Plants losing colour

Re: Plants losing colour

Unless I missed something you aren't dosing nitrates and phosphates. Your plants will starve without those basic foods. I suspect that is the problem, and given the high light intensity and long lighting period you use, you will have to start doing the added fertilizing or some big algae problems will also crop up.

 

Re: Plants losing colour

plants like Limnophila aromatica get redder with lower NO3 from my experience. I dose a lot of NO3 right now to keep an old cyano situation at bay, so my Limnophila has gone from a deep purple to greenish/yellow

 

Re: Plants losing colour

Sometimes it is much easier to answer a question not asked, than to answer the question asked! So, with that in mind, it sounds like you are also fighting with green dust algae on both the glass and the leaves. If so, why don't you try the "let it live out the life cycle" method to get rid of it. Just ignore the algae for 2 to 3 weeks, and it will live out its cycle, then go away. When I did that, my plants were looking very good again, after 3 weeks being unable to even see them for the algae. The algae on both the glass and the leaves went away.

Back to the question you did ask: my red colored plants, Alternathera Reinickii v.Roseafolia and Blyxa japonica maintain their color best with high light, high fertilization and high CO2. When I had them with 1.75 watts per gallon they were struggling to be other than green, but at my current 3.8 watts per gallon they are very well colored.

 

Re: Plants losing colour

In regards to color, crashing N has been more effective than higher light for me. However, its good that you're running NO3 a little rich while figuring out the algae. Beat that first, then worry about color. With a low algae tank crashing nutrients is easier because A) you've learned how to beat algae and can move more quickly when you see deficiency and B) know the other nutrients are in-line.

Its absolutley normal for H. polysperma 'Rosanervig' to have white veins by the way. I believe this is some sort of mutation specific to that variant. What's out of line is that you got it with pink veining: maybe this is an emersed growth thing. The leaves of this plant are relatively easy to get pink/red once it gets going.

R. macrandra is a hard one. After you address CO2 and EI as planned, its one you may need to spend some time on to look great. If you're keeping it growing you're doing better than many. Again, I suggest you worry about getting color from it after you beat the algae. Its a fun one to mess with later

Hope this helps.

 

Re: Plants losing colour

That sounds like GDA to me. BGA, when I have had it, was very blue green, not just dark green, and it was jelly like, slimy and tended to totally enclose some growing tips of low plants. I found it very easy to recognize.

 

Re: Plants losing colour

When there is an issue with bubble-count (tom uses 3 per sec, someone else sees 10 per sec and seems to need more) -- I always wonder about the diffuser. I have tried a number of things
- hagen ladders (I now have 3 in my "might use it sometime" basket)
- I tried building tom's venturi design, but never got an accumulation of CO2
at the top, so not sure they are working well (I have 5 2L DIY bottles on my
65g).
- I now have 2 of the bottles feeding directly into the intake of a 600gph
power head -- and that ups the CO2 enough to bother the fish if I leave
it on 24h -- so now its only on with the lights.

So maybe at the 10 bubbles per second you are losing 7 or 8 of them?
Or to look at it the other way, maybe only 2 or 3 are disolving in the water?

Now I have not used pressurized CO2, so this question may not be worthwhile, but is there any reason that the bubbles could not differ in size between two people who are having differing bubble counts??

 

Re: Plants losing colour

The bubbles do differ in size considerably. If the tube the CO2 comes out of into the bubble counter has a large ID, the bubbles are large. If the tube has a small ID, the bubbles are small. When I had two bubble counters connected at the same time, I had twice the bubble rate on one as on the other, because of that effect. Bubble rate is just a way to compare your own CO2 flow to the flow at a different time.

 

Re: Plants losing colour

The smell is a dead-giveaway.....over-ripened/rotten cucumbers

 

Re: Plants losing colour

Air valves are not really suitable for metering CO2. Check out Rex Grigg's manifolds with needle valves at: http://www.rexgrigg.com/sale.html

 

Re: Plants losing colour

Air valves usually leak a little bit, which isn't a problem with an air pump, but it will deplete your CO2 tank pretty quickly. They also are not sensitive needle valves. And, plastic valves don't last long at all with CO2.

 

Re: Plants losing colour

A two outlet manifold would be pretty easy to make if you have any mechanical skills, and an electric drill plus a tap for small pipe threads. Take a brass bar, drill a hole down the middle almost to the end. Drill two holes into the side intersecting the hole down the middle (or just run that down the middle hole all the way thru.) Then tap all three holes for small pipe threads and screw in two needle valves and appropriate fittings. If my experience is any guide, a DIY project like this would likely end up costing about the same as buying the manifold, but you would have a world of fun!!

Another thought: I was shopping for a variety of little fittings today at the hardware store for a continuous water change system I am making, and I recall seeing a tee with male pipe threads on all three legs. With a few adapter fittings that would work well as a manifold. It is also possible to get a tee with all female pipe threads, making installation of needle valves easier.