[vanostav61]

Hi everyone,
I have been having this tank for little over a year. This was my first planted tank so over this period of time I had to learn a lot and as a result have done and tried different things but was never able to achieve good healthy growth. Lately most of my plants actually seemed to completely stalled or growing very slow.

Here are my specs at this point:
Equipment:
Tank - 75 Gallon
Light - 2 Beamswork DA FSPEC 60watt each, 7 hours a day
Filtration - Two SunSun Canisters + Power Head
CO2 - Inline Injection, approx 4 bubbles per second
Fertilization:
Dirted Substrate - Potmix mixed with some Safe T Sorb capped with sand.
PPS Pro Dosing - Medium Light tank
Macros 1ml per Gallon daily
Micros 0.5ml per Gallon daily
Water changes - Weekly 40-50%

Here is an interesting observation, I see somewhat better growth the first two days after the water change. The rest 5 days I truly feel like I am injecting CO2 and dosing in vain.

 

[vanostav61]

 

[vanostav61]

The only plants that seems to be growing fine are the Amazon Swords.
The Valisneria, Bacopa, Ludwigia Repens, Java Moss, Anubia, and the Crypts are somewhat growing but I rarely get to trim anything in one week.
The worst are Anacharis, Alternantera Reinekii and lately the Dwarf Sag joined the list.
Anacharis has always been growing very thin and week and slow.
Alternanthera Reinekii has always been on the edge of extinction but I clearly see some growth on the AR first two days after water change. For instance I see new roots growing on the stem above the water and new leaves. But that's only for two days after water change, then the AR stalls until next WC.
The Dwarf Sag has been doing fine and almost finished carpeting but lately has turned yellow and started melting. I don't see much new growth nor runners anymore.

I have been dosing PPS Pro for about a two month, before I used to just dose about 15ppm of NO3 and 1ppm of PO4 once a week and Micros. I truly hopped that dosing PPS Pro will bring more stability and better growth but I honestly do not see any change. The only thing that PPS Pro solved was the lack of Potassium which could be seen on some plants.

 

[minorhero]

I'm sooo bad at correctly identifying plant deficiencies but it looks like you have some. Potassium maybe? Hopefully some others can help more but I suspect your ferts will need adjusting.

Edit: I added my comment as you were adding your latest one. Not sure then if the potassium is ongoing then. If its only been 2 months and you completely changed your dosing regime you might need to wait more time for the plants to adjust to the new settings.

 

[vanostav61]

I'm sooo bad at correctly identifying plant deficiencies but it looks like you have some. Potassium maybe? Hopefully some others can help more but I suspect your ferts will need adjusting.

You are right, I did have a Potassium deficiency but I solved it when started to dose PPS Pro two months ago. Indeed you can still see some aftermath even two months later because the growth is so poor and new leaves are growing very slow to replace the damaged ones.

 

[minorhero]

You are right, I did have a Potassium deficiency but I solved it when started to dose PPS Pro two months ago. Indeed you can still see some aftermath even two months later because the growth is so poor and new leaves are growing very slow to replace the damaged ones.

Gotcha, when you do a water test, how much nitrate is there? Before you do a water change that is.

 

[vanostav61]

Gotcha, when you do a water test, how much nitrate is there? Before you do a water change that is.

Between 10-20ppm NO3, you know how the works is kind of hard to say.

 

[MrGoodkat]

Have you tested your PO4 during the week, before or after water changes?

Also, I may have missed it in the pictures, but are you using the color indicators to determine if you are injecting enough CO2? If not the color indicators, have you tested pH for a drop in pH by 1 before and after CO2 injection?

 

[Greggz]

Are you measuring your pH drop from CO2 injection?

In a 75G 4 bps is almost nothing. It should be a constant stream.

Those lights probably have pretty decent PAR. Higher PAR = need for more CO2 and ferts.

 

[xrayguy]

I have to agree with some of the others about co2. I have a 72g, and I had to get rid of my bubble counter for a flow meter cause it was damn near impossible to count bubbles. I use a ph controller but insure I don't go over my 1.0 ish drop.

 

[vanostav61]

I tested PO4 today, it was around 0.5ppm API test.

According to this thread, my lights being about 20" from substrate should be doing about 44 PAR per light at substrate level. That totals 88 PAR at substrate but I would cut some out due to the fact that the lights are about 1 year old and probably lost some brightness, also the pot mix is slowly leeching tannins which probably prevents some light from reaching the bottom as well.

I put back the CO2 drop checker today and though I don't believe CO2 is the is the iissue I cranked it up some more and will test tomorrow the PH swing together with the drop checker. I'll let you guys drive it for a while and see how it goes 😁

 

[Scully]

I just want to add, because I didn't see it mentioned above. To check for the 1 point PH drop, you'll want to take out a sample of water from the tank and let it sit out for 24 hours. This will let it de-gas and give you your starting point for PH.

So say your current tank PH is 6.4 but you take a sample out and let it degas and it turns to 7.0, you'll want to shoot for 6.0. But if you base it off of your current PH of 6.4 and try to get say 5.4, you'll kill your livestock.

 

[vanostav61]

Guys, at the moment I am fiddling with the CO2 trying to bring it up required level. I forgot to measure the PH swing today but will make sure to measure it tomorrow.

In the mean time I spotted this today.

That Anubias leaf did not look like this yesterday.

 

[vanostav61]

I measured the PH today, one hour before CO2 came on and it was 7.6 Then I measured again 4 hours after CO2 came on and it was 6.6, so looks like the CO2 is in range now.

 

[vanostav61]

Are you guys still with me? Is that Anubias leaf still showing signs of Potassium deficiency?

 

[vanostav61]

Today is the water change day.
Checked PO4, it was close to 1ppm bit higher than midweek.
Check NO3, it was between 10-20ppm.
TDS was 235ppm after last water change, today it was 275ppm. That's 40ppm increase during the week, I did replenish evaporated water with RO water before measuring.

I trimmed the Dwarf Saggitaria carpet, there was too much dead leaf decaying.

 

[xrayguy]

Ok, as scully said, leave some tank water out for 24 hours to find out what your pH baseline is. That will be the number you want your 1 point drop to be from.

Are you saying your TDS went up after the water change? or that it went up during the week?

 

[vanostav61]

Are you saying your TDS went up after the water change? or that it went up during the week?

TDS went up 40ppm during the week.

 

[vanostav61]

I've been seeing this happening with Ludwigia Repens for a while now. The leafs turn transparent and mushy and sometimes the whole stem will turn dark and mushy.

 

[xrayguy]

Ya, your dosing is off for sure. What are you dosing for fertilizers?