# Plant trouble. . . They ALWAYS die



## Guest (Jul 6, 2005)

so i have had my 35gal tank for about a yar now, everything is all set up and running smoothly. . . right now. . . but everytime i try to add some plants, within a week they start to break apart and die. . .My gravel is about 3 quarters of an inch thick, mayb its not thick enough for the roots or could it be a problem with my water?


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

I use a product called plant-gro. It comes in a white bottle with a green lid...it's a bit expensive, and they tell you to use way too much. You can use about 1/4 of what they suggest and it seems to work fine (and makes it last a lot longer). My plants grow quite well. 

If your tank is very warm or very cold it could be affecting the plants. 

Oh...also, if you're buying those pre-packaged plants that come in the plastic tubes with the gel stuff at the bottom - they're useless. They do always die. 

What kinds of plants are you using? Some are a lot tougher than others.


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## MiSo (May 3, 2005)

you're probably trying to grow plants that have too many requirements for your aquarium. (lights, nutrients)
i suggest some aponogetons from walmart.
they're in the fish section. you drop the bulbs in your tank, and within a week it should start to sprout.
they're very easy to grow and practically need no maintenence.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

gravel isnt the ideal substrate for plants, there may not be enough lighting nutrients etc like miso mentioned. what plants have you been trying?


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

you should probably put more gravel in....its not the best substrate for plants, but ive never had any problems with it when it is 2-3 inches deep....also, how many watts is your light?


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## euRasian32 (May 19, 2005)

i can second miso suggestions with the wal mart bulbs. here's an example of the bulbs about 3-4 weeks after dropping them in, minus the small java fern in the front which is barely noticable, and you can see one of the bulbs - it looks like a hairy turd between the plants and the glass.








haven't added anything to the water, but I plan to when I introduce some more plants and moss.

You may want to look into low light plants or hard to kill plants in fish-forums.com store, its a great point of reference when selecting varieties that require similar environments.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

hm if thats the case than how come mine havent grown yet?


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## Guest (Jul 6, 2005)

the plants that i have tried to grow are ones that are grown in a big tank. they grow fine when they are in the store, but when i get them home they die within days...its pretty annoying


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

What is your setup exactly. Tank size, temp, PH, GH, KH and lighting? Substrate?


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

you know what simpte, i just realized they said the gravel is about 3/4 deep, i think thats a problem there. you have a 35 gallon tank, so you should have 40-55 lbs of gravel


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

i tried to say that earlier, lol


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## Guest (Jul 7, 2005)

thanks for all the help, i want to change my gravel colour ne ways so i will just pile new stuff on top....i am also going to get those bulbs and try them out!

another questions now though, this might be a big UH OH but i have never even heard of this stuff ?!
"PH, GH, KH and Substrate?"


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## Guest (Jul 7, 2005)

Actually u know wat, i was just sitting her bored at 2:41 AM so i have been reading alot of stuff on this site and i found out what all of that stuff that i asked about before....man theres ALOT more then i thought there was when it comes to owning fish, they are alot mor high maintence then i thought. . . now that i have more knowledge though i can keep better care of my babies


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## Huugs (Apr 25, 2005)

Yeah I know what you mean about there being more to keeping fish than just keeping fish. Ive only been coming onto this forum for 4 months and Ive learnt so much. Once you know what you have to do though and have it set up properly then they are not much more time consuming than if you dont.

pH is a measure of how acid or alkaline the water is. 7 is neutral with acid being aanything towards 1 and alkaline being anything towards 14.
GH is general hardness which if I am right is a measure of all the dissolved stuff in the water.
KH is the carbonate hardness which again I think is the measure of how much calcium is in the water.
You will need test kits to tell you these values aswell as your normal tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. It could also be worth getting a test kit for phosphate.

Your substrate should IMO anywhere between 2 and 4 inches deep and you should start with hardy easy to grow plants. Here is a site I find quite useful for some basic plants. www.aquahobby.com If you go to garden on the left you get a list of plants however Im not really the person to give you advice on which plants to get. But if you let us know what your test results are then people will be able to give you advice on which plants are best as some will prefer harder water whereas some prefer soft.

And what type of lighting and how many watts are also needed for some advice.


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

Hailey said:


> Actually u know wat, i was just sitting her bored at 2:41 AM so i have been reading alot of stuff on this site and i found out what all of that stuff that i asked about before....man theres ALOT more then i thought there was when it comes to owning fish, they are alot mor high maintence then i thought. . . now that i have more knowledge though i can keep better care of my babies


well im glad to hear that


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## aquatic_dynasty (Jun 15, 2005)

If you want some easy plants to grow try cryptocorynes they pratically very easy to grow. No demands for light or co2 and a plus is that they are pretty.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Make sure they are common crypt varieties (there are many species of crypts). C. Wendtii, C. Spiralis, C. Albida, C. Becketii, C. Cordata and C. Retrospiralis are all easy crypts.


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