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***edit*** I should mention I have 10 cardinal tetras, 6 Corys and 6 amano shrimp in their way to my tank next week.  I should probably get this figured out!***

So, I thought I Was doing well.  I don’t have a massive algae explosion or anything.  However, I think I’m realizing my plants are growing a lot slower than they should.  Also,  because they aren’t growing well, they aren’t using the nitrates up.  At all. I did a water change a week ago and they are testing red.

 I’m not super consistent with the ferts as far as exact same day every week, but I have been doing it twice a week for the last 3 weeks.  Before I started dosing a 2nd time, plants weren’t growing at all so I think twice is needed. The 1 thing I’m going to change is my light schedule. I was doing 8am-12pm and again from 5pm - 10pm.  I’m going to switch to a solid 8 hours from 4pm-12am.  See how that affects things.  I have the octopus plant(3), java moss mats (2), a very wimpy and not doing well vallisneria, 4-5 Anubias plants. A cryptocoryne, 2 dwarf lilies (dropped in same time and one is an inth of the size of the other), a Christmas moss bridge and a Tiger lotus. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Edited by Bethily777
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How old is your tank and how long have the plants been there? Plants will spend a lot of energy just establishing themselves in their new environment before you see much growth. What kind of fertilizer are you using, and how big is your tank?

If you don’t have an algae explosion you probably don’t have excess nutrients, so keep erring on the side of extra fertilizer. 👍 But like @lefty o said, make minor adjustments and then wait and see. You have a variety of plants, and the ones best suited to your tank are bound to take off eventually. 🙂

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7 hours ago, Hobbit said:

How old is your tank and how long have the plants been there? Plants will spend a lot of energy just establishing themselves in their new environment before you see much growth. What kind of fertilizer are you using, and how big is your tank?

If you don’t have an algae explosion you probably don’t have excess nutrients, so keep erring on the side of extra fertilizer. 👍 But like @lefty o said, make minor adjustments and then wait and see. You have a variety of plants, and the ones best suited to your tank are bound to take off eventually. 🙂

It’s 2.5 years old and 38 gallons.  I added some plants in January and some at the end of February. I’m using Easy green liquid and also thrive root Tabs. I recently started adding flourish and iron occasionally. I will change the light schedule and give it some time

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10 minutes ago, Bethily777 said:

It’s 2.5 years old and 38 gallons.  I added some plants in January and some at the end of February. I’m using Easy green liquid and also thrive root Tabs. I recently started adding flourish and iron occasionally. I will change the light schedule and give it some time

I've found it takes awhile for Val to get established and really send out shoots and once it does it goes crazy. I agree just keep tinkering and maintaining the water, maybe change light intensity (although it doesn't sound bad now) and things should show signs of movement. Without CO2 it's a much slower process, obviously.

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You might consider adding some floating plants also. They can help suck up excess nitrates and are easy to remove when they get overgrown. Plants like frogbit, red root floaters, and dwarf water lettuce are especially easy to control. Duckweed is more of a pain, but it really absorbs nitrates.

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What kind of vallisneria are you trying to grow?   My Jungle Val is as old as your aquarium and simply exists,- no growth.  

Your plants haven't been planted that long.  Do they look healthy?  The Anubia are super slow growers even after they settle in.  My PSO did not appear to be growing for the first month, but I found that it had created a really good root system.  Someone will set me straight here, but Easy Green +Thrive+Flourish+Iron sounds like an awful lot of fertilizer.

 

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5 hours ago, gardenman said:

You might consider adding some floating plants also. They can help suck up excess nitrates and are easy to remove when they get overgrown. Plants like frogbit, red root floaters, and dwarf water lettuce are especially easy to control. Duckweed is more of a pain, but it really absorbs nitrates.

I think I have way too much surface agitation for floaters.  The water sprite I tried did not fair well

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Double check but I actually just watched @CoryPlants 101 video and I believe Vals and the Crypt are heavy root feeders, the others are more water feeders.  I would add some extra root tabs for those plants. I put some Vals in my tank less than a month ago with two tabs for each plant and they are growing nicely. My nitrates are in the 20-40 range and I limit my easy green doses to every other week. Hope that helps, good luck. 

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