My water parameters are: ph 8.4, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate is really high though its like 40 ppm
I was starting to think my plants had a potassium deficiency because a few of them got pinholes. But others just got dieing spots in the middle of the leafs that turned into the whole tip of the leaf turning brown ( this all happening on old growth) so I thought that could either be nitrogen deficiency or phosphate deficiency, I dose with flourish and I calculated out that in that dose I'm getting 0.07 potassium, 0.0011 phosphorus, and 0.02 nitrogen. I have been trying to do without water changes till like every six months and then redose with flourish. I currently haven't got to the next water change and redose. So what I'm I doing wrong? ill take all suggestions
Have you looked at the sticky in the fertilizer section? good info there,
flourish is not a stand alone product, you need to be dosing more, although I'm not sure how it works with 6 month water change intervals...........that could be a problem unless your going for a natural walstad type thing I guess
Also, no mention of co2......co2 accounts for something like half of what the plant needs, so without it things can be tough............in this case your only real option is to lessen the light intensity and/or duration
I thought I couldn't cut damaged leafs off Anubis, that what I was told and I have a low tech tank with only a dual t12 so I have no Co2 and I also have flourish root tabs under each plant too and I I'm going for the more natural type
I had a small 3 leaf anubis that I grew to 9 seperate anubis having 15 leafs or so on each in about 6 months and I always snapped off the leaves that became poor or ALgae
Well in that case just dose more flourish and cut the dead leaves. I know that flourish is watered down to begin with, while true you would need considerably less ferts with a natural setup, those are clearly signs of nutrient deficiency.
Light sounds low which is good, but try for an 8-10 hr photoperiod, could improve growth
idk squat about walstad method, but I have heard there is a very helpful book about it available
Well the thing is how much more would I add or would I buy just seperate nutrients that my tank is lacking and dose and my lights are on a timer for 8 hours
I think the appealing part of the walstad setup is that it's more of a self perpetuating ecosystem
What's your bioload look like? As a guess, dose a capful every week or two, try to adjust and observe as time goes by.
Rather than buying a bunch of ferts for a low tech tank, maybe you should increase the number of fish, between them and the extra food you would be providing more nutrients in addition to the flourish
It seems you are missing micro nutrients. You got the Macro nutrients (NPK) but not the micros such as plantex CSM+B. you only do water changes every six months? how big is your tank? is it heavily planted?
I had a small 3 leaf anubis that I grew to 9 seperate anubis having 15 leafs or so on each in about 6 months and I always snapped off the leaves that became poor or ALgae
"It seems you are missing micro nutrients. You got the Macro nutrients (NPK) but not the micros such as plantex CSM+B. "
Does not flourish comprehensive contain the micros, albeit in a much weaker percentage?
edit: Here is flourish analysis from seachem website:
0.014 mg/L (ppm) of Nitrogen per 5 mL in 250 L
0.002 mg/L (ppm) of Phosphorus per 5 mL in 250 L
0.074 mg/L (ppm) of Soluble Potash per 5 mL in 250 L
0.028 mg/L (ppm) of Calcium per 5 mL in 250 L
0.022 mg/L (ppm) of Magnesium per 5 mL in 250 L
0.055 mg/L (ppm) of Sulfur per 5 mL in 250 L
0.0018 mg/L (ppm) of Boron per 5 mL in 250 L
0.23 mg/L (ppm) of Chlorine per 5 mL in 250 L
0.00008 mg/L (ppm) of Cobalt per 5 mL in 250 L
0.00002 mg/L (ppm) of Copper per 5 mL in 250 L
0.0064 mg/L (ppm) of Iron per 5 mL in 250 L
0.00236 mg/L (ppm) of Manganese per 5 mL in 250 L
0.00018 mg/L (ppm) of Molybdenum per 5 mL in 250 L
0.026 mg/L (ppm) of Sodium per 5 mL in 250 L
0.00014 mg/L (ppm) of Zinc per 5 mL in 250 L
oh okay. I thought flourish didn't contain micros. my fault
Hmm. it might be because of the light unless you only have low light plants. then not a problem. I see you have anubias and the last pic seem to be java fern, right? I can't tell from the pics. Also, how long did you have your light for? did you know that those lights need to be replace because they eventually lose their strength/intensity?
