How does one tell if the plants are doing well?

Hi Guys

So how does one tell if your plants are doing well ? What should I look for?

New leaves growing? new roots? I watch my three plants every day , but cant make out if they are ok or if something s wrong . They have been in the tank for about a week or more now .

Thanks for all replys

 

Green leaves and new growth is a good indicator. However some plants take forever to show any sign of anything.

You had anubias right?

 

Thanks @Hendre , Yup Anubis , i see new leaves uncurling and some newish roots on the smaller plant , like 2 mm growth of roots .

 

Well for anubias that's progress

4 months of growth on some there:

 

When you plants are growing faster than the algae you are OK.

Later Ferdie

 

Thats another question I have , Theirs something fluffy growing at the bottom of the CO2 ladder , and on a small patch on the driftwood , as well as on the tip of my "bubble stick" (don't know what its called )
Will take a picture and post it up . I really hope its not algae.

 

So here are the pictures , of the plants and the funny "Algae" I visited the local pet shop today , purchased some Java Fern for the other part of the tank ( im adding plants to this tank in stages ) Add one set , see if they live and grow , add another set , see if they live and grow . Hehe ,Anyway I asked them about this Algae, and they had no clue as to what it could be . Its sort of like whitish grayish , but not black .

 

The white stuff looks like bacteria feeding on natural sugars in the wood. It will fade, and some fish will munch it. Other than unsightly, it doesn't pose a threat.
Just watch out with the Anubia that's in the gravel. It needs light, so needs to be above the gravel, else it will start to die.

 

The rhizome is above substrate level. Should be fine

 

Jip, most of it is, and it should be fine, but there is still a part under ground, with leaves sticking out the ground.

 

Thanks guys ,So glad that im on the right track , Jaco83 you are correct , it does seem as if theres some of the rhizome under the gravel , im going to try and correct this , at the time I did that because , if I remove anymore the plant kept floating up to the top . Its a small piece of rhizome , a much thinner piece . But I will try and correct it .

So in the coming days im going to drain half the tank , maybe tomorrow ..if im not lazy hehe, and plant the Java ferns onto the driftwood .

 

@Zippy320 You can tie the anubia's rhizome onto a rock or driftwood with cotton thread or alternatively use aquarium glue.After some time when the roots have gripped/grown onto the rock you can cut away the thread should it bother you.You can do the same for you're Java ferns.

Here's some examples pulled from the net...

 

@Christiaan Duvenage , Thanks sooo much for the tip , that's exactly what I did , although , I used normal superglue , I tried the plant superglue at first and for some reason it just wasn't sticking . I used this method on my first small Anubis that I stuck to the larger piece of driftwood . I find it much easier using superglue then tying it up with a string , for some reason I feel as though I have more options on where to position the plants .

So this evening I planned on draining the tank , and planting/sticking the Java ferns , Decided , that while im at it ,Apart from the Java ferns, that I should introduce a few extra plants to the tank . Pointless draining the tank just to stick a few ferns . So I visited the local pet shop and found , ot my surprise another small Anubis to stick to my driftwood , as well as two variety's of Amazon swords , one with the normal medium large leaves , and another with kind of thin straight leaves .

I purchased one of each . Got home cleaned them up and to my surprise , there were two plants per pot .

This evening I drained the tank , and went along planting these new plants . So five new plants in total . Will upload a few pictures later tomorrow . Im not sure if I planted the Amazon swords correctly though , the roots are under the gravel , directly above my fertilizer pots . You can not see them , but should they be a little higher up? Am I supposed to see a few roots?

The Smaller Anubis , I stuck it down a little lower on my large piece of driftwood , and the Java fern I kind of clumped them up and stuck them to a piece of driftwood . ( I had a serious problem with this plants back in my Rio 180 days ) They , used to sprout new plants from the leaves , they then grew all over the place , and wild , I really don't want a repeat of that ever again , though I have a feeling that these plants do tend to grow wild .

I planted the amazon swords now share the back of the tank with the Anubis Batari towards the back and sides , the Java fern is towards the middle , the Smaller anubis is now a little lower from the first smaller anubis on the same piece of driftwood .

My biggest worry now is , if I have enough CO2, or nutrients in the system to support these new plants . My first three plants seem to be doing ok, I see lots of new roots and a few new leaves.

Will post a few pictures soon .

 

Hi Guys!

So its been maybe a week, since I planted the new plants , Here are the pictures , some look damaged bit lightly , plants seem ok now (thats because well my 3 yr old niece mistakenly sat on it in the car after I purchased it) the one amazon sword leaf has that brown on it , It was like that from the pet shop , Should I cut the leaf off?

Does everything based on this pictures look ok? Should I make any changes or correct anything?

 

When i had swords i lost most of the leaves when it started turning brown like that.

They are heavy root feeders so you should invest in root tabs.
Also cool little hack f-fish told me about. You can plant them in pot plants and use expensive planted soil with root tabs. That way you can rescape without having to use more soil