# Plants still dying :(



## Gippetto (Apr 15, 2005)

Ok.. well I posted before about my dying plants. The general consensus here was that my light was not enough.. (2 25 watt bulbs.. 39 gallon tank) I went back to the place that sold us the light.. and the plants and they said I could grow many lower light plants and they sold me a couple of swords some grasslike plant (val?) and a little banana plant. I asked them about fertilizers or co2.. They said as long as I used the laetrite, I didn't need anything else.. Oddly, there is some new growth, but overall it looks sad.. Well. I'm sure you were right about the light.. and my plants are here::


























If it's truly just the light.. I'm stuck with it for now.. I paid way too much for it to toss it out..

Is there any hope without a huge investment?


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## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

with that much like you will need co2 support and ferts. below 2 wpg woul dhave been alright.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

If you have regular florescent plant bulbs you have 1.28WPG which is very low light. You need to stick with low light plants like Crypts, Hornwort, Anubias, Java fern & moss, the plants that the store sold you require a higher light to thrive. 

You will still need to add some ferts to your water like Seachem Flourish, micros and iron, these should be all you will need. You do not need to add C02 since you have low light but it would be a good idea to add Seachem Excel for a carbon source.


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## Gippetto (Apr 15, 2005)

*Thanks*

I guess I'll have to decide between going with some lower light plants or investing in higher wattage lighting.. I'm honestly upset that they sold me this light telling me it was sufficient for most plants.. 
:axe: :axe:

Oh well .. I guess next time, we'll research for ourselves in advance.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

It would be cheaper to invest in low light plants in the short term but if you want to grow a variety of plants than investing in better lighting will be the wise decision in the long run.

It's sad but some people in those fish stores don't know a whole lot about keeping plants, I found this out when I was a newbie. It is always better to do research first before making a decision on the advice given by your LFS.


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## Gippetto (Apr 15, 2005)

A lesson learned.. 
I'm going to wait.. I picked up a few fake plants for now to fill in.. It's not what I wanted but until I can replace the lighting that I have.. .. ](*,) 

Thanks.. I'm going to keep reading here and find another place to buy my plants..


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## Bounty (May 18, 2004)

Exactly the same thing happend to me, most fish shops or local pet shops dont know much about having good lighting etc, I bought 2 lights spent a bit of money thinking it was decent enough, and in the end turned out it was very low light. Lucky my mates brother breeds fish and took the lights off my hands without to much hassel and I got myself some really nice strong lights. It does really pay off to ask on here for advice before you start to buy parts for your future setup.


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