Didiplis loosing leaves + loosing stems

Gilles

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My Didiplis is losing its leaves (which could be low light at the bottom of the stems which might be accurate). But it is also not getting a grip in the substrate. CO2 is about 20mg/l
Light is unclear... as in; i don't know my PAR values.
 

dutchy

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Hi Gilles,

Didiplis needs a lot of CO2, but not necessarily a lot of light. Losing lower leaves can also be a CO2 issue. At 20 mg/l (for what that figure is worth) you're not very high, I have around twice as much. So that's what I would do first. We always tend to think we don't have enough light, but most of the time we have too much.

regards,
dutchy
 

Gilles

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I'll check my PH and KH later today when i'm home.
I also found out that i am dosing micros wrong. Can this be an issue?
 

dutchy

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CO2 calculation out of pH and KH levels are not very reliable. Most of the times it's less. Various things like nitric acids influence pH which make us think we have enough CO2. An example: The pH in my tank is 6.2 and the KH 5. According to the CO2 table all my fish should be dead, but even my discus don't have any problems. Discusfish don't tolerate more than around 45 ppm, so the difference between measured values and real values is around 50% in my case. 50% less!! So that could mean that you still have 20 mg/l, but also that it could be as low as 10 mg/l.... Dennerle sells a good drop checker which uses water form the tank to make the indicator fluid. That makes it more reliable. Or even better, use the fish as an indicator.

Dosing micro's wrong....well, if you dosed too much, that's no problem, if you had a deficiency, you should see discolorations etc. That's the easy part to correct.

regards,
dutchy
 

Gilles

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Well i did see some discoloration on my L. Glandulosa. Before trimming it was deep red, now it is more yellowish pale so i think there is def. an issue there. Co2 and light is thesame.
 

Tom Barr

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This red plant will slow down and stunt perhaps, loses lower leaves if the CO2 drops, but should not discolor or get pale.
D diandra is a weed however, so something is wrong there.

Nutrients can be ruled out easily with some water changes and seeing if the dosing was changed or not.

Tap water changes might be at play, KH changes etc.........filter needs cleaning, clean everything well etc.

Regards,
Tom Barr