# Basic plant care question



## dm800 (Nov 3, 2007)

I have a 10 gallon tank and have always had plants in it, and they don't die off, but they don't do that great. I bought some tall ones and slowly the leaves die off one at a time, and new ones grow but they don't get tall. I am probably going to tear it down and start it over becaues I want to get rid of the snails that I have in there (I forgot to wash the last plant I bought) and right now I have three different plants in there that are pretty low to the bottom. I will probably buy a couple more, but just wanted to make sure I do all I can do help them grow tall and healthy.

First of all, I have the 10 gal tank I bought as a kit and it has a 15w lamp in it. I have the plants just planted in the gravel, and I have never added any fertilzer or anything else, so thats one thing I probably need to do. The other thing is, when I bought the plants, they are all tied together at the roots, and I just took the metal band off and planted the whole thing. They are each individual, so should I spread them around, or leave them in the bunch? Any other tips?


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Does the lamp take 2 bulbs? (that is, is it incandescent) Because that would be your problem.

Also, you need to separate bunch plants. Take a few pics of the plants you're trying to grow, I'll see if I can help you out


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## dm800 (Nov 3, 2007)

Oh sorry, no it is flourescent. I remember one of the plants is called a red mellon sword. I have had that for a year, and it was real tall, and new growths have grown since then but its only like a couple inches off the bottom. I never separated that one though either. I will try to take some pics later.


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## matthew_black (Dec 29, 2008)

Are any of your lights shinning through a glass top? Sword plants feed nutrients from the soil (rather than from the leaves or hanging roots from the water) so adding a fertilizer that absorbs in the soil could help out the plants.


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## dm800 (Nov 3, 2007)

Yes I have one 15w flourescent bulb shining through a glass top. I am going to take the fish out, clean out the gravel, scrub it down, and start over to get rid of the snails. The sword looks pretty healthy, but the others don't have much left of them so I am going to buy some new plants while I am refilling it and then put the 4 harlequins back in it and start the cycle over. Hopefully it won't take as long if I add the old filter material.

Anyways, I just plan on planting the plants back in the gravel again, but am looking for advice on how they will grow better this time. Can they just be put in gravel, or do I need something else? What kind of fertilizer? I already learned to spilt up the plants and not plant the whole bunch, so I will do that next time. Any recommendations for what kinds of plants to get, or how many to fill up the 10 gal? I still haven't decided if I am going to just get a few more harlequins to add to the 4 I have, or else I might get another betta to replace the one I lost. But first I'd like to get this tank cleaned out and get some plants growing nicely.


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