MPastora

New Member
May 14, 2020
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Costa Rica
Hello Community!

I've been having some trouble growing ludiwigia sp red on my highly dense planted tank. The new leaves seem small and twisted, sometimes diagnosed as calcium deficiency or as CO2 deficiency as Tom Barr responds in almost every thread I've read.

My tank:
40 Gallon planted and lots of fish
seachem onyx sand substrate
2 finnex planted+ 24/7 cc running 9 hours a day (3 ramp up, 3 on max, 3 ramp down) fairly high light even ramping up or down.
90g canister + 2 50g hanging filters (lots of flow)
pressurized and costant CO2 (yellow drop checkers)
Ei weekly NPK 15-1.5-15
Flourish comprehensive 2 times a week as indicated
Seachem Trace 2 times a week as indicated
Excel 4ml daily
50% water change weekly

current readings:
Ph: 6.4 (during photo period)
Kh: 3
Gh: 5-6
CO2 based on chart kh/ph: 35ppm
N: 20
P: 1.5
Temp: 26 Celsius constant

No algae at all, from time to time a little GSA on glass.
Any idea of what could be happening?

Pictures in the link:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1HPDQ-zAYLsq7R-3nh3lC9yoe-wS59NJW?usp=sharing
 
Last edited:

MPastora

New Member
May 14, 2020
6
1
1
32
Costa Rica
Thank you! Here it is!

IMG_20200610_092225.jpg
 

MPastora

New Member
May 14, 2020
6
1
1
32
Costa Rica
Hello! Did you figure out what's wrong? Pottasium deficiency maybe?
Hey! Actually I've been trying out different things. I upped the potassium and iron and I've been getting a positive outcome. Not quite perfect but it is looking much better now. Will add some more potassium next week to see if this is the cause to reach a perfect growth! Will post a photo tomorrow!

Thanks for asking!
 
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tiger15

Member
Aug 12, 2017
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NJ
You have some big holes in the Ludwigia sr leaves that look like physical damage. You have some healthy looking red leaves on the ground level, are they part of the same plant or AR?

It looks like you have enough CO2 and dosing everything adequately. Since you have no algae, why do you need to dose excel daily? If you think there is a lack of Ca/Mg, place a small piece of limestone to dissolve the mineral slowly. How long have you had the Ludwigia. Sometime it takes time for new plant to adjust.
 
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