Co2 or light

[samh]

Just noticed some flaws in growth
And wanting to know if it's most likely light or co2

Blyxa japonica melting
L aromatica leggy bottom leaves melted
Stellata crinkled crown
Pedicellata crimped crown
Gracilis crinkled crown

Any help would be awesome

 

[Gerryd]

More details please?

Substrate, water column dosing, tank size, maint sched, etc, etc, etc.

Lights how many, what type, what duration, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Sorry but I may as well just guess and say most likely too much light and not enough c02 and/or macro/micro nutes for the light level.

Honestly the more data you provide, the better and more nuanced the response....

Thanks.

 

[samh]

Sorry was gonna put it up but my phone was going slow.
Tank specs are
-just shy of 500L ( 120L x 60W x 70D cm )
-pressurized co2 -ph controller
-2x diy needle wheel powerheads - 400l/hr & 1000l/hr
-sera 1000 reactor @ 1200l/hr
-Filtration 1x eheim 2217,2215, aqua one - 2200 uv
-Lighting 4x 54w HOT5 with indv. reflectors - 10hrs (2 gieseman midday 6500k, 1
gieseman aquaflora 4000k, 1 solarmax 11000k

ph is roughly 6.1
Kh 6
GH unknown

Ferts are dosed 1.5 times recommended dosing with dino pee, or EI dosing via dry fertz
substrate is black sand and ada ammazonia 2
Ferts - dino pee, dino dung and dry fertz

I only noticed the blyxa up and melt recently but never really did awesome.
My lighting is 70cm from the substrate and is a 4 tube solarmax fitting with reflectors, the unit would be only 40cm wide max

this is what it looked like before some stuff started to crash

The blyxa is at the front to the left of the lilaeopsis* grass

Sam

 

[Tom Barr]

CO2 CO2 and CO2.

Crinkled or progressively smaller tip growth is a classic sign, Blyxa not doing well: CO2.

 

[Tom Barr]

Also, do you add PO4? KH2PO4 etc?
I reckon you are in OZ with Dino pee from Dave Wilson in Darwin

 

[dutchy]

I agree with Tom, definately CO2. If CO2 is ok, Blyxa grows like a weed.

 

[samh]

Yeah in oz.
I try grow alot of natives from here which are harder to grow mainly that they supposed to be sensitive to high nutrient levels...
Yeah i dose kh2po4 .5 teaspoons 2-3 times weekly depending on the weekly levels.
Haha co2 again. I thought co2 for sure from your advice from previous advice, but my drop checkers are yellow everywhere, I even have 2 diy needle wheels i have just to ensure no dead spots. they run at opposite corners.

Do you guys have any diagrams of flow directions that you use?
I played around enough that my plants stay upright without sacrificing flow. I'll try draw a diagram.

Sam

 

[dutchy]

Here's what I use. Flow is directed diagonally to the front. In addition I use a Vortech MP20 in pulsing mode, so flow pattern changes all the time.

 

[samh]

I see, is the flow equal on those sides?

I've tried to get my flow in a gentle circular motion

the second one has the bulk of the background stem plants shaded in

The needlewheel impellers 400l/hr top left and rio 1100 bottom right are halfway up the tank.
The spray bar at the centre back has co2 from the reactor (sera 1000)

I gasses up in around 1 hour like you suggested a while ago.

Sam

 

[dutchy]

Complicated

I just use two 500 gph pumps. But it might not be just about dispersion. Your ppm's might be insufficient. I'd stop the O2 bubbles which prevents outgassing.

 

[shoggoth43]

4 x54W bulbs at ten hours seems like a lot of light. The pH controller you're using might also be contributing by not letting you get a constant amount of CO2. It may be that you're getting "enough" CO2 when the controller is on and "not quite" enough when it's off. Just enough fluctuation to keep the plants constantly adjusting.

One possible cheap fix would be to try putting the CO2 on a timer vs. the controller and see how things do for a couple of weeks. A lot of people use a controller when they start out and then eventually switch over to timers. At least that's how it seems around here.

-
S

 

[samh]

Complicated

I just use two 500 gph pumps. But it might not be just about dispersion. Your ppm's might be insufficient. I'd stop the O2 bubbles which prevents outgassing.

Dutchy - Haha i know right. I had to do it that way because my plants were at right angles. I did try one similar to yours but the plants went everywhere. The o2 bubbles only come on at light out, but i've since stopped that.

I'm going to calibrate my ph controller and try another test kit. I set the co2 when the fish start gasping and i gradually try increase it once they get used to the new levels.

@dutchy do you have a sump filter?

Sam

 

[samh]

4 x54W bulbs at ten hours seems like a lot of light. The pH controller you're using might also be contributing by not letting you get a constant amount of CO2. It may be that you're getting "enough" CO2 when the controller is on and "not quite" enough when it's off. Just enough fluctuation to keep the plants constantly adjusting.

One possible cheap fix would be to try putting the CO2 on a timer vs. the controller and see how things do for a couple of weeks. A lot of people use a controller when they start out and then eventually switch over to timers. At least that's how it seems around here.

-
S

Yeah i see what you mean, i am using a cheap weirpo one and i find it does have a big fluctuation of around .5-.7, so if i set it to 6.12 it'll go off at 6.5 but turn back on at 6.17... does that sound bad?

Sam

 

[samh]

Do all ph controllers have a fluctuation between what they're set to?