gdtms247

First thing my biggest problem is i don't know what most of my plants are in my tank (bought one of the plant packages and don't have the sheet of names anymore) so I'm not sure what they are missing. Tank is almost a year old now, nothings changed since i built it.

Tank specs:

4x54 watt light (only run 2 bulbs for 8.5 hours a day)
CO2 1.2 bps going through a diffuser running inline with canister filter
Fluval 305 filter
Floramax substrate 1" bed with 1/2" gravel over the top

Picture of the tank up and running. I had all these plants in 2 small 20 gallon tank before i planted my big tank.



Plants grew like crazy all though summer and fall. Now in the winter (past 3 months) they have been growing poorly and some not at all.

The swords in the picture used to be HUGE, and i would trim off a leaf or two every month to keep it under control.







These started life floating on the surface of my small tank but after moving to the 55 i planted them. and they grow like a weed. I used to cut them down to the ground every month or so and they would grow to the top of the tank in 3 weeks. Now they are so puny that i can see through them.



This plant never grew at all, just stayed brown and green and almost the same size, till a few month ago its going nuts. Its almost trippled its size (by sending out runners?) and this is after cutting it all down to the ground a little over 4 weeks ago. (i left the big brown leafs just cut the thin green ones)

Here is what it looks like now:


Same light and CO2 since i started the tank back in April of 2011. I also have these plants which i don't really like anymore,



but i can't bring myself to remove them since there the only thing growing at the same rate the entire life of the plant. Any and all help is appreciated. I built this tank because i hate the look of plastic plants and wanted something nice to have in my bedroom. I have 5 other tanks in the house, all planted with various plants and fish but this is the only one slowly dying away. Plant ID would be very helpful as well.

Thanks!

Silvering

When was the last time you changed out your bulbs?

gdtms247

Never have, whats the life expectancy of them? Should i start using #3 and #4 bulbs since I've never had them on?

Silvering

The useful life expectancy of most fluorescent bulbs is about six months, or so I've read. Although they don't burn out, their light intensity drops off quite quickly.

Yes, I would switch out the two you've been using for #3 and 4, if it is the bulbs you should see dramatic improvement in stem plants almost immediately!

davemonkey

I would guess that, as well as the bulbs getting old, your substrate has been exhausted of what nutrients it had and it's time to start supplementing K and micros (if you are feeding the fish heavily enough to accomodate N and P use). The swords plants would benefit from a root tab placed under tehm as well.

The plant you don't like anymore looks like Hygro. corymbosa angustifolia. I see Echinodorus grisbachii (Amazon sword) and a couple crypts I won't attempt to ID. Rotala rotundifolia as well. Hope that helps.

gdtms247

Dave your awesome thanks! I started thinking the same thing after the bulbs were mentioned that if they were going out then perhaps the nutrients in the substrate has also been depleted. I may have plants but I'm not expert so correct me if I'm wrong but swords get alot of their nutrients through the roots right? Is that why they are withering and other plants such as the corymbosa angustifolia continues to grow (although much much slower)?

davemonkey

That's correct. It gets more complex, but you've got the gist of it. Crypts are the same...they like a fertile substrate.

gdtms247

I figured if its time to mess with it it time to just MESS with it! got a whole big box of goodies headed my way, gonna redo a bit of it and plant some new additions! Thanks for the help hopefully in a couple weeks I'll post a picture of a healthy looking tank again