I started this tank about 8 months ago and expected the plants to look a bit more lush by now. They’ve definitely grown and many are reaching the surface, but they don’t look as healthy as I hoped. Some leaves have black spots or brown tips, and up close they just look a bit rough.
I use both liquid fertilizers and root tabs regularly, so I’m not sure if this is a nutrient issue, something with lighting, or just normal aging on older leaves. When I watch other aquarium videos, a lot of tanks seem to have similar brown/black marks on their plants when you look closely — so now I’m wondering if I’m just overthinking it.
Is this normal for aquarium plants, or does it look like something is off? Happy to share photos if that helps.
I have a combination of shrimp, snails, oto's, corys, plecos and fish and it is a 150 gallon tank with 1 water change every 3-4 weeks (Just filter and top up, no gravel cleaning)
Any help is appreciated 😀
Posted by frugallity
2 Comments
It really depends on us species of plants, when you get deep into planted knowledge, you know exactly what to put where to avoid a possible awkward stage of sparse growth, etc
Not saying that’s your issue, but if you are here asking, chances are high.. Just give it more time, you can also cut a lot of plants and replant them, doubling the “lushness”
It’s because of the types of plants you have! You have mostly stem plants, which isn’t bad at all, but is exactly what the name says- just a stem. Stem plants can look full, but you get that when you plant a bunch of the stems close together. They also typically need strong lighting and benefit a lot from CO2, and the need for light is why you see some stretching tall with not a lot of leaves in the middle of the stem. The stems you DO have though look nice and full though. If you’re wanting your tank to really be filled out, I would either get much more of those stem plants, consider getting something that will grow big that you’ll only need a few of! Some examples are amazon swords (I had a 55g get filled out wonderfully with just a few), aponogetons (my current personal fave but harder to find), or maybe something like java fern or jungle val that will multiply like crazy. Both the Val and the Amazon sword will take up some of that background space that feels empty towards the top and help add more dimension and add to the lush full of plant feel 🙂