[thestranger66]

Okay so over the last year, I have been running aqua soil, pressurized c02, the home depot robot light, and a zoo med canister filter. My plants refuse to pearl or grow at any significant rate for that matter. Glossostigma and HC both stagnate while rotala grows slowly. I also put potassium and iron and trace in the tank a couple times a week. My question is whether or not other people are having success with the hampton bay light? Im at a loss here guys.

Thanks

 

[VeeSe]

Are you also adding a source of nitrogen and phosphorus? Potassium, iron, and trace aren't a comprehensive set of what you should be adding.

 

[thestranger66]

I was using rex griggs dry ferts inconsistently. Would a lack of nitrogen and phosphorus be enough to halt all growth in the tank? Nothing died or became discolored, it just ceased to grow.

 

[Kathyy]

Your tank might not have quite enough, there is some of those nutrients in there, the aqua soil provides it.

I have to use powders as my tank is huge but even on the little tank I had for a while I used the dry ferts. Work up a dosing plan and keep track of how the tank is doing, change it up and see what works best for your situation. I review what I used the week before and fill up the pill minder during the weekly tank maintenance.

 

[BlueJack]

I was using rex griggs dry ferts inconsistently. Would a lack of nitrogen and phosphorus be enough to halt all growth in the tank? Nothing died or became discolored, it just ceased to grow.

After carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus are the most important nutrients for a plant. It's like a human trying to live off banana's and multivitamins, instead of proteins, carbs, and fats.

 

[thestranger66]

Fair enough. I will have to try a more honest attempt at dosing properly. I really appreciate all of the input!

EDIT: What test kits do you prefer?

 

[Hoppy]

Fair enough. I will have to try a more honest attempt at dosing properly. I really appreciate all of the input!

EDIT: What test kits do you prefer?

The best test kit is the plants in the tank. Use estimated dosages then watch the plants as they tell you if that was a good amount. Adjust until the plants are doing well. The best starting point is the dosing scheme described in the fertilizing forum sticky.

 

[Geminiluna]

+1 for using a pill minder to measure out your dry doses each week. I was absolutely terrible at remembering to do my daily ferts. I did like Kathyy and used a weekly pill-minder. And to remind me to dose the ferts, I set it next to my own pill minder for my own prescriptions. As I was chugging back my own vitamins and stuff, I'd carry the pill minder around the corner to my tank and quickly dose and ... done!

 

[BBradbury]

Plants Don't Grow

Good morning the...

Whoa. Your post reads a little like one of my high school chemistry books. Growing plants is really not complicated. I know a couple of things that may help.

Plants are like fish, they need space. I've never had luck planting a small tank. When I went to a 30 G and then to several 55 Gs, my plants did much better when I gave them room to grow.

Fertilizing is simple too. All you need to provide are macro and micro nutrients. The macros come from frequent and large water changes and from the fish. So, you need to feed them a balanced diet.

The micros come from a commercial source in either dry or liquid form. I prefer hydroponics liquids, but there are others. You'll just need to "Google" micro nutrients or some similar name.

In short, do large and frequent water changes, feed your fish well and get the micros into the water. Attached is an old pic of one of my planted tanks, so you don't think my explanation sounds too easy to work.

B

 

[thestranger66]

The best test kit is the plants in the tank. Use estimated dosages then watch the plants as they tell you if that was a good amount. Adjust until the plants are doing well. The best starting point is the dosing scheme described in the fertilizing forum sticky.

Although the plants will tell me whether or not the tank has an insufficient level of some nutrient, they will not tell me which nutrient is deficient or by how much. So, what test kits should I look into? The master test kit from API doesn't seem to cover nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium, so do I have to buy kits individually or is there a kit?

Thanks

 

[Kathyy]

My AP test kit has a nitrate test. If nitrate is high I figure something else is low so the plants aren't taking up the nitrate well. If phosphate is low I get GSA all over. There isn't a good hobbyist test for potassium. I never did like testing for iron for some reason. If you follow EI and make big water changes the nutrients levels cannot build up too high and you are giving the plants all they need and done.

You may need more or less of something or another. I need more phosphate and hardness booster than seems logical for instance. My Anubias haven't GSA at the moment but there is some on the back of the tank so I may increase it a bit this week to see if it goes away. Stauro was okay but when I added hardness booster it got the white line down the middle and got more substantial and Rotala grew much better.

 

[thestranger66]

Okay, I have been dosing dry frets for the past couple of months with the same lack of success. My rotala has grown slowly and my few sprig of glosso have grown straight upwards. Is it possible that my substrate is out of nutrients? I did supplement with a couple of root tabs a few months ago.

-thestranger

 

[galabar]

Okay, I have been dosing dry frets for the past couple of months with the same lack of success. My rotala has grown slowly and my few sprig of glosso have grown straight upwards. Is it possible that my substrate is out of nutrients? I did supplement with a couple of root tabs a few months ago.

-thestranger

Have you tested pH, KH, GH of your water supply? Your tank?

 

[thestranger66]

I haven't recently tested the kh gh or ph. I know that the water coming out of the tap here is pretty hard but when I switched to RO, it had no effect. As far as ph and kh, I am running about 1-2bps and I have 5 Rasboras who seem very happy in the tank so I don't think those parameters are too far off.

 

[Kathyy]

My tap water isn't particularly soft but my plants do better with GH booster anyway. GH is calcium and magnesium, both are important nutrients for plants. Try using half tap and half RO for a couple weeks?

 

[doc bonsai]

Seems like the next step may be to consider better lighting

 

[thestranger66]

I was under the impression that everyone was having good luck with the hampton bay lights. If that is not actually true, I am totally prepared to buy another light; I just don't want to be wasting money.

Thanks