what is wrong with this setup-plants dont grow

[mizzoutank]

Hi All,
I've been waiting for about a month now for any sign of growth from my plants. I have a variety that consist of: swords, compacta and one more that goes on driftwood-i forget the name of it.
I have 2 24w t5ho bulbs on top. they are only 18in long tho. Tank is a 40gal breeder.
No CO2 because i dont want to mess with it. I have root tabs basically near every plant.
Water conditions have been magic, 0am/0nit/10-20trates
My plants aren't growing-in fact they seem to by dying.
Ive researched how they could be dying-and it was for lack of nutrients-like common for my compacta is the leaves develop small holes on the middle and it grows out, and the leaves fall off. The swords-leaves are just turning brown and wilting away.
Idk what else to do. Do i need a stronger light? different substrate?(which btw mine is med size gravel)-more root tabs?
I'm trying to stay away from any liquid ferts-b/c when I was dosing with some api plant feeder stuff-i magically grew green hair algae and that took a long while to rid the tank/driftwood of it.
Thoughts? ugh I have an awesome tank-if only the plants would grow.

[mizzoutank]

forgot to add: bulbs are 6500k/10000k

[Goes to 11!]

Having lighting that only covers half the length of the tank strikes me as a pretty good place to start.

It really stands out as the missing element to me.

I am presuming here that this is a single 18" dual bulb fixture and not two single bulb fixtures that span the entire tank.

[mizzoutank]

850R,
that is a correct assumption on the fixture. It was given to me by a friend who broke down their old tank. Can't turn it away when it is free, right? lol

I've been thinking it could be the light too-so if this is the case.
what do you suggest to go get-with a frugal budget in mind. haha
would i need another dual fixture? single fixture? I'm not sure what is needed to kick start my plant growth.

Thanks!

[Goes to 11!]

YVW

You might like this. The price is right and since a 40b is not very tall it would do a fine job for you.


If you do get that - You might want to stand back a bit because there is going to be a huge difference in the growth :-P.

[mizzoutank]

holy cow-what a deal!
I'll have to explore that site for other things too!

This is to be used as an addition to my current light, correct-not a replacement?
I'll put this on order :)

[Goes to 11!]

I thought you might like the price .

Provided it spreads out enough, You could absolutely use it as a replacement, It's nearly 2wpg of T5HO [high output] light on a shallow tank.

This means you can go get an appropriate tank for the other light, My name is 850R and I encourage/enable MTS

[dmagerl]

I don't know if its the lights.. If the plants are right under the bulbs, then they should be getting plenty of light. In fact, with 2 HO bulbs, you should be in the medium to high light range and without CO2 you should have an algae factory there. The fact that you dont surprises me.

So I'd say its a nutrient problem. What kind of root tabs are you using? If you're only using tabs, that might be why the plants on the driftwood are doing poorly.

How long have you had the plants? The swords may just be adapting to the submersed environment where old leaves die off and new ones grow in.

What kind of "compacta"? Compacta Sword? That is an extremely slow growing plant which could explain lack of growth, though it shouldnt be losing leaves unless its new. Draceana Compacta? That isnt an aquatic plant at all and may explain why its dieing.

[mizzoutank]

i used to have an algae factory with the green hair algae-it covered a piece of driftwood and was near 1/2 in long. I had to pull the piece out, dried it out-scrubbed it down and resoaked it-that process took 2 weeks. Now the piece is back in-and there hasnt been any algae in the tank.

I'm using api root tabs-just whatever petco has.
And thats the thing-the plant on the wood is okay, that is more for decoration than anythng.
its the plants in the substrate that arent growing at all.
The latest addition of plants was 3 weeks ago-so plenty of time to get acclimated to the tank.
The container just said compacta-again, the only lfs around that has plants is petco-so it is for sure an aquatic plant.

[Goes to 11!]

How long have you had the plants? The swords may just be adapting to the submersed environment where old leaves die off and new ones grow in.

I totally agree that a month in is still in their acclimation period and I should have mentioned that. , Nice catch dmagerl .

However, I still think lighting is an issue because with a tank as low as a 40b an 18" light is going to have a hard time lighting the entire thing.

Without some home engineering it will only fit on the tank sitting perpendicular to the length of the tank and I have hard time thinking it is effectively illuminating 18" either side of it situated that way.