# Suspected lighting issue



## aaronf (8 Sep 2021)

Tank - 90L, EI dose tank, CO2 injected.

Hello all, I'm having some issues with fast growing stems and wondered if anyone has any input.

So all other plants that I have in this Scape are growing well... The Amazon sword, moss, red Lilly and red root floaters. I however think my stems are looking much worse for ware (small leaves and rotting from the bottom).

I initial attributed this to them being uprooted frequently by the plec but now I'm not so sure... It's been a few weeks and if anything they look worse. I wish I had taken a picture before I trimmed them but essentially they look better when they reach the surface, but when I trim to encourage bushing the remaining piece rots away. The rotala in particular looks incredibly thin.

I wonder if it's a lighting issue - the RRF were multiplying really quite crazily so I have thinned it out. The other question is ... Do I have adequate lighting? I have a nicrew skyled plus.

FWIW I think my CO2 is adequate (lime green and 1 pH drop). I tried higher but I killed some shrimp 🍤.






Random shrimp moulting mage because I think it was cool.


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## X3NiTH (8 Sep 2021)

You need to increase water flow to the areas with poorer growth, the growth on the left side of the tank under the spray bar actually looks ok, the stems not under the spray bar aren’t getting enough flow to them, this can be evidenced by the massive intact ball of Phylanthus above this area. Circulate the water more.


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## aaronf (8 Sep 2021)

X3NiTH said:


> You need to increase water flow to the areas with poorer growth, the growth on the left side of the tank under the spray bar actually looks ok, the stems not under the spray bar aren’t getting enough flow to them, this can be evidenced by the massive intact ball of Phylanthus above this area. Circulate the water more.


Okay, I will make some changes to the flow!


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## erwin123 (9 Sep 2021)

aaronf said:


> Tank - 90L, EI dose tank, CO2 injected.
> 
> I initial attributed this to them being uprooted frequently by the plec but now I'm not so sure... It's been a few weeks and if anything they look worse. I wish I had taken a picture before I trimmed them but essentially they look better when they reach the surface, but when I trim to encourage bushing the remaining piece rots away. The rotala in particular looks incredibly thin.
> 
> ...






Rotalas actually grow ok in my no CO2/desk lamp/lean dosing tank so I agree with the others the culprit should be circulation.

On the left are my Rotala Blood Reds and on the right, where there is even less light, you can see some stems of Rotala H'ra.


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## MichaelJ (9 Sep 2021)

erwin123 said:


> View attachment 174077
> Rotalas actually grow ok in my no CO2/desk lamp/lean dosing tank so I agree with the others the culprit should be circulation.
> 
> On the left are my Rotala Blood Reds and on the right, where there is even less light, you can see some stems of Rotala H'ra.


@erwin123  Nice job on the Rotala... never had much luck with those in my low-tech tanks. You must have hit a sweet spot! 

Cheers,
Michael


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## ceg4048 (10 Sep 2021)

aaronf said:


> but when I trim to encourage bushing the remaining piece rots away. The rotala in particular looks incredibly thin.


Always suspect poor CO2. You'll have a better than 90% chance of being right. 
As X3nith mentions, adjust the flow. As the plants gain more mass they require more CO2 and at the same time they are blocking each other by their growth. You may require a more robust flow technique to ameliorate this issue, such as the addition of an auxiliary pump (Koralia or equivalent).

Cheers,


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