As Norbot says you will definitely need to provide co2 in some way. I provide my plants with co2 through seachem excel. There is a cheaper alternative to excel called metricide 14 but please make sure you do your research on it. Also, you can make your own DIY co2. just search this website. there is a lot of info on it.
In my opinon, you might want to increase your phosphate and potassium dosage. you don't need to dose nitrogen since you have plenty according to your nitrate levels. Also what kind of substrate is that? I cant tell from the pic
@mizuhuman, no worries, it can be nice to reconfirm things I thought I knew:icon_wink
In this case, I don't necessarily recommend co2 because that's not the goal of the op. I mean I always recommend co2, but sounds like they don't want to go there.......
Best thing to do would be to research low tech, non co2 tanks, there are a number of stunning tanks that use no co2
fish, flourish, trimming dead leaves, tank maintenace and continue what you are doing is my suggestion fwiw
I have all low light plants from my understanding and I've had my fixture for like 6 months and the actual bulbs for like a month how long do they normally last? And I never knew Co2 was needed in a low tech tank do you just use less than a high tech and to increase my
phosphate and potassium dosage do I need to buy extra products, like just a potassium dose and phosphate dose and I have fluorite with black gravel on top of it. And yes that's a Anubis and java fern. Quick question though you guys said cut the damaged leaves off of all my anubises well one has all damaged leafs, do I chop all them off? And if I do that how can it do photosynthesis? Will they grow back
happi- is there anything to worry about with dosing and 6 month water changes only? I ask because I hear doing %50 (or %x) weekly water changes is part of dosing, but I also read there is not much danger in overdosing?
co2 is not absolutely necessary for a low tech tank. I just recommend it because it can help your plants grow. the lights that you have typically last for 6 months or so. I have a standard T8 fixture and bulb that came with the hood for my 75g. I set it up in September and by January or February I noticed a general decrease in overall brightness. It got really dim.
you can actually buy them as one fertilizer. its called mono potassium phosphate (KH2PO4) I bought this from nilocg (he's a member here) I think it was $5 a pound and add shipping it should be about $11-12 (i'm not sure) just search for nilocg using the members list and send him a pm (private message) he will help you out.
as for the anubias, I never cut off all of its leaves just a few. Therefore, just cut off the really bad ones. now that I take a closer look at your pic. it looks like you buried your anubias in the substrate, correct? you're not suppose to do that. the anubias like some other plants (java fern) have a rhizome and it should be out in the open. you can tie your anubias to driftwood or rock. or leave it in the substrate as long as the rhizome is not buried.
I think I'll try the Co2 then thanks and you mean just the bulbs have to be replaced right not the fixture too? Is that mixture just phosphate and potassium cause that sounds good and I didn't know that about Anubis thanks for the info ill put those on my rocks it will look really cool and get to trimming
yes, just the bulbs have to be replaced not the whole light fixture. yes, that mixture is just phosphate and potassium. good luck with the anubias. it should be fine; anubias are hardy plants. you can use fishing line or cotton thread (the ones you would use for sewing) to tie the anubias onto rocks or driftwood. same for the java ferns
Here's my thought on the situation..... It looks like your plants are suffering from a Nitrogen deficiency..... Because if it were a iron deficiency you would notice more of the plant turning yellow, a potassium deficiency you would notice little pin holes in the leafs with yellowing around the holes, if it were a phosphate deficiency older leaves turn yellow - parts of leaves look reabsorbed leading to dead patches and the leaves fall off rather quickly.
A nitrogen deficiency starts with the tip of the leaf turning yellow then the leaf is reabsorbed from the tip leading to the stem. Picture below shows you what I'm talking about....
This graph can be misleading, lack of potassium doesn't have to show pin holes, lack of Magnesium can show leaf falling. so dont depend on the graph too much. without potassium, uptake of nitrate and other nutrients stop.
i would suggest adding potassium and Mg first and see what happen.
I vote for more water changes..... I think it is a ticking time bomb if you keep dosing and don't do water changes. I notice my tank quality deplete at about 9 days if I don't do my weekly water change.
i've noticed that my TDS shoot up if i don't do weekly water changes, since i dose daily with PPS-Pro dry ferts. my plants are doing fine, but you don't want so much fert in there that the fish are swimming in sludge, haha.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
The Planted Tank Forum
3.5M posts
130.6K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to Aquatic tank owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about flora, fauna, health, housing, filters, care, classifieds, and more!