Can Anyone Explain What's Going On With The Growth In My Tank?

[Starburst]

The plants on the right (Rotala Rotundifolia Orange) are growing like crazy, but the plants on the left (Anacharis Elodea) won't grow at all, or are barely growing (and they all just droop to the side - see pic below).

The lights are on an 8-hour schedule. 80% of the root tabs in the tank are on the left side, and the right has the remaining 20%, but with the concentration of plants on the right side they're all sharing the small supply of available nutrients, yet they're still growing more than the others.

I'm dosing Easy Green twice a week, and Seachem Equilibrium as recommended after water changes like I've always done. Tank has been cycling for a few weeks now (due to a complete re-scape), and is nearly complete.

I keep hearing that I should float the elodea, but when I do they never grow. I only seem to get any kind of growth when they're planted, but it's very minimal as you can see.

What's going on here, and what am I doing wrong that's preventing the left side from growing properly?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Edited December 26, 2022 by Starburst

[Fish Folk]

That Anacharis can draw nutrients from the water column. You could let it float. 

[Starburst]

On 12/26/2022 at 5:38 PM, Fish Folk said:

That Anacharis can draw nutrients from the water column. You could let it float. 

I've had several that I've let float, and they never grow for some reason. They just sprout small roots and pretty much stay the same size.

[Fish Folk]

On 12/26/2022 at 6:42 PM, Starburst said:

I've had several that I've let float, and they never grow for some reason. They just sprout small roots and pretty much stay the same size.

Do you dose Easy Green liquid fertilizer?

[Tanked]

I have a similar issue, except that it is a front to back situation. Except for a new Crypt that seems to love its new home, nothing grows in the back half of the tank.  All of the Italian Val has migrated to the front of the tank where it gets a few minutes of morning sunlight.  If the right side of your tank is exposed to direct sunlight, or strong room light, that could be the reason.

While I do get different results in different tanks, my Elodea prefers to float.

[Starburst]

On 12/29/2022 at 8:35 AM, Tanked said:

I have a similar issue, except that it is a front to back situation. Except for a new Crypt that seems to love its new home, nothing grows in the back half of the tank.  All of the Italian Val has migrated to the front of the tank where it gets a few minutes of morning sunlight.  If the right side of your tank is exposed to direct sunlight, or strong room light, that could be the reason.

While I do get different results in different tanks, my Elodea prefers to float.

The tank gets even lighting, and no sunlight. I've tried again to float the elodea, so hopefully I'll see some positive results this time!

[MrWestCoast]

What kind of lights are you using?

[Starburst]

On 12/30/2022 at 9:23 PM, MrWestCoast said:

What kind of lights are you using?

It's a Hygger 20watt

[MrWestCoast]

It's probably a light issue. These plants are often sold as "low light" plants as they will live in low light conditions but will struggle. I also have Hygger lights. Hygger claims this specific model is 26w, but I'd be surprised if it's even pulling 20w.

[PineSong]

What are your nitrates measuring, after fertilizing?

I've had anacharis/elodea take off in my tanks (which have Hygger lights and get more than the recommended starting dose of Easy Green 2x per week) when they were cram-packed with fish and being overfed because I was raising fry, but also in my pond where there was no Easy Green, very few fish for the gallons but lots of sunlight. Maybe they need lots of food OR lots of light, and your newly established tank doesn't have enough nitrates yet and doesn't quite qualify as lots of light?

Edited January 1 by PineSong

[Starburst]

On 12/31/2022 at 6:05 PM, PineSong said:

What are your nitrates measuring, after fertilizing?

I've had anacharis/elodea take off in my tanks (which have Hygger lights and get more than the recommended starting dose of Easy Green 2x per week) when they were cram-packed with fish and being overfed because I was raising fry, but also in my pond where there was no Easy Green, very few fish for the gallons but lots of sunlight. Maybe they need lots of food OR lots of light, and your newly established tank doesn't have enough nitrates yet and doesn't quite qualify as lots of light?

Tank is fully cycled, so the nitrates are usually between 20-40ppm. If they ever get below 20ppm then I dose enough Easy Green to get em back up. I only have one tiny Betta, so the bioload isn't heavy, and there isn't a ton of ammonia being produced to make more nitrates, so I have to supplement. I might try dosing co2 if I don't see growth soon.

 

I've started an experiment a couple days ago where I took one of the new stems, placed it into a glass jar (floating), and I'm leave it outside for natural sunlight all day (still dosing Easy Green to keep nitrates at 20ppm) and I'm gonna see if lighting is the problem. I have no way to increase the light in my 20w Hygger, so if lighting is the issue then I'll soon see and will end up buying a more powerful light for the tank.

[PineSong]

Good idea to experiment!