[Rush3737]

So, over a year I've grown floaters with amazing ease. Not that they are hard, but I they always looked great, and always multiplied like crazy. Now they have slowed to barely no new plants, and even after removing some of the worst looking ones others still look bad. Today though I didn't have time with lights on to remove some of the worse off ones, and just took a few quick pics. Also, the Java Fern seems to be doing worse.

Any thoughts?

 

[Rush3737]

Also, some more questions. Previously my drop checker would stay a consistent color quite well. But about 10 days ago it was acting wacky and I decided to get a new kit. I already had my 4dkh solution I bought from someone here and that always seemed good, but now in both units it slowly just gets yellower until it's solid yellow. The guide says this is over, and I'd expect fish to be gulping and heavy pearling, but lately I've seen practically no pearling and the fish seem fine. All this is just rather annoying to say the least.

 

[Zapins]

What ferts are you currently adding (in the last week)? Are these plants all in the same tank as the original plant photos you posted? Can you test the water parameters (NO3/PO4/GH/KH)?

Collectively these symptoms are looking a bit strange. Have the holes stopped appearing on old leaves? It is possible that you were low on two nutrients, potassium and something else (possibly iron or nitrogen) then once you replaced the potassium the plants ran out of the other nutrient. This way the plant has not had enough time to grow enough healthy growth to easily distinguish the two since both the potassium and the new deficiency signs are on the same plant within a few leaves of each other.

The pearling isn't an indicator of growth it just shows oxygen saturation in the water. If your plants are deficient or in a toxic environment they will produce less O2 and less pearling.

 

[Rush3737]

In the last week I've been doing .75tsp of K2SO4, .25tsp KNO3, and .18tsp KH2PO4 for macros, and my usual .25tsp CSM+B and a tad of extra iron for micros. I haven't checked parameters in the last two days, but I will again tonight for you.

 

[Rush3737]

My PO4 has somehow skyrocketed again to between 5-10ppm, while my Nitrates seem to be around 20-40ppm.

Right now I'm actually out of the crappy little strips, which is what I used to use to measure GH and KH, so I think I'll order a good kit for them.

Edit: $6 later and the kit will be at my door Thursday. I love you Amazon Prime.

 

[Zapins]

In the last week I've been doing .75tsp of K2SO4, .25tsp KNO3, and .18tsp KH2PO4 for macros, and my usual .25tsp CSM+B and a tad of extra iron for micros. I haven't checked parameters in the last two days, but I will again tonight for you.

Is this a daily dose or weekly in your 75g tank?

Also, you should consider buying a digital jeweler's scale on ebay instead of using teaspoons. Grams are much more accurate to use when dosing and the scales are very cheap, only $15 or so.

 

[Rush3737]

I would do micro and macro each 3x a week. And note that I've been playing with doses a lot lately to try and fix things.

Would this scale be fine? I assume so, and the reviews are great for it.

 

[Zapins]

Looks fine, 0.1 or 0.01 grams is acceptable for dosing ferts.

 

[Rush3737]

Well, wouldn't you know, yesterday I come home to solid green indicators... CO2 tank emptied while I was at work. It would happen right in the middle of all this. Luckily I was able to get it refilled right away.

Anyway, Zapins, my KH is 11 and GH is 16, and this is AFTER having a little Peat Moss in my filters for a week or two. Hopefully that helps you help me with some amazing ideas!

Edit: Oh, and I plan on picking up some H2O2 soon, so I can start taking out a few plants at a time and try out dipping them. This will be a perfect opportunity for me to take some pictures for you.

 

[Rush3737]

This may or may not be a game changer. I put a piece of DW in the tank awhile back, and noticed something in the one knot at some point, and figured it just came with the wood or was fish poop or some other debris. Well today the one thing was moving a bit and I have no clue what it is. Biggest (one pictures) is likely between 1-2cm in length.

 

[Zapins]

Hmm. This is looking less like a deficiency and more like a toxicity of some kind. It appears you have enough N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and micros and yet your plants are still deformed and damaged.

Do you have access to RO water? Perhaps a few large water changes to flush out whatever you currently have in the tank and start dosing again using your accurate digital scale will solve this problem. I think that is your best option at this point.

I'd hold off on dips for the moment, you don't want to complicate the issue with potentially harmful dips if possible. I'd say first figure out the plant growth issue then the algae issue can come next. If you do too much at once you won't know what caused what.

 

[Rush3737]

I do not have access to RO water.

The thing is, lately my Hydrocotyle, Cabomba, and Ambulia seem to be growing at a good pace. Is there a toxicity that would harm some plants but not others?

 

[Zapins]

Plants all have different tolerances to nutrients and harmful compounds so it is expected that some would be affected and others not if it was a toxicity issue that is mildly harmful. Try do a few large water changes back to back to reset everything with your tap water then try dosing using the digital scale. If that doesn't work there aren't too many options left without using RO water and reconstituting.

 

[Jalopy]

Just my 2 cents here. Zapins helped me out with diagnosing a CSM+B overdose in my tank. In my tank, it showed most prominently in the fastest growing plant, rotala colorata. I got pin holes that looked like potassium deficiency. It got so bad that some of the leaves started to look like it was breaking off in multiple places. Everything else was still growing ok but I did notice that they grew slower than before and more algae showed up.

 

[Rush3737]

For me RO water is kinda out of the question, as it's not only expensive, but I would be unable to install it in my system.

So what I will do, for now, is use the scale of course, and also cut back on my CSM+B.

Recently in this thread I did do 80/80/50 water changes within a week, so even though it's tap it would have at least removed most of the ferts that I've added.