[DjBootleg]

Lately I've been having HORRIBLE luck with my planted tanks. I have adequate Solarmax HE T5 224 (Dual Daylight Lamps 10K & 6,700K), and on my other planted tank a 24" T8 Floramax lamp..

Substrate is gravel on the Solarmax tanks and a mixture of gravel and sand in the Floramax tank..

I add API Plant zone once a week. and keep the lights on the recommended time.

IDK what the heck is going on. I have a variety of plants. From jungle val, ludwigia, hortwort, amazon swords and more

Any advice?

and also the plants keep floating the top so I'm ALWAYS having to reach in and put em back in. even with the metal bands.. and i know you might think thats why they are dying but even the ones that don't come up are dyng....

 

[ladayen]

What happens when you plants die? Are then browning and wilting? Going yellow? Holes in the leaves?

I dont understand why the plants are floating up. Either they are not being planted properly, there is not enough substrate to hold them down or something is digging them up.

Get rid of the metal bands. They could be leeching minerals and harming your plants. At the very least it's one more variable out of the way. Is there anything else attached to the plants?

On a side note, having plants float is not necessarily a bad thing. I often leave mine floating for a few days to see if there are any drastic changes to the plant due to new water conditions.

 

[JDM]

Water parameters?

Photo period? (recommended time could be anything)

Pictures of individual plants?

Floating is not a problem, they will stay better once roots get established. I also leave stems floating until I get around to dealing with them, it might be a week. It actually puts them closer to the light so they get a light boost for a while.

Today I plopped some of my dwarf hygrophila stems in specifically to float after cutting them up into two or three node sections.

Definitely get rid of the metal.

Jeff.

 

[Byron]

We need to know more data. What size are these two tanks (length and volume) compared to the lights? Photoperiod?

Is API LeafZone the only nutrient fertilizer? This is only adding iron and potassium, so one or more of the other 15 nutrients may be insufficient. What is the GH?

Byron.

 

[MoneyMitch]

also waiting for above questions to be answerd to help ^^

 

[equatics]

With the information given, I can only suggest looking at the pH, maybe get Seachem Flourish Comprehensive micro, and do a couple of 50% water changes with a day in between. Perhaps lowering the temperature within the safe range, maybe increase the water movement. Just something to think about.

 

[SinCrisis]

Pictures of failing plants would also be a great help.

 

[iamgray]

Maybe this will help you figure it out? A quick look at what a few different plant ailments/nutrient deficiencies look like.

http://aquaticsandexotics.ca/cache/multithumb_thumbs/b_0_0_0_00_images_plant-tips.jpg