TOO much co2

hani

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will too much co2 prevents plants from pealrlling, my co2 runs wide open, DC yellow with 4kh.?
my plants dont pearll , light is at 2-3w/g.
thanks
 

yme

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I would say no.. for sure not if you have living animals in the tank. then your co2 isn't sky high anyway.

greets,

yme
 

Philosophos

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Oxygen levels under normal saturation levels in an aquarium will not effect pearling significantly. Adding more CO2 to the point of non-limiting levels means that plants will uptake the C and give off O2; this is where pearling comes from. So if anything, higher CO2 should mean more pearling presuming other nutrients are non-limiting and light levels are high enough to induce it.

Because pearling, when all other variables are correct, is driven by light, this means that pearling is not a strict indicator of plant health. You can have light low enough to avoid pearling, but still have healthy plants. It is also not an indicator that conditions are currently correct in the tank, just that the plants are healthy. You can put healthy plants in some fairly poor conditions yet still get pearling because of their stored nutrients.

-Philosophos
 

hani

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they were perlling in the initial set up for a week or so about 6 month ago, all other levels are finen usinlg lamotte colormeter, ....
plants still growing, but i do get some algae here and there not to much....i was tring to figer out why i cant get them to pearl.
 

hani

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one more thing, the ph is 7 in the morning goes down to 5.9 by noon, if i go down to 5.7, fish will start to have difficulty, and i always turn co2 of if am adding new fish for a day then let it drift back down the next day.
thanks
 

Philosophos

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Would you mind supplying a little more info? Tank hardware specs, test results and dosing would be a good start.

-Philosophos
 

hani

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29 g tank, 2x55 w both on at the same time for 3h then only one for 5 h., co2 with mazie using one ehiem pump 1260.
did testing today:
PO4 1.98
NO3 20
K not done today
am using EI ONLY 4 DAYS WEEK
 

Philosophos

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4 days? Give the EI time then. Plants take time to respond and become healthy enough to pearl. If you're still not getting anything in 2-4 weeks, then we'll start looking at other things more closely.

-Philosophos
 

Biollante

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Information Please

Hi,

That is a lot of light; your light is about 3.8 watts per gallon, light really does drive the process.

Seems as though your CO2 is up.

Could you humor me and tell us your EI dosing?;)

What do you mean dosing EI 4 days a week? Do you dose macronutrients and micronutrients together? How often are you doing water changes?

What kind of substrate to you have?

Is this an ongoing problem!

I tend to agree with Philosophos, him being so dad-gummed smart and all, if you just started EI dosing, just give it time.

Many times we get plants from good sources they have a stockpile of nutrients, I have found folks can get away with low or very lean nutrients for about 12 weeks, sometimes longer, especially if they have a rich substrate. Sooner or later though the plants need a little help with the nutrients.
:)
Biollante
 

hani

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I does 2 days kno3 /k/po4 and 2 days plantex, then i dont do es anything the rest of the week(3days), i used to does 6 days as per EI, in the first feww months then i started to cut down after i added the fish. if i keep doesing the same way i will get high level of po4/kno3 like po4 will pe up to 3 and NO3 WILL BE UP TO 30-40 or so, i noteced no diffrence if i keep dosing full 6 days.
i did chrats in the begning to see were my uptake is....it changed after few weeks things slowed down, plants still healthy.
i invested alot of time and money for the fun of it...kits , callipration soultions from lamotte/hach , colormeter, pipeter....etc
 

Biollante

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Observation!

Hi,

I am someone who has invested a bunch in sophisticated test equipment so I know how much fun it can be. :)

What I am going to suggest to you is to ignore your test equipment for a while. :(

Here is my suggestion to you.

Into 50 milliliters of distilled water, dissolve:
• 4 grams of KNO3
• 1 gram of K2SO4
• O.25 grams KH2PO4
• Add enough distilled water to make 90 milliliters of solution mark it “Macros”
• Dose 30 milliliters on water change day, third day and sixth day

Into 50 milliliters of distilled water mix:
• 1.3 grams of CSM+B
• Add enough distilled water to make 90 milliliters of solution mark it “Trace”
• Dose 30 milliliters the day after water change day, fourth and seventh day

• On water change day, dose 2 grams Barr’s GH Booster.

This for your lighting arrangement, is a bit lean (by my standards it is very lean). Keep the CO2 up make sure everything is clean.

Try this for three weeks or so and see what your plants and critters tell us.

Biollante
 

hani

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Hi bio,
this what i used to do for the EI:
KNO3 1.3 gm
po4 0.3 gm
k 0.3 gm
all for 3 days

plantex+c 0.3 gm for the other 3 days
which is about the same you are telling me, still not pearling
 

Biollante

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Patience Is A Virtue

Hi,

How long have you been dosing EI?

If you have been doing this for more than three weeks and given the low Nitrates you reported, you need to increase the dosing by a quarter or a third. Then after a bit you may need to raise them again. ;)

As I said before, light really does drive the process, the demand for CO2, macro and micronutrients, even filtration.

Make sure your filters are clean, keep the CO2 up.

Also remember nitrates even at 50 or 60 ppm are not likely to harm your critters, I have seen some shrimp with problems over 60 ppm.

My best guess is that when you reduced your dosing, it was probably what you needed given your lighting. :)

Also remember that plants take a bit of time to adjust to new situations, lighting, dosing routines, CO2 and so forth.

So patience and peace be upon you.

Biollante
 

hani

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I was dosing full EI for maybe 3-4months or so, i did cut down when my kno3 was getting 30-40ppm ,po4 3 or so