Help me figure out plant problem

ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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Here are some pictures of what the plants in my tank are looking like, I am Dosing EI and plenty of CO2, i cant figure out why they are not doing better. Help me figure it out :)




 

Mooner

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Jun 9, 2006
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Sorry, But I can't get your pics to download. I am able to see other pics on the forum. Maybe check your image server.
 

VaughnH

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Jan 24, 2005
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If you go to the message block, at the top of is is"
Untitled22.jpg
. Click that and it provides a place to put the url of the photo you want to post, that is already on a photo hosting site, into your message. That is by far the best way to put photos in a post.

Without the additional details about your aquarium setup, I have no idea what your problems are either.
 

ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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60gals
2 filters, 1 eheim 2026 and 1 fluval 305.
4xPC 65W, schedule(2-4-2) first hour is 2 then all 4 for five more hours then 2 for the last two hours for a total of 9 hrs.
I use EI for 60-80gal, i also added extra K.
I dont understand the problems with the pictures, i rick click and opened in a new tab and they are working fine.
 

VaughnH

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I doubt that extra potassium is of any value. Do you have a full dosage of phosphates? Any shortage in phosphates will stop the plant growth. Also, how do you know you have good CO2 level?

I think you have far too much light for the midday burst. 4.3 watts per gallon is really a lot of light, unless you can be sure everything else is being provided in concentrations good enough to meet the high demand that the light is driving. If this were my tank, I would only use two of those bulbs, and no midday burst.

Do you have very good water circulation, so all plants are swaying in the current? The lack of adequate circulation, with that much light, means the CO2 can be used up locally, with no new supply being brought in by flowing water.
 

ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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what do you mean by full dosage of phosphates? I use the the EI recommended 1/4tsp each time i dose, to say 1/2tsp and see how everything looks? For current i have two spray bars hooked up along the back wall blowing towards the front glass, they push a light current, i also have a koralia 1 in the middle also blowing towards the front. Should i swap the spray bars for nozzles? or should i rearrange my tank to allow better circulation? Or do you think the 2 spray bars + the koralia all blowing forward is adequate?

edit: dont know if this makes any difference but i tested my phosphates and they are between 5-10ppm.
 

VaughnH

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The only reason I asked about phosphates is that some people are still convinced that phosphate is a sure cause of algae, so they omit it. You should have plenty when you follow the EI dose schedule. You didn't mention how you measure your CO2 to be sure you have enough. It seems like inadequate CO2 is the cause of most of our plant problems, so that is a good thing to check out thoroughly.

It is hard for me to evaluate someone's water circulation. If I were to guess at what could be your circulation problem, if you even have one, it would be the spray bars. I found that switching from a spray bar to Aquarium Plumbing: Directional U-Tube helped my circulation a great deal.
 

ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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I measure the co2 via a drop checker on the other side of the tank, it stays yellow all day for the most part, i think its broken half the time :)

I mainly look for pearling, it seems to happen about the last third of the light cycle, and after water changes.

I dont really have any surface movement to prevent degasing.

I do notice however that that leaves that have broken off from the plant have small pin holes all over them.

Thanks for all the info, its super frustrating to finally get pressurized co2 and not really see a heck of a lot of positive results. I need to figure out how all the pros are doing it ;)
 

tinkerman

Subscriber
Dec 8, 2007
126
2
18
Moorhead,MN
Is that a sword plant I see in the background?* If it is I think it may be part of your problem, as I think you are lean on your dosing.* I have noticed problems like this in my tank where some plants do really well and some look sad like the pics.* I doubled ei dosage and decreased lighting and have noticed a lot of improvement as well as removing 1 of my swords, I am only running 1.25 wpg of hot5 on a 125 gal plant growth has slowed down but every thing is lusher and heathy looking.* So I agree with VaughnH as to decrease lighting. What is the pic of the plant as I want to say it is either a ludwigia or rotulla speices?
 

ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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you are correct its supposed to be "Rotala rotundifolia" the plant in the back is supposed to be a cork screw val but its not screwing very much these days like it used to.;)
 

ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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just ruducing the lights doesent seem to always fix the problem. I tried lowering it to two lights for a few weeks and did not see any notable increase in growth. I also have to then worry about my red pigmented plants turning green, and my HC all parished due to not enough light im guessing near the substrate.
 

tinkerman

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Dec 8, 2007
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Moorhead,MN
The red plants I have been told just because they are green doesn't mean they aren't heathy. I still think you might be a little lean on ferts and with that much light isn't helping you any, the plants might not be getting enough ferts when you decreased the light before also. I am adding 1 tbs nitrate, 1/2 tsp phosphate, 1tsp potassium, and 1/2 tsp plantex daily on my 125. I disagree about the roalla's being easy to grow as I have had a few of them and have been one of the difficult ones for me as well. I cicled the leaves I was looking at as a sword as I can't see them being a val but look and make sure.

IMG_1543.jpg
 

ccLansman

Guru Class Expert
Jan 22, 2008
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Vista, Ca
ill take a better picture tonight, im not 100% savy with all the plant names. I also stepped up the ferts to the 100-120 EI dosing scheme and reduced the lights to 2 bulbs for 4 hours, 4 bulbs for 1 hour, then 5 more hours of 2 bulbs.
 

ccLansman

Guru Class Expert
Jan 22, 2008
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Vista, Ca
Here are some updated pictures after about a week or so of double EI and cranked up co2. I have also included some pictures of what my setup looks like, I would appreciate any feedback on any changes ect...

Picture #2 is something that i cant figure out, leaves that are floating around the tank look like this. What can be the cause of the pin holes?

Thanks,




 

ccLansman

Guru Class Expert
Jan 22, 2008
375
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Vista, Ca
well im sure that its not K since i doese 1.5tps Kno3, 1/2tsp kh2ps04, and 1tsp k2s04, its a 60gal with 2ish wpg, high co2, anyone else agree that it looks low on K and N? if so ill continue to increase my EI dosing.
sorry they yellow may be due to the fact that i turned on all 4 pC lights and did not use any lighting correction on my camera.