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Growth Advice

C

cyclo

New Member
Joined
10 Jul 2019
Messages
5
Location
UK
Greetings, I have recently got back into this hobby after a 10 year absence.

Before I get into my issues here are my relevant tank specs and fertiliser regime:
  • Tank: Aqua Nano 40 (55 L)
  • Lighting: Twinstar 300c (8 hour duration)
  • Substrate: Eco Complete
  • Fertiliser: 1 ml TNC Complete daily (2 ml after 50% weekly water change)
  • CO2: 3 ml Easy Carbo
When I first started up again I was only dosing Seachem Frourish and no macro whatsoever, I then noticed holes beginning to appear in my hydrocotyle tripartita & hygrophila polysperma and slow/no growth in pretty much every other plant. I first thought it was snails eating my plants but soon realised they do not eat live plants. I eventually diagnosed the issue as a potassium deficiency, at which point I switched to TNC complete and all new leaves started to look nice and healthy once more.

I am now seeing shrivelled growth in my polysperma, but not all leaves seem to be affected, I have also recently lowered the light as close to the water surface as possible as I'm not having much luck with my dwarf hairgrass - very slow/non-existent growth, although the Hemianthus callitrichoides is beginning to take off.

Do you think my issue could be a liquid CO2 one? Perhaps under dosing or the need for real CO2?
Is the Twinstar 300c classed as high light for a 40 cm high tank?

I have tried to capture some pictures of the issues I am having.

IMG_20190710_210444.jpg IMG_20190710_210450.jpg IMG_20190710_210503.jpg IMG_20190710_210432.jpg

Thanks in advance,
 
I'm not sure about the paleness as I don't know really how they are supposed to look. The shrivelling is happened to new growth.

Maybe these pictures will help, the holes in the leaves is down to what i think was a potassium deficiency, but I think I've resolved that.

IMG_20190711_174956.jpg IMG_20190711_192806.jpg
 
Dose more ferts, don't try to rush the hairgrass, more light means higher nutrient demand. You might not have sufficient co2 in system to allow higher light levels. The doses on the fert bottle are guidelines, you have lots of plant mass, don't be afraid to feed them a bit more.
Do you live in a hard or soft water area? I presume your using tap water for water changes? You may have deficiencies in calcium or magnesium /iron.
Like Darrel said, in some pics the plants look yellow/pale green is this an accurate representation of the color?
 
I have started to dose 1.5 ml of TNC complete and 4 ml of Easy Carbo (Is 4 ml too much? I keep reading conflicting info on 'liquid co2' dosage). I have also moved the lights higher up.
I live in a soft water area. I've actually just ordered my self a KH & GH test kit as I've been considering the possibility that I have calcium deficiency.
I think may the paleness may just be the light/camera, but I can't really tell. What does paleness signify a lack of?
 
If the leaf edges are pale this could be calcium deficiency, I don't know anything about liquid co2 I'm afraid, I would probably be reluctant to overdose that stuff from what I have heard about it. I'm sure one of the others would know more about safe levels.
Try adding 5ml a day of ferts for a week and see what happens. I didn't think there would be too many areas of the UK that would be calcium deficient, but I guess it's possible. I'd eliminate ferts as an issue first by simply dosing more. GH booster is cheap though.
I get the feeling higher dosing is frowned on these days, so if the philosophy has changed since I've been away, apologies.
 
Search online for your local area water report, it will tell you more or less the contents of your tap water, the reports should be found on your local water authority website. Most of it won't be relevant but it should tell you the calcium content in mg/l. I have lots of calcium in my water so I don't know at what levels it would have to be at to be deficient. My water for example contains no magnesium, which is generally more the case in the UK.
 
Sorry to spam the thread, but, to be clear if you want higher growth rates as well then you may have to go down the route of injected co2. it isn't strictly necessary providing you are content with slower healthy growth. The downside to injecting co2 is the cost associated with flow rates and injection methods and ongoing co2. It is beneficial but not always strictly necessary providing you stick to plants that grow well in those conditions. More light means more co2 and nutrients, to simplify, if anything but light is limiting you start to run into trouble, it's not quite that simple but it's a good place to start.
Ok, I'm done now.
 
Thanks for the advice. I did include a link to my water area report (it's in green). Calcium is 10mg, but I don't know if that's high or low.
 
Last edited:
Hi all,
cyclo said:
I did include a link to my water area report (it's in green). Calcium is 10mg, but I don't know if that's high or low.
Click to expand...
You have really, really soft water.

That makes iron (Fe) deficiency fairly unlikely, but you have very little calcium (Ca) or magnesium (Mg).

Have a look at <"James' Planted Tank">, it gives some figure for adding dKH and dGH.

cheers Darrel
 
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