Hi all,
I’m having the hardest time keeping my plants from melting and would greatly appreciate any feedback. Below is a brief synopsis; tank specs, fert routine and relevant water report parameters. Thanks in advance for reading the long post!
The plants that I’m having the toughest time with are stellata, aromatica and red temple. They typically exhibit modest growth for 1-2 weeks (maybe an inch), especially after a water change, then turn white at the tips and finally melt. It’s strange because the aromatica manages to hang on for a little while, sending out lateral shoots (and false hope), and then melts shortly thereafter (shoots included). I’m not sure what could cause this as I have riccia, stargrass and Lagarosiphon that are doing okay (but never pearl). I’ve recently tweaked the current in my tank to better distribute the CO2 bubbles generated by the venturi reactor but haven’t seen the dramatic results everyone else seems to be enjoying.
I also have modest surface movement to help oxygenate the water during lights on/off.
Moreover I’ve incrementally increased my CO2 over the past 2 weeks to approximately 4-5 bubbles per second, which is kind of crazy as I have the reactor that can apparently handle a 90+ gallon tank.
Tank specs:
20 Gallon High
Eheim 2213 Canister Filter
65 Watt Coralife Fixture with 1x65 watt bulb
JBJ regulator with Barr Venturi Reactor (Rio 180 with 6” Viewtainer)
Eco-Complete Substrate (approx 2.25 inches deep)
Heavily Planted (aromatica, stellata, stargrass, riccia, red temple, lagarosiphon, sunset and some misc.)
Heavily Stocked (9 Corydoras Sterbai, 3 Ottos and a handful of cherry shrimp)
Fert routine:
60-70% (12-14 Gallons) water change on Saturday (conditioned with SeaChem Prime)
1/8 teaspoon SeaChem Equilibrium after water change
1/4 teaspoon of KNO3 after water change (Sat) then 1/8 teaspoon (Mon, Wed, Fri)
1/16 teaspoon of KH2PO4 after water change (Sat) then 1/32 teaspoon (Mon, Wed, Fri)
5mls SeaChem Flourish 3x a week on off days as macro nutrients (Sun, Tue, Thu)
2mls SeaChem Iron 1x a week after waterchange
Lights on 10 hours per day (CO2 on 45 mins before lights, and off 15 mins before lights off)
PH 6.2-6.3 halfway through the photoperiod (SeaChem Test Kit)
Water report:
Phosphate - 0
Nitrate - 1-5 (they don’t indicate an average)
Hardness (as calcium carbonate) - 96ppm or 5.4 dKH average (ranging from 82-122ppm)
Alkalinity (as calcium carbonate) 37ppm or 2.1 dKH average (ranging from 26-51ppm)
I’m at a total loss and a little confused about alkalinity versus hardness and PH (not sure what I should be shooting for). Here are some pics:
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=255&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=253&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=249&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=252&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=251&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=251&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/browseimages.php?c=11&userid=571
I recently did a major trimming so there are only a few examples of “the melting”. I should have taken pics a week ago when I had a forest of stems with no leaves. Any feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks again for reading!
Vin
I’m having the hardest time keeping my plants from melting and would greatly appreciate any feedback. Below is a brief synopsis; tank specs, fert routine and relevant water report parameters. Thanks in advance for reading the long post!
The plants that I’m having the toughest time with are stellata, aromatica and red temple. They typically exhibit modest growth for 1-2 weeks (maybe an inch), especially after a water change, then turn white at the tips and finally melt. It’s strange because the aromatica manages to hang on for a little while, sending out lateral shoots (and false hope), and then melts shortly thereafter (shoots included). I’m not sure what could cause this as I have riccia, stargrass and Lagarosiphon that are doing okay (but never pearl). I’ve recently tweaked the current in my tank to better distribute the CO2 bubbles generated by the venturi reactor but haven’t seen the dramatic results everyone else seems to be enjoying.
I also have modest surface movement to help oxygenate the water during lights on/off.
Moreover I’ve incrementally increased my CO2 over the past 2 weeks to approximately 4-5 bubbles per second, which is kind of crazy as I have the reactor that can apparently handle a 90+ gallon tank.
Tank specs:
20 Gallon High
Eheim 2213 Canister Filter
65 Watt Coralife Fixture with 1x65 watt bulb
JBJ regulator with Barr Venturi Reactor (Rio 180 with 6” Viewtainer)
Eco-Complete Substrate (approx 2.25 inches deep)
Heavily Planted (aromatica, stellata, stargrass, riccia, red temple, lagarosiphon, sunset and some misc.)
Heavily Stocked (9 Corydoras Sterbai, 3 Ottos and a handful of cherry shrimp)
Fert routine:
60-70% (12-14 Gallons) water change on Saturday (conditioned with SeaChem Prime)
1/8 teaspoon SeaChem Equilibrium after water change
1/4 teaspoon of KNO3 after water change (Sat) then 1/8 teaspoon (Mon, Wed, Fri)
1/16 teaspoon of KH2PO4 after water change (Sat) then 1/32 teaspoon (Mon, Wed, Fri)
5mls SeaChem Flourish 3x a week on off days as macro nutrients (Sun, Tue, Thu)
2mls SeaChem Iron 1x a week after waterchange
Lights on 10 hours per day (CO2 on 45 mins before lights, and off 15 mins before lights off)
PH 6.2-6.3 halfway through the photoperiod (SeaChem Test Kit)
Water report:
Phosphate - 0
Nitrate - 1-5 (they don’t indicate an average)
Hardness (as calcium carbonate) - 96ppm or 5.4 dKH average (ranging from 82-122ppm)
Alkalinity (as calcium carbonate) 37ppm or 2.1 dKH average (ranging from 26-51ppm)
I’m at a total loss and a little confused about alkalinity versus hardness and PH (not sure what I should be shooting for). Here are some pics:
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=255&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=253&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=249&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=252&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=251&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/showimage.php?i=251&c=11&userid=571
http://www.barrreport.com/gallery/browseimages.php?c=11&userid=571
I recently did a major trimming so there are only a few examples of “the melting”. I should have taken pics a week ago when I had a forest of stems with no leaves. Any feedback is greatly appreciated, thanks again for reading!
Vin