[du3ce]

plants like wallichi or p. erectus, fine stems leaves. They keep turning brown and covered in algae.

 

[Subtletanks91]

High tech tank. Ei or pps pro dosing. Lighting. Substrate. Co2. Any details you can provide to help us help you would be great

 

[du3ce]

ei dosing medium light, 3 light fixtures(1 led, 1 dual t5, 1 dual t8 with 12000k bulbs these only go on for 3 hrs, diy co2, playsand substrate.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi du3ce,

Subtletanks91 is correct, the more information you can provide the better, it will help us make an educated guess. If you can include any information about PH, dKH, and dGH it would be appreciated as well.

Here is a 10 gallon, low light (PAR=25), non-co2 tank that I dosed a modified version of the Estimative Index (EI) of ferts along with Excel (actually glutaraldehyde). The PH was 7.0, the dKH was 1.0 (very soft), and the dGH was 2.0 (also very soft). Hope this helps! The Pogostemon erectus is in the left corner, the fine leaf stem in the middle is Rotala 'Bangladesh'.

 

[HybridHerp]

I have trouble with P. erectus as well....perhaps its something with the GH/KH?

 

[du3ce]

ph is about 7.2 i dont have tests for the other readings

 

[Subtletanks91]

My guess would be the substrate. I had myne in my old 55 with floramax and its basically an inert substrate that acts like carbon. I taking nutrients through the dosing and when there aren't nutrients in the water column it released them. My wallichi never grew but survived. As soon as I switched to amazonia it took off and grew like a weed like cobamba. But then again I could be wrong. With that lighting you should be at high light. You can have a very dim lit tank and still have a high par value. Lumens is what we can see in light not what the plants use. Just some info. Mt bml fixture for example. Dutch 6300k. 90* spread. Looks very dim. Yet it enable my glosso to grow evenly carpeting without having to trim stragley upward stems. And gets my plants rwdder than my finnex epoch 26w 10k which was extremely bright.

Sorry foe the rant. But imho its the substrate.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

ph is about 7.2 i dont have tests for the other readings

Hi du3ce,

Rotala wallichii is from southeast Asia and likes soft acidic water; Pogostemon erectus is from western India where they get a lot of rain during the monsoon season so I suspect it is a softer water species as well.

To improve my chances for success I try to provide my plants with conditions similar to which they are naturally adapted. To do so I test PH (API test kit); dKH (API test kit); and dGH (Sera test kit) all on a monthly basis and adjust my levels as best I can.

75 gallon 4 weeks since planting

 

[du3ce]

i see, i dont want to mess with my water parameters too much since my discus are used to the water i have right now

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi du3ce,

I believe that Discus are native to the Amazon River (and tributaries) and do very well in soft water.

 

[du3ce]

All my discus are domestic they are prob bred in close to hard water parameter

 

[Subtletanks91]

Still being domestic bred or not certain species retain the need for more acidic or alkaline water. African cichlids need there ph high even bred in captive just as apistos from South America need acidic water for best lifespan, breed ability and overal health. The same goes with most plants prefer more acidic values. I would aim to drop the ph down below 7. The other good thing is if there ever is ammonia in a ph below 7 is that it is not harmful whatsoever. Non gas form I believe it's ionic. If I remember correctly.

All you have to do is put peat granules in a nylon stocking and then into a filter or heavy flow area of the tank. Very easy. Beneficial for plants and fish alike.

 

[du3ce]

Ok I will have to try that where do I buy peat? Can I put it in my can filter?