Whats missing - stange plant growth

The fact that doing a WC and the plants pearl would indicate CO2 or ferts missing. Not being an expert in planted aquariums either, I would try upping the dose of ferts first, and then if that didn't work, increase CO2. Again, research is the best way to go and getting information from the experts, but common sense tells me that after a WC, things seem to improve, I would go ferts, then CO2.
 
By looking at your test results, you need to add phosphates. That is a pretty important nutrient and can inhibit the intake of other elements.

And I dont see a mention of a micronutrient supplement either. Plantex CSM+B or Flourish Comprehensive are good choices if you need options.
 
Thanks for all the advice. A couple of questions to make sure I do things correctly...

I'm currently adding more CO2 than the tank can consume as the CO2 diffuser fills up in a couple of days (it has a power head attached so CO2 and water are forced together constantly). To increase CO2 density I can increase KH, is there another way? The tank has some black hair algae which I read is a low CO2 issue, any advice on how I can increase CO2 in the water? One other challenge is local tap water is pH 9 (yes nine), I treat incoming water with a non phosphate acid for WCs to balance with the tank that runs at pH 7.2, one week I added my usual 3 drops per gallon but the water company had changed the water:mad2:, I ended up with a tank pH of 8.5 and 4 dead cardinal tetras.

2nd question was on Ferts. Currently dosing Flourish Trace for micros and add some extra Fe and Mg, will do this more regularly. As suggested will experiment adding a small amount of phosphate (a bit worried about this as I do have a little algae so phosphate is probably not the limiting factor in the tank). Riiz mentioned Plantex CSM+B, does this have additional trace elements to Flourish Trace?

Thanks again for all your help and encouragement. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom