plants not pearling

maxitronix

Junior Poster
Mar 4, 2007
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Hi Im new to the world of planted tanks. curently have a 1 feet by 1 feet by 1 feett moss aquarium but not peraling at all.
co2 is diy with nutrafin flipper
and ferts are
lushgrow aqua-contains n, k , mg s fe mn zn cu b and mo
one 9 watts pl light and 11 watts pl light
from the pervious posts in this forum pearling is a sigh of lush growth that all the nutrients, lights and co2 are met
am i missng something assuming ther lights and co2 are ok?
 

Frolicsome_Flora

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Jan 12, 2007
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maxitronix;14762 said:
Hi Im new to the world of planted tanks. curently have a 1 feet by 1 feet by 1 feett moss aquarium but not peraling at all.
co2 is diy with nutrafin flipper
and ferts are
lushgrow aqua-contains n, k , mg s fe mn zn cu b and mo
one 9 watts pl light and 11 watts pl light
from the pervious posts in this forum pearling is a sigh of lush growth that all the nutrients, lights and co2 are met
am i missng something assuming ther lights and co2 are ok?

be aware that not all plants pearl.. pearling is a sign of fast growth, if you have slow growing varieties of moss for instance you might not ever see pearling from them. pearling purely happens when a plant produces more O2 than can be absorbed into the water layer around the leaf.

also, dont worry too much if you dont see pearling, steady, healthy growth is what you need to be looking for more, that will in turn, keep algae at bay.
 

Tom Barr

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Administrator
Jan 23, 2005
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If you are adding the right nutrients, NPK, GH, Traces, then light, all that is left is CO2.

DIY CO2?

Very likely the root of the issue.
Try adding more, redo the brew mix and see.

I'll bet if you add enough CO2, the moss will pearl, also, moss does better at cooler temps than higher, SG is not a cool place.
28C ought to be fine though.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

maxitronix

Junior Poster
Mar 4, 2007
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appricate the advice flloric but my friend maintains the petshop , rather the aquarium shop planted tank display and uses the same moss that i do ..fissidens, java , tiwan moss and flame mosss and they peral like mad. another tank he has is a 30 cm one with c02 and planted tank lights (pl) and the java moss peral like mad..... he says it's the lights but i have the same jebao plantd lights currently in use but ehy don't peral. what are some of the ferts to make it peral ? currently using the pmdd recipe with lushgrowaqua
i assume my c02 is enough testede it 30ppm
lights about 20 watts total pl light
 

maxitronix

Junior Poster
Mar 4, 2007
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didn't see tom's reply....err gotta ask sorry la newbie here , whatr's GH?
thanks for replying lights co2 ferts...gotta be ferts or co2 must check again.
 

maxitronix

Junior Poster
Mar 4, 2007
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errr for pmdd ferts i use 1 tablespoon chelcted iron -lushgrowaqua
1 tasblespoon epsom salts
1 tablespoon kno3
1 tablespon ks04
dissolved in 1 litre r/o water and put about 5 ml into my 40l itres aquatrium
i must ask does this cover all my fert needs?
 

maxitronix

Junior Poster
Mar 4, 2007
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i will redo my c02 first thing in the moning

feeling very happy i can ask an expert his opinon :) thanks Tom. a
 

Tom Barr

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Jan 23, 2005
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You are not adding any GH.
Ca/Mg are needed as well.

If the owner has high light, just match his lighting.
If it's close to his, then it is just CO2.

If you add what he adds in the nutrients, substrate tap water etc, then CO2 is the only variable you are unsure about.



Regards,
Tom Barr
 

maxitronix

Junior Poster
Mar 4, 2007
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added sem chem equliblium
plants started pearling.
thanks
now to figure out ei method
how much
kpo3
kno3
kpo4
sechem equliblkiumn
chelated nutrient mix lushgrow aqua
to dose 1 feet by 1 feet by 1 feet tank for Ei method?
he smallest estimative method is way too large for for my tank size i figure
 

Tom Barr

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1 cubic ft= 7.48 gal or so.

So take those amounts and add them to water bottles to get them 100% dissolved.

Add 1/2 or 1/4 or 1/8 of the water to get 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8 dilutions.

Your tank is 7.5 gal or so, lets just say 7 gal.
So look at EI at 20 gal tank.

300mls of water + 1/4 teaspoon of KNO3.

20/7 = 2.8 or ~ 3.

So add 100mls of this per dose.

Do the same for PO4, for SeaChem, and traces are already liquid, so 1.5-2 mls etc 3x a week.

You can make a stock solution of 500mls and make it any concentration you desire, the above is just one simple example that just uses the eI method without any calculations other that taking the Volume of dry ferts, adding to water asnd then dividing the amount of water into equal fractions to match the tank size.

So if you can divide, you can do this very simple method.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

VaughnH

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Jan 24, 2005
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Another way to do liquid dosing is to get a bottle with a cap that is around 5ml or so. Then add enough capfuls of water to the bottle to almost fill it - count the capfuls. Assume you are going to dose one capful of water each time you dose. So, if the bottle contains 100 capfuls of water it needs 100 times one dose of each chemical - KNO3, KH2PO4, Excel, etc. So, if you need 1/16 tsp of one of those, you add 100/16th of a tsp to the bottle - or 6 2/3 tsp. Do the same with the others. Add the 100 capfuls of water and shake it up. Dose a capful every other day or 3X per week. I use this method for my nano tank and it works fine for me. I just estimate the amount of water once I know about what level I want in it.