Planted 20g

[xavinovic]

Hi, I started this planted 20g tank about 2 months ago and I haves order plants online but they aways seem to come close to dead so they never get better when I put them in the tank. I'm EI dry dosing macro/micro, I have Eco complete substrate, double fixture T5 HO and DIY co2 1bbs. I'm looking to buy healthy plants locally. I'm in the Houston Katy/SW area I'm willing to drive not too far ; ).

[Totenkampf]

fish ranch II and fish gallery usually have a good selection of plants. aquarium world and houston aquarium warehouse often do as well. for online, i only use bob's tropicals and green leaf aquariums now. i have had no issues with their stock arriving in bad condition.

soundls like you tank is set up well, the only other thing to look at is your pH and make sure you have at least a little kH.

[xavinovic]

The ph lever stays around 7.0-7.5. I'll check the KH and see where that is. Thanks for the info.

[mnemenoi]

What is you light cycle like? We often get plants in bad shape and they eventually bounce back

[Totenkampf]

i have found that many plants like softer water, with the exception of things like anubias, bolbitis, and vals.

your pH should start dropping as the co2 gets going but this will also deplete kH which will eventually lead to rapid pH shifts. this is one thing to track in a logbook until you get the feel for it.

[xavinovic]

The photoperiod I have is from 1-9pm. I'm really hoping they bounce back but they really aren't looking that good.

[mnemenoi]

As long as you are not having an issue with algae, I would increase the photoperiod if it were me. I also tend to run extended periods myself and do occasionally have algae issues, but once a tank is all calmed down it seems to work itself out. Mine are usually 8-12 hours.

What spectrum are your bulbs? Is there a chance that one of them is an Actinic? Look for something in the 6500K-10,000K spectrum and avoid Actinic as it does nothing for the plants.

[xavinovic]

Is there any way to tell what type of bulb is it if I take them off?? I'm not sure what they are. I bought them when I got the light fixture.

[mnemenoi]

Hmm, was it labeled for freshwater (planted) or Reef? Mainly actinics are sold on reef sets. The colors are a good indicator, but you would have needed to see a variety of setups. They should be listed on the bulbs themselves, but sometimes they are not... What color do they look like?

[xavinovic]

I know the light future brand is a GLO but I don't know what range are they 6500k-10000k

[xavinovic]

When I bought the light fixture I told the lady that helped me it was for a planted aquarium, one light bulb looks really white and the other one looks white but like a little purpleish.

[mnemenoi]

It sounds like lighting for a planted tank, so you should be good. The spectrum is given in Kelvin and refers to the produced light of the bulb. Not sure why you are having issues with the plants. Perhaps it is simply a low photoperiod, I would increase it and seee if you notice any difference. The T5HO fixtures are usually decent. I mainly use power compact fixtures, and T5's on my dart frog Vivariums.

[Mike&stef]

home depot sells some bulbs to that fall in the 65k-10k range. My plants were not doing so well for a bit due to the move but are bouncing back. I saw good results when i switched to ro water

[Totenkampf]

the info for the bulb should be printed next to one of the end connectors and this often lists the temperature as well. GLO makes a pretty good bulb. 6500k typiclly has a hint of pink, 10000k is often a very true white, and 12000k is often bluish. i consider the last type to be unsuitable unless mixed with another type and over a deep tank. i would start with testing and maybe lower your pH to 6.5 so that more free carbon is available for the plants to use. this should encourage growth in most of the faster growing plants. i am busy at work right now so i have purposefully allowed the pH to creep up to 7.2 through water changes and this has slowed down growth, and maintenance, a good deal.

[digitallinh]

Do you have a picture of the dying plants?