Help diagnosing deficiency?

I have a well established 55g planted tank and have been using the EI method for the past several months, but am still having some plant growth and algae issues. While plant growth has greatly improved since switching over to EI, something is still amiss and I'm hoping that this community can offer some advice.

It appears that I'm suffering from a nutrient deficiency (iron?), but according to the responses to several other similar posts, I'm led to believe that I still may not be injecting enough CO2.

Tank parameters:

GH 8+ (8 from tap with addition of equilibrium)
KH 6
PH ~6.7
Following EI as per "EI Light" instructions for 40-60g aquariums
Lighting 4x55watt compact fluorescent (on about 10 hrs/day)

I recently (about two weeks ago) increased the amount of CO2 I was adding and have already seen a noticeable difference in my wisteria (fuller, greener leaves). It appears, however, that there is no change to my swords and anubias. The leaves are slightly difformed/curled and eventually thin out near the edges, almost appearing to rot away. A new leaf on one my anubias grew in light yellow. These symptoms have me guessing that this may be an iron deficiency, but I've also read that identifying specific sources of poor growth in terms of nutrients is extremely difficult. Can I assume that the addition of the proper amount of flourish should provide ample amounts of iron? Or, generally, that following a proper EI regimen shouldn't require additional supplements?

I'm attaching a couple pics that are, hopefully, of good enough quality to help.

I should also mention that I recently moved these tanks to a new house about 3 weeks ago, which required uprooting the plants and removing about 2/3 of the plant mass. Also, as of last week, I switched to tap water from RO (reconstituted using equilibrium and alkaline buffer to GH 5, KH 6). According to the local water report, however, the tap water should be fine for plant growth.

Looking forward to any advice you can give!

 

Correction - the lighting above is 4x65 watt.

I'm buying a drop checker today to make sure I'm adding enough CO2. I know Tom et. al. were discussing a solution to a pH probe w/ built in checker to automate the addition of accurate CO2 levels...what ever happened with that idea?

 

After further reading, it appears that my lighting is extremely high (~4.7 watts/gallon), and lighting at this level will amplify any problems caused by insufficient C02. It also seems that the consensus is that C02 levels are more of a factor then nutrient levels.

About a year ago I moved from a single strip compact fluorescent to a double strip under the misunderstanding that my algae problems and poor growth were caused by insufficient lighting. I spent a lot of money on an RO unit under the misunderstanding that these problems were caused by nutrient imbalances in the local water supply (specifically excess phosphate levels from orthophosphate).

In hindsight, I could have saved a bundle with proper dosing and CO2 injection. I wish I had stumbled across the Barr Report sooner!

Can't wait for that drop checker...

 

Thanks for the advice and encouragement! Hopefully in a month or two I'll have some positive results to share.

Off topic, it suddenly appears that plant growth is the least of my problems right now. My young denison barbs are showing signs of ich (white spots, gasping and flashing)...oh, the horror! Cranked the temp and crossed my fingers. Maybe the switch to tap water wasn't as subtle as I thought :-(

 

Since over 4 watts/gallon is overkill, is it advisable to switch back to the single strip lights, effectively cutting the watts by 1/2? Is that not enough? Would a change like that be too disruptive at this point?

 

I'm using flourish 3x/wk along with equilibrium once a wk after the 50% change, alternating w/ 3x/wk addition of KNO3 and KH2PO4...just have to make sure I'm adding enough I suppose.

Yeah...I reacted a little too late and have lost 4 out of 5 denison barbs ($$$) thus far. I'm pretty sure the 5th isn't going to make it. My clown loach and black shark are showing signs of ich too, but my rainbow shark, dwarf puffer and SAEs look OK. It's a love/hate relationship w/ the black shark...a big bully that likes to nibble on the plants, but has quite a personality. It was an (maybe unfortunate) impulse buy at Petco, and I wish I had done some research beforehand.

Since my "jumpers" are now all but gone, I've taken this as an opportunity to remove my glass lids and mount my lights (now both single strip) on adjustable flip-open legs. This should make tank management much easier and removes the annoying shadow cast on the plants.

I'll make sure to keep the temp raised for a while (I'm thinking at least a couple weeks after the last signs) and drop it slowly....I've stress these guys enough already!

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

Since things seem to be getting better without the chemicals, I think I'll just stick with the raised temperature for now. If it comes back for another round, this time or next, I'll certainly consider the Mardel line and being a little more aggressive with treatment. Hindsight's 20/20, and I could have replaced all of my plants with less $$$ then the cost of 5 denison barbs.

UV filtration seem to be a little pricey, but then again, so does fish replacement every time ich comes around. I'll consider this as a more proactive measure of prevention.

The drop checker just arrived, I'm dosing full EI with some extra iron for peace of mind and I've cut back on my excessive lighting. Hopefully all I have to do now is fine tune, sit back and enjoy the results.

Cheers!