dang plants!

[smaug]

Thats it,I give up on plant!,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Well the stinking HC and micro sword at any rate.The hC wouldn't root and everyday Id find more of it floating,the micro sword grew well and spread great but it looked crappy.It was always covered in algae!The only thing in my tank that algae grew on very well was micro sword.It frustrates me so, because it is a cool looking plant when it flourishes.I also had some plants in there that have never really been seen in my pics,Bleheri sword,3 of them all 5 years old.They were in the back and were stunted by being in cramped quarters behind the log.I have moved them to the front where they can explode once more.When they were at there best they had leaves 8" by 3" with stems like my punky.I guess this makes the Th incarnate for my tank.Ill get pics when the silt settles.

[Rue]

Tieing the plants in position with fishline works wonders...

[siymdapolio]

sorry to hear about that. I just did some transplanting of my java fern onto my bogwood and it doesnt look so bad will be posting up a thread picture here very soon

[PUNISHER VETTE]

My microsword didn't do anything in my old tank but i've finally got some decent growth started on all the clumps now and know in a few months i'll look great.

It does grow slow so algae does get on it. It's only slightly starting on it now.

What plant is the HC?

If you liked the microsword you could try hair grass or i always liked the chain sword as it's done well in my old tank....covered with algae in my new one but what isn't.

[smaug]

My microsword didn't do anything in my old tank but i've finally got some decent growth started on all the clumps now and know in a few months i'll look great.

It does grow slow so algae does get on it. It's only slightly starting on it now.

What plant is the HC?

If you liked the microsword you could try hair grass or i always liked the chain sword as it's done well in my old tank....covered with algae in my new one but what isn't.
HC is sometimes called dwarf baby tears,or cuba.It is a very tiny leaved plant that is used for ground cover,beautiful if you can get it to stay planted.That crap thing is that it was growing very nicely,its roots are only a half inch long and it would not stay in my gravel.Fishalicious has some pics with it her gallery.For Rue:fishing line wouldnt work with hc but fishalicious sows hers to a mesh and weights it.I dont have the patience for that!

[Lady Hobbs]

I planted mine in one big gob and piled up rocks around it so the fish would leave it alone until it could take off. I have no patience for planting one piece at a time. :)

[PUNISHER VETTE]

I just did a water change and scrubbed the walls and some of my microsword came up... i have to say it IS impossible to get those tiny grass blades back to the way they were. I just have to clump it together and hope it can escape and start growing again.

So instead of a nice looking cover of grass i'll have some clumps here and there when it uproots.

[smaug]

I just did a water change and scrubbed the walls and some of my microsword came up... i have to say it IS impossible to get those tiny grass blades back to the way they were. I just have to clump it together and hope it can escape and start growing again.

So instead of a nice looking cover of grass i'll have some clumps here and there when it uproots.
mine grew like wildfire,it shot runners out all over,it would emerge ,get about 2"tall then tturn black!This happened when I first started my planted tank,I though I didnt have enough light or needed more co2,could be the co2 thing I suppose.I yanked it all and put my bleheri swords in its place.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

First thing I thought of was the CO2 issues as well. Sounds like things are slightly out of balance if you are getting algae, generally that's from insufficent dissolved CO2 or too many nutrients. It is odd though that it is only growing on your microsword.

EDIT: The one thing that I have found with the small ground cover plants is that they seem to like a nice fine substrate like a sand or an Eco Complete, they seem to root better and hold down better. I've tried it in a coarser material and they just wouldn't stay down.

[smaug]

First thing I thought of was the CO2 issues as well. Sounds like things are slightly out of balance if you are getting algae, generally that's from insufficient dissolved CO2 or too many nutrients. It is odd though that it is only growing on your micro sword.
it is the same type algae that gets on my glass ,it isn't much,but I don't think my clean up crew can get a good enough grip to clean the little blades of the micro sword.I'm sure as well that I don't have enough dissolved co2 I use excel only.Someday Ill blow the moths from the wallet and be like the big boys and buy me a co2 set up.

[smaug]

pics of replanting,the swords in the front left are where the HC and microsword used to be,The swords used to be behind the driftwood.
7729

7730

[smaug]

I'm bumping this one because I posted the new pics so late last night.Sorry to be presumptuous.

[digital3]

Yeah, plants can get tough. I'm still working out my kinks. Even with the Co2.

Don't give up! Your tank looks very nice, and that makes it worth the hard work. I know some day I will achieve that "perfect balance." But I'd rather take my lumps and learn than end up with an "accidentally" perfect tank. Cuz then I'll never learn how I got there. My "jack-ups" are really teaching me a lot.

Trust me, some days I want to rip all my plants out and just throw some plastic ones in there, or some cool rock formations, but then I remember that I need to stay focused on the goal at hand. And in the end, we'll know that we're successful through our hard work!

Keep it up man! Keep it up! thumbs2: thumbs2: thumbs2:

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

smaug, I think I finally understand exactly what is going on in your tank and why you don't really have a huge need for additional CO2 even with the amount of light and ferts you are using. Seeing the pictures you put up clued me in. You have a ton of floating plants that I assume are water lettuce. Those things are sucking up most of your extra nutrients. Did you recently remove a number of them? If so that could account for the algae growth.

[smaug]

smaug, I think I finally understand exactly what is going on in your tank and why you don't really have a huge need for additional CO2 even with the amount of light and ferts you are using. Seeing the pictures you put up clued me in. You have a ton of floating plants that I assume are water lettuce. Those things are sucking up most of your extra nutrients. Did you recently remove a number of them? If so that could account for the algae growth.
they have only been in there for a few months there is actually more of them now then there were a few weeks ago.I may be confusing some with the talk of algae,the only plant it grows on was the micro sword.I had a huge outbreak of BBA last year about this time,I did a complete tear down and did a bleach nuke on everything,that is gone now.I am not even sure that it was algae on the micro sword or what it was.It wouldnt wipe of ,it seemed as if it were actually part of the leaf.Is micro sword similar to vals?Could be it was a reaction to the excel similar to the troubles Lady Hobbs has.Whatever it is.Im done with MS.And yes they are water lettuce,and I have WAY too many.Most will be going to my pond very soon.Thanks for the ideas GB.

[kitten3326]

You're right, plants can be a bugger, I am also struggling with mine, however on the upside I think your tank is absouletly stunning and should be entered in TOTM. ABSOULETLY STUNNING:)

[smaug]

You're right, plants can be a bugger, I am also struggling with mine, however on the upside I think your tank is absouletly stunning and should be entered in TOTM. ABSOULETLY STUNNING:)
thank you Karen,im flattered you would say that.