Hi,

I would like to have a moderately planted aquarium, since the fish I keep
like having a lot of foliage. However, the plants don't grow as much as I
would like them to.

Currently I have one Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus), two "Compact"
Amazon Swords (Echinodorus amazonicus "compacta"?), one Rosetta Sword
(don't know scientific name), and two Anubias barteri var. nana. From the
above plants, only Anubias is in nice condition and one of the plants has a
new leaf every few weeks. The rest I manage to keep more or less alive,
but besides of that, they aren't doing very well.

I will try to take a few pictures soon, but perhaps it will be possible to
determine something from my general aquarium characteristics:

Tank: 20 gallon (24" x 12" x 16")
Substrate: 15 lbs of Flourite mixed with 20 lbs of fine gravel (about 2.5
in deep)
Lighting: A fixture holding two 48" 32WT8 fluorescent bulbs with color
temperature of 5000 dK and CRI of 86. However, there is no
reflector and the lamp is suspended a foot above the aquarium.
Duration: The light is on for about 12 hours every day.

pH: 7.4
KH: 4.0 dKH
GH: 6.0 dGH
CO2: 4.8 mg/l[*]
Nitrate: 15 ppm

Does anything look suspicious above? I'm adding no fertilizer of any kind
and no trace elements.
[*] The measurement is based on KH and pH. I have a DIY yeast-based CO2
generator, but it seems that the reactor isn't doing a very good job,
since in another aquarium (30 gallon) the CO2 level measured in the
same way reads about 9 mg/l, even though no CO2 is injected.

Thanks in advance!

Richard

P.S. Excuse me if I didn't provide some vital info, I'm not sure what would
be needed and what not.

--
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War
IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -- Albert Einstein