EI Hemianthus micranthemoides tiny leaves

[rickert]

Hi all,

I used EI protocol, for 5 months, and after this period i'm very satisfied... but i have a little problem finally...



This is my tank specification:
100liters(more or less)
4 neon 2x29w and 2x24w(3-4-3 time period)
co2 system with pH controller milwaukee sms122, erogated by inline system in the middle of the eheim filter out tube.
Eheim filter 2073
Seachem flourite

Parameters:
Kh 8,5
Gh 11
Ph 7

No3 5-10
Po4 0,8-1,2

My dosing routine:
Sunday(after 40% water change): 1/16 kh2po4, 16 grams of seachem equilibrium
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 3x 1/16 dry traces from fluidsensors(look below for composition)
Tuesday, Thursday: 1/16 kh2po4
Saturday: rest day

Traces:
Fe 8.4% (EDTA), Mn 1.82% (EDTA), Zn 1.16% (EDTA), B 1.05%, Cu 0.23% (EDTA), Mo 0.15%

Water changes: 4 liters of osmosis water, 36 liters of city water... i'm living in italy, and the water of milan is very stable kh10, gh10.

No no3 dosing for medium high fish/shrimp load, and for the my city water with 15 no3.

Plant:
Blixya - grow very well
Heteranthera zosterifolia - grow is wonderfull and come into flower a lot of times
Glossostigma elatinoides - grow very well(horizontaly)
Limnophila sessiliflora - grow(too fast) with light red on the top

I had some trouble with:
Hemianthus micranthemoides and Rotala Rotudinfolia(normal and colour species), 30% of the these plants grow with tiny leaves and little curved...


All rotala are trimmed by the bottom...

I see a great improved after dosing one 1/16 more of traces...before this adjustment the Heteranthera zosterifolia melt the new leaves sometimes...

Extra note
Pearling is very high after water change... hight in the day of traces, and normal in the macros day...

Try:
i tried with an extra dose of potassium with k2s04.. 1/16 in the macro days.. and after that a lots of pinhole appear on the new leaves of the Hemianthus micranthemoides...

i tried with a extra dose of calcium with caclO2(for 2 weeks) with no result...

i tried with an extra dose of mgs04 with no result...

now i'm try to dose a little more no3 during the week... 4mg/l...

PS
My tank is 99% algae free (sometime micro spot of gda on the glass...)

any advice?

Ty in advance

 

[Gerryd]

Hi,

My guess would be too much light and not enough c02..

4 neon 2x29w and 2x24w(3-4-3 time period)

Are you really using 4 tubes on this tank? Please describe the light in more detail.

Plus, what is 3-4-3???

 

[ubr0ke]

ya thats way too much light....you could get away with 1-24 watt bulb as long as your t5ho fixture has a good reflector...

but the sounds of it your plants grew and now your co2 demand is also higher which I don't believe your keeping up with..

cut down to 1 24 watt bulb or 2 and suspend it 12" above the tank..

 

[rickert]

Hi,

My guess would be too much light and not enough c02..



Are you really using 4 tubes on this tank? Please describe the light in more detail.

Plus, what is 3-4-3???

hi... the 3-4-3 is the fotoperiod:

3 hours: 2x28w
4 hours: 2x24w + 2x28w
3 hours: 2x28w

10 hours total(with all the tubes on for 4 hours in the middle of the fotoperiod)

at max is 104w for 100 liters is more or less 1w/l

too much light?

 

[rockhoe14er]

yeah that's a ton of light.

 

[Gerryd]

Hi,

I personally think it is too much and I think your plants are telling you the same

You may want to just try 2 of the bulbs for 7-8 hours per day and see how that goes.

Please note that your growth will slow and some plants may suffer a bit. Be patient (2-3 weeks) before you change the light again.

If this light works for you, please ignore my comments, but it does seem like overkill.

That is a very small tank compared to the amount of light provided.

I like your tank and the growth, but think now that c02 must be increased to accommodate the increase in plant mass.

Remember that as plants grow and fill in, you need to INCREASE nutrients and c02 accordingly. Same thing with changes in light...

 

[rickert]

Hi,
I personally think it is too much and I think your plants are telling you the same
You may want to just try 2 of the bulbs for 7-8 hours per day and see how that goes.
Please note that your growth will slow and some plants may suffer a bit. Be patient (2-3 weeks) before you change the light again.
If this light works for you, please ignore my comments, but it does seem like overkill.
That is a very small tank compared to the amount of light provided.
I like your tank and the growth, but think now that c02 must be increased to accommodate the increase in plant mass.
Remember that as plants grow and fill in, you need to INCREASE nutrients and c02 accordingly. Same thing with changes in light...

Hi Gerry,

ty for you reply,

when i started this tank, more than 1 year ago, the couple 2x28w is too low, for the plants inside... the internode of the fastgrow plants are very long and ugly...i added with a external t5 ballast 2x24w... and i cant remove one single 24w tube a this moment(i think is possibile, with a bypass of the ballast)...

by the way, two months ago...before i start to use the Ei protocol, alla plants are stunned for lack of po4... after i solved that lack, the tiny leaves problem start...

now after your advice, i trying with a short time period, from 3-4-3 to 3-3-3...

ty.