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Plants not looking healthy

Sheepy90

Seedling
Joined
24 May 2020
Messages
20
Location
Nottingham
Hi guys
My first thread as only found out about this amazing website a couple of days ago. I’m posting about some of my plants particularly my amazon swords and my Anubis’s not looking that great.

I have a juwel Rio 125 with 2 T8 daylight lights which are on for 9 hours (reduced this from 10) I am running the bio flow internal filter that came with the tank and a fluval u2 internal filter also.
I am dosing the tank with 6ml of EasyLife EasyCarbo each day, and 2ml of EasyLife Ferro and profito each day. ( I was doing one large dose a week but spreading it out now.)
The substrate is small gravel with tetra active substrate. Which I know isn’t ideal but without rescaping this is all I have.
the plants in the tank (Which correct next if I’m wrong please) are Amazon swords, java fern, Anubias, eliocharis mini which has only recently been planted and 2 other plants in the foreground but im not sure what they are.
I have 15 neon tetra, 15 harlequin rasbora, 15 mountain minnow and 4 Pakistani loach. The tank has been running for a few years but not been looked after very well until the last few weeks where I have really got back into it.
I haven’t been running any co2 but have tried using the Tropica 60 which I know isn’t really suitable but thought I’d try it just to get some co2 into the tank until I can afford a proper set up.

my amazon swords seem to possibly have algae on them, they have holes in and look like they are being eaten, they have gone brown/yellow but I have removed the worst ones and my fresh shoots are coming through a see through brown colour.
My Anubias is also going slightly brown in places and has quite abit of algae on it.

could you suggest from the information above and the photo if there is anything I can do to get the tank looking a luscious green colour?
Or am I just being too picky?

thanks guys
 

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Last edited:
Welcome to the site!

From the pictures, it looked to me like your plants are lacking nutrients, particularly since the new leaves on the swords are very pale. To me this suggests nitrate deficiency.

Then I checked the specs of the Profito fertiliser you’re using and indeed it contains no nitrates or phosphates. It’s unlikely your fish are producing enough nitrate for good plant growth.

Probably the simplest way forward is to switch from the Profito and start using TNC Complete, which contains all the macronutrients (nitrate, phosphate and potassium) that your plants need, together with micronutrients including iron. I would dose at the standard dose for low-light tanks without CO₂ so that would be 1ml per 10 litres, once a week.

With TNC Complete you wouldn’t need the Ferro either.
 
Thank dr Mike.

I have been testing my water weekly and the nitrates are coming back quite high ranging from 50-80mg/l
I have added the Tropica nutrition capsules into the substrate near the roots of the amazons in the hope this will boast the nutrients they are taking in. Maybe I just need to be patient and see if they work. Would you suggest a full co2 system will help at all?
 
No it’s not planted it’s grown so much over the last year it’s on a piece of wood
 
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