[jmontee]

First off, it's gonna be alright. I takes time and patience to get things right and on track.

For any real help it's gonna be necessary for you to give as much info about your tank as possible, lighting, size, plants, filtration, fertilizers, water parameters etc. Also some pics if possible so that the problems are illustrated.

BTW the Kleiner Bar leaves are only really red when they first sprout. After a few days they will be a green color with some reddish lines (brownish really) in them.

 

[jmontee]

I obviously took to long to get my post up!! :doh:

 

[jmontee]

Bryce,

I have to agree. I think one of the scariest parts of starting a planted tank is do I set up CO2. I think that many are put off by the DIY/Pressurized question. I think it would be helpful to do a sticky showing that either can be good depending on the conditions of individual tanks.

 

[jmontee]

So let's see if I get this straight:

Lighting: Probably 1.5 to 2 watts per gallon
Substrate: Regular aquarium gravel
Ferts: None, (except fish) and some root tabs
Carbon source: None No CO2 or Excel
Water : Slightly soft, what does that mean exactly? What is the dkH and dGH

How many and what kind of inhabitants do you have?
Why are you adding the aquarium salt?

I think that the eaten up issues has more to do with the plants not having what they need than them being chewed on by your fish. When people talk about increasing phosphates they are talking about water column fertilization. This means adding ferts to the water since most aquarium plants get their needs through the leaves. Sword plants are "root feeders"
and can take advantage of root tabs but most of the others that you have would likely prefer ferts in the water column.

You should also find out about the quality and exact wattage of your lights. You should be running lights that are in the 5000 to 10000K color temperature range.

 

[jmontee]

Oddsox,

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the odds are stacked against you with the plants that you want. The XL gravel is not condusive at all to rooting so eventually I think that most of your plants will rot at the base and float up, IMO. If you don't want to change the substrate then I think your best bet will be a low light low tech tank with mosses, anubias and ferns. Really beautiful tanks can be put together just using these plants and they, for the most part, don't require adding CO2 or lots of fertilization.

I think that you have some BGA growing in there wich can be treated using maracyn (erythromycin).

 

[jmontee]

Sorry I forgot to ask if you had made sure that all of those rocks are not releasing calcium into the water. That could be raising your GH and there are many plants that don't necessary like that either.