Why Aquarium Plants Don't Grow. Why don't plants grow in an aquarium?

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It happens when some kind of aquarium plants does not take root or the plant used to grow normally, but suddenly began to wither and die. The reasons that led to the death of plants can be found out without difficulty.

Such reasons may be: inappropriate this species plants lighting, low temperature water, brown algae, when plants covered with brown bloom are deprived of all metabolic processes. Poor nutrients soil and unsuitable hydrochemical composition of water are quite rare reasons, but they really exist.

Fish and snails, pinching off and eating young leaves, can have no less detrimental effect on plants. Reasons why they don't grow aquarium plants may be several at the same time.

Barb fish, just like goldfish, can pinch off young leaves of plants

I remember the case when the plant Ludwigia creeping almost disappeared in my aquarium. At that moment, when I rushed to save Ludwigia, only a small 2.5-3 cm, almost bare piece of the stem remained from her. The only reason for the disappearance of Ludwigia was insufficient lighting, although other types of aquarium plants grew quite satisfactorily under the same lighting.

There was no time to rebuild the lighting of the aquarium for the light-loving Ludwigia. Yes, and do it for a tall aquarium with the presence of tall plants not so easy, so I decided to transplant a tiny stalk of ludwigia separately into a round aquarium, using it as a substrate river sand, but as lighting homemade lamp with 40 W incandescent lamp.

It must be said that the result then exceeded all expectations, and Ludwigia, receiving the necessary light, multiplied in the red spectrum, plus elevated temperature The water from the incandescent bulb was rising just fine.

I cut the first grown Ludwigia bush into cuttings and planted it all over the bottom of the round aquarium, and after two weeks the problem with the restoration of Ludwigia as an endangered plant species in my aquarium was completely solved.

Ludwigia repens aquarium plant

But is it worth it to grow plants that, unlike other species, create this kind of problem? Another thing this time, when the cause of the approaching death of plants are heterophyllous hygrophiles and multi-seeded hygrophils, eating young leaves of plants by barb fish and tall cryptocorynes shading the light.

Hygrophila polysperma

Hygrophila variegated in nature, the plant is unpretentious and once grew in my aquarium very quickly and simply, and now from it there is a small stem with a few gnawed leaves. It will be very difficult to save the hygrophila variegated, which has about five days left to live.

Hygrophila heterophylla can be grown both in the ground and as a floating plant. There are numerous roots on the stem of this plant, and the plant itself, actively developing, is able to absorb dissolved organic matter directly from the water, and this, in my opinion, is more valuable than others.

Hygrophila heterophylla

This time I no longer have a round aquarium in which I once saved Ludwigia, and I had to use a cut-off five-liter bottle. As a soil, I poured river sand, and as lighting table lamp with 40 W incandescent lamp.

When the plants start to grow and grow, I will transplant them into another aquarium, but as they say, it’s better not to guess.

This surprisingly popular question is asked almost every day, both in real life and on the forum. . So, why don't plants grow in an aquarium? We list the most probable causes of plant death or their poor growth. They don't grow because:

1. Lamp bulbs are not suitable for plants.
2. Aquarium water is not suitable for plants.
3. The water in the aquarium is at an unsuitable temperature for plants.
4. You were not sold an aquarium plant, but ... a land plant ...

As you can see, there are not many reasons for the death or very poor growth of aquarium plants, but each must be dealt with separately.

1. Lamps may not "like" aquarium plants again for three reasons:

1. First, the lamp power is too low for this aquarium. Applied to fluorescent lamps, you can use this simple rule: if the power (in watts) is divided by the volume of the aquarium (in liters), then it should not be less than 0.4 W / l. Anubias, cryptocoryne, and Thai fern can at least grow under a light bulb of such power, the rest of the unpretentious aquarium plants will not die, but will survive, not live.
2. The second reason is that the emission spectrum of the lamp is not suitable for plants, that is, it shines, but plants cannot use such light for photosynthesis. suitable for photosynthesis higher plants lamps have emission maxima in the orange-red and blue parts of the spectrum. Unfortunately, manufacturers do not always complete aquarium lamp covers with such lamps. Often these are lamps whose light seems bright to our eyes and a person likes it, but it is almost useless for plants. It is bluish or cold white light. .
3. The third reason is that the lamp has exhausted its resource. The fact is, over time, the emission spectrum of lamps changes and is less and less suitable for plants. It seems to us that the lamp still shines normally, but the plants are already dark. If the plants grew well for the first time after the launch of the aquarium, and after eight to ten months they stopped, then there is every reason to believe that the problem is in the "shrunken" lamp. Change it and you'll be fine.

2. Not suitable for most aquarium plants. Too alkaline water with a pH value of 8.5 or higher. How . Also, water is not suitable, which significantly (by 4 or more units) exceeds. This water can come from artesian wells.
Do not fill the aquarium with clean distilled water or water from a reverse osmosis filter. So that the plants do not "dissolve", such water must be mixed with tap water or enriched with special salts.

Photo 1. Plants in the aquarium do not grow and gradually die. The two described above possible reasons this sad picture.

Photo 2. Hygrophila polysperma (Hygrophila polysperma) and blue (Hygrophila difformis) - easy to maintain aquarium plants. No special tricks are required for their growth. These and more can be recommended to beginner aquarists.

