the only plant i do well with

daisycutter

why does this plant do so well when other plant species that are supposed to be easy fail the waters a little on the hard side is that the reson?i have 4 types of crypt all doing well ive even had flowers and i pulled some up to move them and the roots were a good foot long but i cant get java ferns or anubis to grow any ideas?

fish_4_all

Don't feel bad, I can't grow Java Fern, Java moss or any other of the "easy" plants. I can grow anubias but I think that is because I dose fairly heavily and the Nana gets lots of nutrients for growth.

Don't give up, find some more plants like your crypts, maybe some vals or other long/broad leaf plants and see how they do for you.

jones57742

This one is unbelievable.

I do not believe that I could kill the anubias in my tank if I tried to but am struggling with the crypts*.

1) I fertilize heavily as F4A set forth.

2) I do not have any "planted" anubias as all are tied to wood or rocks.

3) I cannot tell from the photograph the composition of your substrate.

TR

*My crypts seem to be doing better since I start fertilizing with Big Al's liquid fertilizer instead of Flourish.

daisycutter

heavy sand substrate 4 types of crypt the most numerous being the ones in this shot name unknown this type has flowered the others are newer :)
ive used fert sticks on the other plants which are now gone not on these

but....ive killed
large anubis
java moss
amazon sword
vals
ricca(didnt die fish ate it)
millfiol red(fish ate it)
fairy fern(fish ate that too)
duckweed(yep that too)

and ive removed
java ferms(which are now growing very well in a different setup)
surviving anubis
unknown aqatic fern

jones57742

Sticking with the anubias (which as I said I could not kill even if I wanted to)

Have you tried them tied to wood or rock?

Also my lighting is 2 - 2x65W compacts with one bulb being dual actinic (ie. 260W total).

My tank is 110G and 30" deep.

Could either of these two be the explanation?

TR

scottysgirl

I too am curious about this, I have very hard an alkaline water. 3 wpg light, dose with ferts, root tabs, and flourish. Both crypts and anubias do amazingly well in my aquarium, but I can't get any vals to do well. It is weird. Also, does the Big Al fert. contain plant usable Carbon?

fish_4_all

I don't think there is a tab on the market that contains useable carbon. The only source I know of is Flourish Excel.

When you say hard water what are the numbers? My water is basically as soft as it gets. Nothing in it except chlorine. I have to add Calcium, Mg and I use crushed coral for my KH. My normal numbers are 8-9 dGH and 6-7 dKH. Ph is 7.2-7.4 all on it's own.

I have long believed, in the 5 months i have had my anubias Nana that the roots are much more important than one might think. Maybe both of you need to do a really good root trimming, remove the older leaves and let it be for a good month to see if the root start to come back and the leaves start to develope better.

Another thing I have observed is that my Nana does not like to have any competition or shading. I know this goes against the normal thinking process but it has worked very for me. I have also found that having Excel on hand and squirting it directly on the leaves that have a little algae will get rid of pretty much any and all types of algae it might have, even green spot algae.

Remember though this has worked for me and I have been told I am unconventional in a lot of ways when it comes to plants but it does work so it might be worth a try.

daisycutter

light may have something to do with the javas i moved out as they are now growing well in a setup with even harder water the only difference is light the crypts have been moved around varies setups as i've worked up to this larger tank and have grown regardless of light all the water in this area comes from chalk wells and is correspondingly hard as the inside of my kettle testifies too what other minerals are present is unknown
as for anubis the one i moved out is now going nuts in another setup this setup is the only one with an ug filter and is usally higher in nitrates than the others due to its messy ocupants it also sports a pink tinted plant strip.
the single dwarf thats going back in this tank was uncrowded and at the front of the tank ive trimmed the roots as suggested and planted it with a fert stick between its roots so time will tell with that one

daisycutter

gives an idea of whats in my water

fish_4_all

That looks the analysis we had in Eastern Washington when on well watter filter by badrock and sand. I think you may be right about the nitrates seeing they are lower than some of the others. It may just be a matter of finding what is lacking, and in most cases of slow orstagnant growth, it is nitrates or lighting. Maybe dose a little nitrates and see if it helps but the fert stick might be just the trick.