:


> ok - 55 gallon tank - GH 6 , KH 3 , PH 7.8 - walstad soil substrate - gravel top - temp 78 degrees - 2x55 AH supply GE 9325 bulbs - 2 two liter DIY co2 generators - 2 bell diffusers - 12 hour light duration - set up 1 1/2 weeks ago - i stocked heavily with plants of many species - now my question - they all look a pale washed out light green and kinda leggy - seems to me that they need something to get them going until the substrate works itself out and starts releasing nutrients - any ideas ? i am installing eheim 2213 today for circulation


My feeling: a heavily stocked planted aquarium needs 4 watts of light per gallon. 4 x 55 = 220 watts.

Do you have this much lighting?


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Supera1,

4 WPG on a 55 is on the high side (high intensity). On a 10 gallon, 4 WPG (40 watts) might be moderate, but on a 55, moderate lighting is right about where you are at (with 2 WPG, or 110 watts). That should be plenty light for most aquatic plants.

While you wait for the soil to release nutrients (could take 2 months IME) you can supplement with Seachem's liquids. They are less potent than the dry ferts, so there is less chance of overdoing it and you can gradually back off as the soil starts to 'activate'.

-Dave


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

ahhh - 2 months to get going ? that i didnt know - i was thinking in terms of terrestrial plants - but i had come to the conclusion that i needed nutrients - so then i delved into this endless supply of information and started tinkering - kinda figured why not ? nothing ventured nothing gained - one of these days i'm gonna get it right


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## osnapitseric (Apr 9, 2009)

With a heavily planted tank, you should invest in a pressurized CO2 to ensure you are giving the right amount of CO2 for your plants to grow. You didn't mention your ferts. Are you dosing? You might also want to cut down the lighting to 8-10hrs instead of 12.


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

the soil seems to be releasing nutrients now - the hornwort is all over the place - at least i have something growing - hahahahahaah


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## ray-the-pilot (May 14, 2008)

surpera1 said:


> the soil seems to be releasing nutrients now - the hornwort is all over the place - at least i have something growing - hahahahahaah


Wow hornwort! Eureka!

You suddenly opened a line of thought for me.

I always had Hornwort growing in my aquarium up until a few months ago. It is a really easy plant to grow and it grows very fast. That meant that at least every 2-3 weeks I had to chop out a bunch and send it to the compost pile. Finally, I decided to get rid of the plant and try some slower growing plants.

I soon had problems with my Clown Loaches and Siamese Algae eaters attacking my other plants. I didn't realize that they were probably living off the lush green Hornwort. When it was gone they needed some other salad!

I finally got rid of my Clown Loaches and Siamese Algae Eaters. Maybe I shouldn't have ditched the Hornwort?

Thanks for the thought!


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## surpera1 (Feb 18, 2009)

yeah - its really something - you can chop it back way down away from the surface and pin it down with a rock or something - next day its back at the surface - day after that its halfway across the tank - then it has the whole surface blocking out all the light - makes me think of the vines in the movie JUMANJI - hahahahahahahaahah


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