[Duke178]

Hey all. I’m new to the forum and to planted aquariums as well. I now have 3 on the go but my main one is not doing so well.

I have a Fluval 32.5 gallon tank with the aqua sky led light that came with it.
This is what I have :
-Aqua sky led light.
63 led bulbs
21 watts
1450 lumens
- fluval 3.0 led light
168 led bulbs
32 watts
2350 lumens.
Upgraded my pump for more flow but have it dialed down so it’s not crazy currents and added co2 with diffuser and my plants don’t seem to be doing great.
We have gone through numerous different plants and it doesn’t seem to matter.
My other 2 tanks seem to be doing way better and can’t figure out why.
Other tanks are :
10 gallon fluval with no added stuff and plants seem to be growing decently and a 35 gallon old tank in my sons room. Old fluorescent tube lights with added co2 being diffused and new filters and pump and that’s it. Growing great. I do add seachem fertilizers and added iron here and there to all my tanks but the plants in the main one seem to just die off no matter what I do. Hopefully someone can be of some kind of assistance to me as it’s been a chore and costed lots of money so far that’s starting to feel like a waste.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and hope to hear back from someone with some knowledge on this.

 

[Plinkploop]

Do you know your waters parameters? Also what does your plant list look like? Are you using aquasoil or inert substrate? A picture would be helpful.

 

[Oughtsix]

How long have the tanks been up and running? New tanks take a while to establish themselves and the plants take a while to grow leaves appropriate for the water conditions. If the plants are new die off is expected while the plants grow leaves appropriate for the water conditions.

 

[Duke178]

This is my tank as of right now with the newest plants in it.
Im not 100% on the names of the plants we have as I didn’t take note of them when I bought them but the store I went to suggested them all as my tank always seems to be on the warmer side.We have some swords and a couple lotuses and val’s I think they were called. Water parameters are all good.
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
20 nitrate.

 

[Savetheplants]

Do you use all the Seachem fertilizers? Or do you just add the Flourish and Flourish Iron?

 

[Duke178]

This newest setup is goin on just over a month now but the tank itself has been up and running fully cycled since March. So 2 months fully cycled now

Do you use all the Seachem fertilizers? Or do you just add the Flourish and Flourish Iron?

I use Flourish , Trace ,Prime when I water change , and Iron. Was also using excel before I added co2 but have tapered off on using that since adding the co2

 

[Plinkploop]

Aren't vals sensitive to excel? I thought I read about it somewhere.

 

[Duke178]

I should state that the latest pic I posted of my tank is the newest plants I’ve put in there and it looks way better then it did but they are starting to do the same as my last plants did.
These are the plants I pulled out and put into my other tank in hopes of saving them. They were all dying on me at a very quick rate. The last pics are my other tank when I first started it and now with all the plants I’ve had to put in there to try and save them. Seem to be growing really good in there. Sorry for such long posts.

 

[Plinkploop]

Do you have any root tabs for your swords? It looks like and issue with rooting for them. I'd suggest removing the dead leaves so the plant isn't wasting energy trying to save them.

 

[Savetheplants]

I use Flourish , Trace ,Prime when I water change , and Iron. Was also using excel before I added co2 but have tapered off on using that since adding the co2

You have light and CO2. Your Nitrate looks good. That narrows it down to a Phosphate and or Potassium deficiency or something else not fertilizer related.

 

[Duke178]

That’s what those have been cut down to. I’m really hoping they come back. Fingers crossed.
I will have to buy a better testers kit so I can check for more to help diagnose my problems.
Do you guys know if that would be enough lighting for it. I think it’s working out to be around 30-31 lumens per litre if I did the math correctly on that. I never realized how much work this hobby was till covid hit. Haha. Thanks for the help and advice guys.