Are other plants doing well? For me, there were a few weeks where I
didn't really pay attention to my tank.. I forgot to renew the co2
bottle or fertilize. I fed the fish (with the help of an auto-feeder)
and changed water but put the plants on hold.. Either way, during this
time the high maintanence plants died back and my vals just took off
like weeds. I gave quite a few to the LFS when I finally got back into it.

Anyways, my point is, are the nutrients being taken by other faster
growing or nutrient-hogging plants?

Duncan A. McRae wrote:

Greetings

I have four of them at the front of a 38g tank which has a reliable 20w
light and a not-so-reliable 30w light. The lights are on 0700-0800, then
1100-2300 (13 hours total). I regularly dump liquid fertilizer in the tank
(the Big Al's generic stuff) inject DIY CO2, and do partial water changes
from the tap. The plants are in gravel, and fish poo should be collecting
as I don't vacuum unless it starts looking particularly nasty in there (I
have about 6-10 Amano shrimp and 2 panda corries). I see no sign of fish
harassing the plants.

Should I be looking at fertilizer sticks?

What's a good site to identify my plants (I didn't keep track of what I was
buying sigh) and research their needs?

Thanks all;
Duncan