plant frustration..still

C

Canuck2005

AC Members
Jul 11, 2005
30
0
0
Eastern Ontario
I posted before, and went ahead and started dosing some potassium as suggested but here I am again. :( I think it's been a couple of weeks at least with not much improvement. I didn't know how to link my old thread to this one for anyone who wanted to read it first?

31 gal tank, 2x20watt lifeglo bulbs
well stocked, non-planteating fish
asian ambulia (doing fantastic!)
spiral vals (doing okay so far)
dwarf sag (leaves are okay, a little transparent,could be much better) hygrophilia polysperma (not such good colour, holes in leaves, but has new growth no problem)
iron .25 (too high right?)
amonia 0
nitrates 0 (have lots of fish how can this be zero??)
calcium,not sure exact number, but it's low. added cuttlebone (day before yesterday) to tank but didn't realize it would dissolve really slowly.
water is soft, ph 7.4

trying to keep costs down (husband's rules! haha) so all I have to dose thus far is some root tabs, flourish and potassium (seachem brand).
I really thought a lower light tank would be easier than this...HELP!! :)
 
doesnt sound like you have enough light for your plants....C02 can only help as well
 
Well, light and CO2 are definitely concerns, but let's start with NO3. You need to be dosing NO3 on that tank. The plants are using it up faster than the fish can produce it (via ammonia and nitrifying bacteria). You can either pick it up at a local hydroponics shop or order it from Greg Watson: www.gregwatson.com

The hydro shop will be cheaper if you're solo and/or it's just KNO3 that you need. Greg will be cheaper (and very convenient) if you have a larger order and a couple of friends (try your local aquarium club, CAOAC - Canadian Association Of Aquatic Clubs - can tell you if there's one in your area: http://www.caoac.on.ca/FramesetMain.html , see if there are others interested in a group fert. order)
 
would I still need to dose all of these things if I went ahead and changed to slower growing plants? I know all plants need ferts of some sort, but would my tank maybe have enough of it's own if I just get rid of the fast growers?
 
It's possible, depends on what you're getting from your fish. It's really difficult to troubleshoot nutrient deficiencies by changing plant load though. I'm only guessing that NO3 is the problem nutrient, it may only be one of a number.

NO3 is really cheap, look into it, you'll probably find a year's supply for less than $5. You can dose Fleet enema for PO4, I can't recall the price of a bottle, less than $10, again, over a year's supply. Or for about $30 you can have pretty much every fert. you're likely to need from Greg. We're not talking exorbitant sums here.
 
thanks for the advice, it certainly doesn't sound too expensive.
I never imagined I'd be spending more time on the plants than I do on the fish. :)
but I do love them and can't imagine how I ever had plastic ones in the past.
 
Tap

Hey! Out of curiousity, What source of water are you using? Do the test. Stop adding the things that mother nature provides and start paying attention to the missing nutrients necessary for healthy plant growth! Plant tanks do not need alot of chemist in order to work!

thePlantMan cometh..........
 
do I misunderstand or are you telling me to stop adding anything?
if so...I didn't add anything at first and only dosed after my plant showed nutrient def., except now I'm still trying to figure out what nutrients it is they're missing. but I could leave it alone again if that's a good way to go?
 
How deep is the tank (top to surface of substrate)? NO or CF fluorescent?
Number and type of fish? Heavy plant mass? Moderate? or Light? Got a picture you can post?

".....asian ambulia (doing fantastic!)
spiral vals (doing okay so far)
dwarf sag (leaves are okay, a little transparent,could be much better) hygrophilia polysperma (not such good colour, holes in leaves, but has new growth no problem)"

This does not sound so bad to me for what you are supplying the plants. This is a low tech/low cost tank that will develop slowly. You may need only a basic 'all-purpose' fertilizer for your purposes.
Please answer the above questions. Number of fish/how many plants, is asked to determine how accurate your N test kit is. With 'lots of fish' you should be seeing something on your test kit results, I would think.

Len
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom