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hygrophila polysperma leaves curling

Aqua Hero

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Joined
8 May 2015
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272
hi i have hygrophilia growing in two tanks. the hygro in my 30 gallon is the one that has the curling leaves. the leaves at the bottom are straight and green same for the hygrophilia in the shade of the guggy grass. the leaves that are closer to the light seem to be affected.

for a few months i have kept things constant.

lights: dual t5HO (10000k and plant growth). they are set on a timer for 10 hrs
C02: 3 ml of excel every day
filter flow has been the same
water changes every 2 weeks (it has no fish)
temp: 82F in the day, 81F at night

the only thing that has changed really is that for two weeks now i havent been dosing my esha plant food because it ran out. but the hygro in the 8 gallon tank is in the same conditions except it lives in low light leds. i dont dose ferts anymore because it ran out but the hygro in there is doing fine.

could it be the lack of ferts or the high light?
 
High light, high duration, low excel dose, no ferts is a recipe for poor plant health and algae problems


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3 ml dosage of excel is the max i can do or i will be overdosing it. my plants seem to pearl alot after every water change even the weird leaves on the hygro look like they have crystals on them. the light isnt causing me any algae issues. i have no algae on the glass. the only algae i have is detritus but that isnt an issue cause my plants are still growing fine. the brown algae has stopped growing but im keeping it there for the shrimp or otocinclus to eat when i get them.

im not quite sure what you mean by "high duration" but i know not having ferts is a bad thing.
 
3 ml dosage of excel is the max i can do or i will be overdosing it. my plants seem to pearl alot after every water change even the weird leaves on the hygro look like they have crystals on them. the light isnt causing me any algae issues. i have no algae on the glass. the only algae i have is detritus but that isnt an issue cause my plants are still growing fine. the brown algae has stopped growing but im keeping it there for the shrimp or otocinclus to eat when i get them.

im not quite sure what you mean by "high duration" but i know not having ferts is a bad thing.
If you read the back of the excel bottle it says to up the dosage for a high light tank. I dose 10ml daily in my 60litre tank. I also inject co2. So my excel dosage is like 200% higher than yours.

High duration i mean the 10hour light schedule. Seems a lot to me

You have posted saying your plant is showing this problem. Therefore this plant is NOT healthy. This WILL open the door for algae


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could it be the lack of ferts or the high light?

This is really one and the same. If you have more light your plants will normally need more nutrients. All you need to do if you think its a deficiency is to just dose more.
 
wow okay lol. i will increase it to 12 ml and see what happens
 
I tested polysperma with my students using different primary macro deficiencies and the lack of potassium caused curling leaves. Didn't test secondary macros or micros, so the reason can naturally be somewhere there or with the lights/co2 levels. But that is just guessing.
 
okay where your coming from. but then can you explain to me why the leaves further away from the light and the other hygrophilia that are planted in shade look absolutely fine?
could it be that the leaves at the top are dealing with a higher intensity of light therefore need more nutrients?
 
also the hygrophilia in my other tank also dont get the ferts anymore but they grow to the top of the tank with no issues. the light is considerably lower too.
 
also the hygrophilia in my other tank also dont get the ferts anymore but they grow to the top of the tank with no issues. the light is considerably lower too.
Lower light the plant requires less ferts and co2.

This is basic plant theory.

More light, faster growth, higher demands for co2 and ferts

Less light, slower growth, lower demands for co2 and ferts


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okay where your coming from. but then can you explain to me why the leaves further away from the light and the other hygrophilia that are planted in shade look absolutely fine?
could it be that the leaves at the top are dealing with a higher intensity of light therefore need more nutrients?

Micro nutrient deficiencies affect newer leaves, which are normally the ones near the light...
Macros such as nitrate, potassium and phosphate affect older leaves first but a severe deficiency will make it's way to new growth with some.
For the curling leaves, I'd go with a dose of micro nutrients. Ideally you should be dosing both if using liquid carbon.
 
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