Can't seem to get this down

[Pacers94]

Hi everyone, hope your weekend started of well! I've received a bunch of helpful feedback on others questions I've posted, and I hoped I could get some help with my plants. I can't seem to get that nice, green, lush look from my plants. Attached are some pictures of what I'm seeing. I do have root tabs in, several for each of the bigger plants. I am using the Fluval stratum so there's a little bit of nutrients there. I use Easy Green and have been messing around getting the right ratio. I also copied an intricate light schedule I saw from someone else on the forum. Any advice is appreciated! 

Ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates ~ 40ppm, ph 7.2

[Fish Folk]

Is your water soft? What temperature are you running this at? Photo period / length?

[Pacers94]

@Fish Folk I have very hard water. Temp is about 75 degrees. The photos were taken today, plants have been in there maybe 3 weeks

[Fish Folk]

Is the tank setup pretty new? Size of tank / depth? 

[Pacers94]

@Fish Folk yes its about 5 weeks old. 55 gallon, 20" tall, 12" deep, 4' wide

[Fish Folk]

On 7/31/2021 at 11:40 AM, Pacers94 said:

@Fish Folk yes its about 5 weeks old. 55 gallon, 20" tall, 12" deep, 4' wide

Several factors to bear in mind: (1) the setup is still very new, and hasn’t balanced (2) the algae you’re seeing is very common in new tank setups. (3) your plants are very new, and aren’t adjusted to the new parameters yet. Some may melt / die back before growing out to your water (4) it is _possible_ that the depth of your 55 gal might be a challenge for your lighting to “throw” down through.

Over time, this can be slowly improved. In some tanks though, it remains a challenge. 

[Patrick_G]

Since the plants are fairly new to the tank it could be that they’re acclimating to your tank. Some plants are sold in their air grown form and need time to convert to underwater growth. I don’t think this is the case with Swords and Valisneria but even if they were grown submerged they still might need some adjustment time. 

[Pacers94]

If there is a die back period, what can I do to ensure they don't full on die?

[Patrick_G]

I’d remove the dying leaves on the Sword. I’m not sure about the Val, but I think you could try trimming off the bad spots. 

[eatyourpeas]

With Nitrates at 40ppm you may want to slow down on the fertilizers. Give the plants time to absorb the Nitrates and as the others said, there is a period of adjustment plants go through when in a new environment.

Give them plenty of light starting with 8 hours per day, and adjust as you see fit. Make sure plants that require more light are not shaded by others. Don't panic if you get algae, as you get the light schedule correct and the plants absorb nutrients, this will deprive the algae from food and it will go away.