Every Plant Species Dying Except One

[juneaugoalie]

Hello!

I'm pretty new to planted tanks, so when I started my current one I bought a variety of different "easy" plants from Aquarium Co-op's website. Only one species, the Pogostemon stellatus "Octopus", took to my tank. I bought a second round of plants that had similar care descriptions as the Pogostemon, and again, all of them melted away and did not return (except for a Vallisneria, which is barely holding on, and some floating Water Sprite). The Pogostemon is doing great; I trim and replant almost every time I do a water change, but I can't seem to figure out why nothing else will survive.

Do any of you have any ideas? I can provide more information as needed; I would just like to add more plants and variety for the inhabitants.

Thank you!

[Scapexghost]

What kind of lighting do you have

[1moretank]

@juneaugoalie  More information will help others help you.  Octopus is a plant that grow very fast & uses a lot of fertilizer.  One possibility is that your newer, less established plants may be starving out.  Please include your tank size, lighting, fertilizers you are using, tank stocking, water change schedule, and tank parameters.

Good luck.

[juneaugoalie]

On 1/2/2022 at 1:41 PM, Scapexghost said:

What kind of lighting do you have

I have a Nicrew LED, I can't remember if it's the Classic or not, but it's the 48 in her, I believe. 

 

On 1/2/2022 at 1:51 PM, 1moretank said:

@juneaugoalie  More information will help others help you.  Octopus is a plant that grow very fast & uses a lot of fertilizer.  One possibility is that your newer, less established plants may be starving out.  Please include your tank size, lighting, fertilizers you are using, tank stocking, water change schedule, and tank parameters.

Good luck.

I have a 72 gallon bowfront, and I've been using Easy Green fertilizer for almost a year, I think. I wasn't sure if I had low or high lighting, so I dosed about one pump a day (the dosing instructions say low-light tanks should do one pump per gallon per week, and I wanted to spread out the dosing). I have a pretty well-stocked tank with a variety of fish. Most of them leave the plants alone, although every now and then they'll pick off algae and mulm. I did have a six-inch pleco for the past year or so, but she died about two weeks ago. (She was likely a large factor in the melting/uprooting)

I do water changes every two weeks or so, siphoning the substrate (though not around the plants: I kind of swirl the water with my hand and siphon it above the substrate without messing up the roots) and scrubbing the walls. When they get a bit too dirty, I replace decorations, clean the filtration and other equipment, and swap out driftwood. Typically I drain about a quarter of the tank, but every few months I do half the tank and rearrange the decor. I use API Stress Coat after each water change or otherwise stressful event (power outages, new fish, etc).

I just did a water change, so when it's been a few days I'll do the parameter check and update this.

Also, I have never done root tabs or any other fertilizer aside from a Seachem three pack quite a while ago, when I first got plants.

Thanks for your responses!