Could Use Some Advice

About 2 months ago I decided to change out the substrate in my tank to 100% Eco-Complete. I was having some success with plants, but felt that I needed to shift my set up to a more plant friendly environment. My problem is I have seen a real slow down in growth since then and even some plants that were never a prblem before, start declining. My Rotala Indica used to be a weed, now it barely clings to life, Sunset Hydro gets holes in the leaves and my Ludwegia will just die in the middle of a stem and fall off.

Here's my setup and params:

150 gal 100% Eco-Complete Substrate
Pressurized CO2 with an AM 1000 reactor
460 Watts of power compact lighting 12 hrs/day.

Fish Load:

8 Discus 4"-5"
20 small Rainbowfish
10 SAE's 2"- 4"
6 Corys
6 Pencilfish

Params:

NO3 = 25 ppm
PO4 = 1.0
PH Tap = 8.0
PH with CO2 = 6.8
KH = 9.5
CO2 = 45 ppm

Fert Routine:

Sunday:
50% WC
1.5 tsp. KNO3
.25 tsp KH2PO4
1 tsp. K2SO4

Mon, Wed, Fri:
15 mls Flourish
Tue, Thu, Sat:
15 mls Flourish Iron

I rarely dose macros during the week as I never run out of Nitrate. In fact it seems to build in the tank throughout the week like there is no uptake at all. Maybe it's the fish load?

I might add 1/8 tsp of KH2PO4 on Wed or Thu. I have zero algae which is good, but I am seeing poor growth and health from plants and can't figure it out. I get minimal pearling. I have a small nano tank also that I basically treat the same way and it's perling like club soda!

Any ideas or advice???

 

Re: Could Use Some Advice

Thanks Tom,

Do I have to worry about Nitrate build up with the discus? If I dose 3x per week, I'll have nitrate in the 40 - 50 ppm range. Isn't that supposed to be bad for the discus? Also, I'd appreiate the dosing schedule you mentioned.