Plants turning brown

[orangeangel]

Ok here is the deal.
80 tank with ada ps and ada amazonia
220 watts w/AH Supply reflectors
pressorized CO2 w/drop checker
3 weeks new/
ammonia,nitrite = 0
nitrate = 10-25
po3 = 1-2
gh = 1ppm
kh = 5ppm
CO2 = 1.5 pps
Drop checker is very light green almost neon
temp is 80 deg
iron = 0 my iron test is redsea and I don't think it works always 0 or blue
I added 2 caps of seacem iron this a.m. or .1ppm
I do water changes every 2 days 50% to 75%
I am dosing EI at 75%
Every day in-between water changes later in the day after I add the ferts the plants get worse most are turning brown and the leaves are curling.
Green for the anubias.
After 75% water change plants started periling for the first time, water gets clearer and less green.
lights on 10.5 hours .........today I am going down to 10 hrs.
Any ideas?
I have been reading for days.
The water goes from a PH of 6.5 to 6.9 durning water change. according to milwaukee meter
Thanks

 

[VaughnH]

First, your GH seems very low, to the point where there isn't enough calcium or magnesium for the plants. (If you meand 1 dGH instead of 1 ppm, that is different.) And, it appears that you are using tank water in the drop checker. It won't work that way. You need to use 4 dKH distilled or DI water in the drop checker. Then it will be green at about 30 ppm of CO2, where you want to be. When you correct those two items, using GH booster or Equillibrium for the GH, you should see much better results.

 

[orangeangel]

Sorry my bad 1 degree for GH and I bought 4dhk from someone on APC.

I am using gregs gh booster.

 

[PeterGwee]

If you are really dosing EI and not just base on test kit values for dosing, the only thing left is really CO2. How responsive is your CO2 setup? Does your tank have good current throughout?

Regards,
Peter Gwee

 

[orangeangel]

Great current. I even drilled holes in one of the spray bars. Just a couple holes stagered for better coverage. I have the co2 come on an hour before the lights turn on and shut off one hour before the lights shut off. I also have another 110 watts of light turned off... too much light? the bulbs are only a few months old. (6700)
For some reason my co2 diffusor doesn't seem to work like it use to. I could never see the co2 before but now I see little bubbles come out of the spray bar.
I did a 75% water change last night and this am the plants are still pearling a little.

 

[orangeangel]

Update

Paid more attention to CO2 per V's advice and have lowered it or bumped up the bps from 1.5 to 2 bps.
Increased EI from 75% dose to 100% dose.
reduced lights from 10.5 hrs to 10 hrs but am thinking about going to 9 hrs.
Trimmed plants for increased flow.
After reading Toms thread about flow I am considering buying a powerhead to increase flow.
Any suggestions for powerhead or such device to increase flow?
I have a eheim 2026 that does 250 gph. is this good enough if cleaned on a regular?
I also added to the tank my pelco and two of my sae. I am adding fish slowly to the newly cycled tank.
This has helped big time.

Thanks for your previous and future help.
Mike

 

[VaughnH]

One dGH is still very low calcium concentration. Why not try adding Equillibrium or other GH booster to get that up around 4 or more? Today I measured my tap water GH again, and it is down to 3 dGH, so I plan to start dosing Equillibrium soon. For the moment my one tank is ok because I have a small rock of Calcium/Magnesium carbonate (I think - it is flowstone) in the tank, and the tank water is around 5 dGH.

 

[orangeangel]

I am using the Gh booster as mentioned on EI light but will test and add more to get to the 4 or 5 dgh.
Is the ehiem 2026 with 250 gph enough water flow or should I find a way to add a power head?
I have darf lily plants and they are getting really tall. I am wondering if the lights I purchased are any good.
Don't the lily plants stay low if the light is high enough?
Should I turn on all lights for a total of 330 watts?
I will purchase some lights from AH supply today.


Thanks Hoppy or V

 

[Tom Barr]

If pearling is common after the water change, but no other time=> CO2.
And that explains 95% of the issue you are having here.


Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[VaughnH]

CO2 problems can be either or both the amount of CO2, as shown by a drop checker, or the water circulation which is critical for delivering the CO2 to all of the plants. If you are using the drop checker with 4 dKH water, and it stays green, then I would assume you need to improve the water circulation in the tank. Adding a powerhead won't hurt anything, but should help move that CO2 enriched water around better. I typically see problems develop as the plant mass in the tank increases. Since I just love the effect of a tank full of healthy looking plants, different shapes and colors, I am always reluctant to prune until I absolutely have to. If that describes you too, pruning could also benefit your plants. Dense stands of plants most certainly do restrict the water circulation.

 

[orangeangel]

"Most issues revolve around CO2 and water flow(which is related to gas and nutrient exchange in aquatic systems) if the nutrients are non limiting".

This got me to thinking about the CO2 as well. I do believe this has been the main problem with my tank.
I did lower it again yesterday but have been doing in small increments due to fish in the tank.
I will see how the plants faired today and lower again. I have been trying to keep the co2 consistant and adjusted in baby steps due to the fact I am not home all day.

Thank you very much for your responses and time.
I know it can be done.
Mike