3. The water in an aquarium with tropical plants should not be too cold: less than 22°C, and should not be too warm: preferably no higher than 28°C. Cold water will greatly slow down the growth of plants, reducing the level of metabolism. Warm water, on the contrary, speeds up the metabolism, but then the plants need brighter and more suitable lighting, more. AT warm water when the above conditions are met, mineral components are quickly "eaten away" from the water. If there are few fish in the aquarium, then it becomes necessary to regularly apply accurate doses of fertilizers. In cooler water, this problem is much less acute.

4. It turns out that you can buy and plant a plant that has grown on land in an aquarium. The following options are also possible here:
The first option is not fatal. Many aquarium plants are essentially marsh plants and are grown on land in very humid areas or semi-submerged. How to distinguish such plants from those grown under water is described in. In principle, it is quite possible to plant above-water forms of aquarium plants completely under water, but they will need time to adapt to new conditions. Therefore, one cannot expect immediate and rapid growth from them. On the contrary, at first it may seem that such a plant is dying. For example, echinodorus grown on land during the first month of life in an aquarium change all the leaves. The old ones are covered brown spots and slowly dissolve. This is a normal process, and if at the same time young leaves appear from the center of the outlet, then it should not scare.

Option two - fraudulent . What kind of purely terrestrial, and sometimes even arid (adapted to life in very dry places) plants are not sold as aquarium plants. Here the fantasies of sellers know no bounds! Well, the ignorance of buyers, who create some demand for such a product, stimulates these fantasies even more. So in the aquarium of a beginner there may be a club moss, a fat woman, young and it’s good if chlorophytum, which can hold out there for a month or even two. But the first three of the above plants will die very quickly. How to confidently identify in the seller's tray purely land plants and categorically not capable of growing in an aquarium among aquarium plants is described in

They do not grow, first of all it must be properly illuminated. To do this, you need to turn on fluorescent lamps and incandescent lamps so that the lighting can be varied. The length of daylight hours for plants should be no more than 12 hours, and the intensity of lighting should go on increasing - from less light to more. Also plants from time to time should be using a hose with a funnel at the end. It will save the leaves of plants from soil precipitation, which slows down their growth - clean soil will settle down.

The more fish in the aquarium, the more often it is desirable to resort to the procedure for cleansing plants from silt and food residues.

In addition, the growth of plants in an aquarium depends on the composition of the water, which should be a certain amount of substances dissolved in it. So, if there is a minimum amount of salts in the aquarium water, the plants will grow better. At the same time, the water should not be too soft - rather, moderately hard. Also, plants may not grow due to metal salts present in the aquarium water. They are responsible for the normal functioning of the aquarium flora, so their concentration should not be exceeded.

Rules for the care of aquarium plants

The aquarium should be intensively lit (40 watts of fluorescent light at 0.3-0.4 square meters water surface). When installing incandescent lamps, the power should double. The water in the aquarium should be changed several times a week. If the plants refuse to grow in the aquarium or their condition is unsatisfactory, you need to start a small amount of fish caring for plants - labeo, mollies, girinocheils, guppies or platies.

It is desirable to plant an aquarium densely, while using a diverse species composition of plants.

The main types of fish living in an aquarium should not be large in size. In addition, they should not be herbivorous or burrowing, as this adversely affects the growth and condition of plants. They should be fed very moderately so as not to pollute the water. Before launching the fish into the aquarium, the plants should be given several weeks to adapt, and, at the slightest sign of deviation from normal development, soften the water, intensifying this process. Remember that plants have fairly inert reactions, so they need to be closely monitored.

The most important condition for successful cultivation plants is compliance required indicators active reaction and water hardness.

Mineral fertilizers introduced into the aquarium play a large, but not always decisive role for good growth plants. The nature of the soil is also very important, but only if the physical and chemical parameters of the water are satisfactory.

It should be noted that for the content various plants required and different parameters water. Vallisneria, ferns prefer very soft, slightly acidic water (hardness less than 4°, pH 6.2–6.8), cryptocorynes and echinodorus grow well in water with a hardness of 8–20°, pH 6.8–7.5, bluema, Java moss is not demanding on water and can grow successfully in various conditions. All these plants can be combined in one aquarium, but some of them will grow better, others worse. Maintaining water indicators that would suit everyone is quite difficult.

Dirt snails of the melania genus, common among aquarium lovers, do not spoil the roots of plants. But many fish are "interested" in plants. So, most cichlids undermine the roots and destroy the leaves, the barbs often pluck out the apical shoots, the metinnis completely eat all the greens.

For most plants to grow well, regular water changes are essential. To stimulate growth, it is necessary to replace 1/4 of the water weekly, and in terms of pH and hardness, it should be close to the aquarium.

As the soil in the aquarium, it is preferable to use small pebbles. The soil quickly silts naturally, which favors the growth of all rooted plants. Additional feeding in the form of clay or peat, introduced under the roots, crucial for the development of plants does not, but can improve their growth in the new soil under favorable conditions.

The conditions in the aquarium should be changed gradually, over 7-9 days. Rapid change in conditions, even in better side will harm the plants. Frequent plant transplants should also be avoided.