Something is seriously wrong with my plants..

[jmhart]

150ppm nitrate is CRAZY. I'd say that's your problem. Even for plants that like nitrates, that's a lot. Test your tap water for nitrates, see if it's high. Also, how old is the nitrate test?

 

[Robert H]

Aside from TDS, you can also just look at general hardness and carbonate hardness. Tonina belem is a softwater plant that prefers very soft water and and very acidic water. Most people I know grow it in peat, or a very acidic substrate. Some even use blackwater.

I don't see how 150 ppm of nitrate could be accurate. I don't think fish would even survive. I think it would also affect other plants than just the Tonina.

If I did have a too high level of TDS, how would I lower it cheaply?

RO water. Or peat filtered water

Tonina likes a pH of 6 or less. 5 would be even better

Calcium and magnesium are nutrients just like the other stuff. In lower light settings your water source may have enough of them that you do not need to add anymore. In high light setups you're going to burn through them more quickly so it is something to check on if all other nutrient levels are accounted for.

Thats true generally speaking, but most Toninas and Eriocaulons are blackwater plants and have evolved to grow under conditions where calcium and magnesium are non existent. They are not particularly fast growers either

 

[nickmcmechan]

150ppm nitrate is CRAZY. I'd say that's your problem. Even for plants that like nitrates, that's a lot. Test your tap water for nitrates, see if it's high. Also, how old is the nitrate test?

I'm going to disagree on that one.

To start the test kits aren't really all that accurate, especially when Nitrates are high. With an EI dosing schedule you want really high Nitrates.

We also have to remember that its often not Nitrates themselves that are the issue - we measure them to give an indicator of the total amount of toxins in the tank. Its a bit like measuring pH - a better measurement is kH and gH, then better still is condutivity...we don't really need to go to full spectral analysis so we just measure NO3 instead - its more efficient.

We must always remember the priority order of nutrients for plants

1 Light - you've certainly ticked that box

2 Carbon - you've not said fi you use 4 dkh in your drop checkeer; if you don't the measure is not accurate and it could well be the case that you are not dosing enough

3 Macros - looks fine, your using EI

4 Micros - not much said in the thread - how are you dosing

On the last bit I notice you said you were going to start using root tabs - good call - although stem plants take up most of their nutrients through the water column they do have roots and therefore substrate feed too. It will vary for different stems - some may take 80% from water column and 20% from substrate, however crypts my take 20% from water column and 80% from subtrate - these figures are not accurate, just to give you the idea.

Overal it would seem to me that Light and Macros are fine, I would look at Carbon, Micros and Substrate fertilissation. All these must be in balance to get this going the way you want it.

 

[Jag1980]

150ppm nitrate is CRAZY. I'd say that's your problem. Even for plants that like nitrates, that's a lot. Test your tap water for nitrates, see if it's high. Also, how old is the nitrate test?

I tested my water 2 weeks ago and it was at 15, now it's 150.. The petstore told me it is probably going threw a mini cycle.. One thing I can think of that might do this is the results are correct in the Seachem Stability bacteria. Suppose to cycle a tank in 7 days, there might be something in the bottle that boost the process so much that it spikes the Nitrates up so high to help with the cycle process? No idea really, that's the only think I can think of that make some kind of sense.

These test where done at 2 different pet stores with same results. The last test that read 150+ was done at only 1 pet store

I will be buying my own test kit today and will post again with the results

 

[Jag1980]

Aside from TDS, you can also just look at general hardness and carbonate hardness. Tonina belem is a softwater plant that prefers very soft water and and very acidic water. Most people I know grow it in peat, or a very acidic substrate. Some even use blackwater.

I don't see how 150 ppm of nitrate could be accurate. I don't think fish would even survive. I think it would also affect other plants than just the Tonina.



RO water. Or peat filtered water

Tonina likes a pH of 6 or less. 5 would be even better



Thats true generally speaking, but most Toninas and Eriocaulons are blackwater plants and have evolved to grow under conditions where calcium and magnesium are non existent. They are not particularly fast growers either

I have been growing these plants very well for about 9 months. The last 2 months after upgrading everything and dosing dry ferts my plants are stunting and dying. I have the correct water perimeters for these plants, even still, but there is something happening now that I can't figure out. Only thing I could think of and some other people have thought about also was overdosing fertilizers. Since I notice the first decline when switching to EI dosing which was much more then I was dosing before.

 

[Jag1980]

Notice the picture of my plants before when I use to sell them to many people locally and on the forums. (Pictures shown on page 1) I sold very nice Belem's and where actually some of my faster growing plants.

I have dKh4 solution in my drop checker..


Here's 2 of my dosing schedules:
27 Gallons of water
General 7 Day Dosing Guideline for High light and well planted 29 gallon aquarium.

20-40 Gallon Aquariums
¼ tsp KN03 3x a week =Friday, Sunday, Tuesday – Gives 7.8 per dose - Target 10-20ppm
1/64 tsp KH2P04 3x a week =Friday, Sunday, Tuesday – Gives 0.6 per dose – Target 0.5-2.0ppm
1/16 tsp K2S04 3x a week =Friday, Sunday, Tuesday – Gives 6.92 per dose – Target 10-20ppm
1/16 tsp CSM+B 3x a week =Saturday, Monday, WednesdayGives 0.17 of Iron per dose – Fe Target 0.1ppm
1/32 tps Iron =Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed – Gives 0.13 per dose – Target - 0.1ppm

50% weekly water change = Thursday

Here's the new one that I have been trying for the past week or two after talking with some people who think I might be over dosing is why I was getting the decline in the health of my Belem's

27 Gallons of water
General 7 Day Dosing Guideline for High light and well planted 29 gallon aquarium.

¼ tsp KN03 3x a week =Friday, Monday–Gives 7.8 per dose – Target 10-20ppm
1/32 tsp KH2P04 2x a week =Friday, MondayGives 1.2 per dose – Target 0.5-2.0ppm
1/16 tsp K2S04 1x a week =Friday Gives 6.92 per dose – Target 10-20ppm
(Monday Dose 1/32 tsp of K2S04) = Gives 3.46 per dose
1/16 tsp CSM+B 2x a week =Saturday, WednesdayGives 0.17 of Iron per dose – Fe Target 0.1ppm
1/32 tps Iron2x a week =Saturday, WednesdayGives 0.13 per dose – Target - 0.1ppm
45% weekly water change = Thursday


My nutrient uptake is about 25% of what is dosed at the 7th day of my schedule.
I have no idea what my Potassium levels are on the 7th day.

 

[jmhart]

Did the pet store tell you about nitrite? That would be the big tell tell sign of a mini cycle----unless the cycle is now over.

 

[Jag1980]

Yes, I had them check Nitrite and it was 0.0
I was hoping to see a little to confirm a cycle, but this still leaves me wondering.

 

[Jag1980]

I just bought a Master kit today and tested my water.

2 days ago my Nitrates where at 160
Yesterday I did a 50% water change
Today my Nitrates are at the normal range of 10.

I think that there was a issue with the testing, can I see that large of a drop in 2 days and a water change?

 

[Jag1980]

I haven't dosed my tank in about 5 days and my water has cleared up and my plants look much better.
Is there a specific fertilizer that might be causing problems for me that maybe I should cut down on from my dosing schedule?