I've posted my tanks at various times in the photo section, all my tanks are planted, the two larger tanks mostly assorted crypts. I've been taken care of the crypts for years, very low tech, only add flourish every water change. Once in a really blue moon, usually not till some yellow leaves were showing...a bit of flourish excel. Growth was always fine, they'd get bushy, but not as tall as if I fed them better. But they always looked nice and not a lot of maintenance. My fish are my maintenance. Several months ago I figured I'd get brave and add Jungle root tabs for the crypts. I know they are heavy root feeders, but I was always afraid of the tablet contents getting into the water column and adversely affecting the fish, especially the discus. When I gravel vac, I vac down a good 2" or more....always. And I've been known to rearrange things on a whim...which you really shouldn't do if there's root tabs in place. The crypts put on a burst of height growth with the addition of the plant tabs. Then of course in the discus tank I'd have to pull leaves off just about every water change in order to keep the foraging area open for the discus. They were healthy, just grew out of bounds too much. I pay premium price for those Jungle plant tabs at Petco, there's no where anywhere near me that sells any kind of root tabs, couldn't find any plant food at all in the PetSmart near where I work. So a couple of weeks ago when I placed my Drs.F&S order, I added API plant tabs (thought they'd be better) and added Flourish Iron and Phosphorous to the order. I read that these two were good if you had yellowing leaves from time to time. NOTHING else has changed in my tank. I added the tabs, only dosed once on the iron and phosphorous (cause I'm still chicken of it affecting my fish) and continue to add the regular Flourish at water change time. I think I added the new things 2 weeks ago. And now I'm seeing some leaf melt on some of my crypts. It starts at the tips and goes all the way down....like spinach. I pulled a bunch of affected leaves off tonight. The thicker leafed crypts haven't been affected like that, it's the thinner more delicate varieties. Taiwan mosses are fine, java ferns are fine, anubias fine. I don't understand what I did wrong. It's killing me to see leaves melt on my gorgeous crypts! Is it the API tabs? These tabs seem to melt much quicker than the Jungle tabs. Is it the iron or phosphorous? Please explain in real simple plant terms, chemistry talk turns me into a non-comprehending idiot.:help:
