lagenandra meeboldii roots keep coming above substrate

[Mattlikesfish36]

I’ve had this plant for about a year and it does relatively well in my aquarium, but the roots keep coming up above the substrate. I have root tabs directly underneath them and I have added substrate around the base of the plant several times, but the roots keep coming up above the surface. I don’t have any fish that dig either so I’m stumped on why this keeps happening. Does this ever happen to anyone else?

[Guppysnail]

Plant roots need oxygen. Just like they aerate golf courses by poking tons of deep holes in the ground. It also keeps soil from compacting. 
 

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/27/2023 at 3:00 PM, Mattlikesfish36 said:

The stem in the back is shooting off aerial roots.   Usually is a sign of trying to propagate out.  This could be due to reaching the light or just a sign of lack of nutrients in the water column.

For the other plant, I'm not sure what's really going on.  When you do root tabs you generally don't want to put the root tab right under the plant, but near it to encourage the roots to reach outward and allow the plant to anchor itself.  Aside from that, you can "mix in" some of the waste and such from the top section of the gravel to push it lower down and that might feed the plant better.  All I can think is that it isn't roots (but algae or worms) or that it's something where the plant is really struggling to get nutrients.

The leaves, especially those two on the right, are severely covered in algae as well.  Try to spot treat them by dropping the water level and brushing them with hydrogen peroxide or using a toothbrush and supporting the leaf, brush off the algae that you can.  It may be a light issue, it might be a nutrient issue, but the plants are showing signs of struggling. (I noticed one thing, I'll attach it at the end)

What is your GH and KH?

Edited November 4, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[Mattlikesfish36]

On 11/4/2023 at 12:50 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

The stem in the back is shooting off aerial roots.   Usually is a sign of trying to propagate out.  This could be due to reaching the light or just a sign of lack of nutrients in the water column.

For the other plant, I'm not sure what's really going on.  When you do root tabs you generally don't want to put the root tab right under the plant, but near it to encourage the roots to reach outward and allow the plant to anchor itself.  Aside from that, you can "mix in" some of the waste and such from the top section of the gravel to push it lower down and that might feed the plant better.  All I can think is that it isn't roots (but algae or worms) or that it's something where the plant is really struggling to get nutrients.

The leaves, especially those two on the right, are severely covered in algae as well.  Try to spot treat them by dropping the water level and brushing them with hydrogen peroxide or using a toothbrush and supporting the leaf, brush off the algae that you can.  It may be a light issue, it might be a nutrient issue, but the plants are showing signs of struggling. (I noticed one thing, I'll attach it at the end)

What is your GH and KH?

@nabokovfan87thanks for your reply! I just trimmed and replanted the stems and they were sending out aerial roots because they were horizontal across the top of the water. I’ll try some tabs a little more off to the side to see how that works. My water is very hard. Turns the gh marker magenta on the aquarium coop strips. I’ll have to test Kh again to see