aaron.c
Member
You are not wrong, it can be so disheartening.
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No idea what to do - poor plant health and algae
- Thread starter greenbliss
- Start date
Hi all,
I have made up my own in the past (<"mainly for work">) but now I just use a <"terrestrial fertiliser mix">, fed via the <"Duckweed Index">.
I have lean dosing and very weedy tanks so I'm not overly worried about <"using fertilisers containing urea">.
cheers Darrel
I know what you mean, I would cry if I had to buy <"liquid fertiliser">. If you feel happy using dry salts it is a lot cheaper.
I have made up my own in the past (<"mainly for work">) but now I just use a <"terrestrial fertiliser mix">, fed via the <"Duckweed Index">.
I have lean dosing and very weedy tanks so I'm not overly worried about <"using fertilisers containing urea">.
cheers Darrel
greenbliss
Member
I know this will sound completely made up, and I'm not true if this actually happened, but I feel like the plants are already a little bit more green after bumping the light up a few days ago. I really feel like it made a difference.
Parablennius
Member
If you would like some floating Ceratopteris, PM me. I need to remove some.
greenbliss
Member
Thanks for the offer but I have already sourced some plants from some local aquarists. These include Frogbit and some Hornwort plus Elodea.
I also ordered some Hygrophila and Dwarf Tiger lotus online, as well as more Helanthium and Sagittaria. I got all of the plants for a good price on ebay so I'm quite glad.
greenbliss
Member
Hi everyone. Just a little update.
I recently tested the TDS of my RO/DI filter output water. It was almost 30. Way too high. I ordered some new prefilters plus D.I resin and will see if that helps improve the plant health. Previously, when I used my tap water, nothing would grow at all and fish would constantly die. Now that I use RO water I don't really have constant fish deaths at all.
I recently tested the TDS of my RO/DI filter output water. It was almost 30. Way too high. I ordered some new prefilters plus D.I resin and will see if that helps improve the plant health. Previously, when I used my tap water, nothing would grow at all and fish would constantly die. Now that I use RO water I don't really have constant fish deaths at all.
Heresy? Light is life.
greenbliss
Member
New plants planted. Hygrophila, Helanthium and Sagittaria... They Hygrophila and Sagittaria were meant to be submersed grown but they don't quite look like it.. Oh well. I won't complain if the plants grow well.
I also changed the DI resin and prefilters in my RODI unit. I am now getting 1ppm at the output which I am quite glad of. Means I don't need to replace the membrane yet.
The prefilter has not been changed since I got the unit about 2 years ago. I didn't even realise it looked like a filter sponge that hasn't been cleaned for 2 months.
John q
Member
The tanks looking a lot better than it did at the start of this thread, onwards and upwards 👍
greenbliss
Member
I do have some Frogbit in there which should multiply quite fast. If any end up floating up I'll just probably end up leaving them.
aaron.c
Member
Where in the country are you?
I’m in Manchester. Our water is super soft and I found that was a problem for plants and shrimp. I had to add crushed Coral to filter to get some buffering capacity. Mad ph swings without it
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I’m in Manchester. Our water is super soft and I found that was a problem for plants and shrimp. I had to add crushed Coral to filter to get some buffering capacity. Mad ph swings without it
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
greenbliss
Member
Northern area of Northumberland. Our water here is crap. It's beyond messed up. Fish would die constantly and without reason, usually after water changes. I heard someone who lived in the same house as me and kept fish also had the same issue over 15 years ago.
aaron.c
Member
Our TDS out of the tap is less than 30 - there is nothing in our water. I run a BwT filter on coffee machine to add some minerals in.
Are you re-mineralising your ro water?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Are you re-mineralising your ro water?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
greenbliss
Member
Yeah I'm pretty sure the remineraliser recipe is on the original post. If not I will update soon.
greenbliss
Member
Hi everyone. The tank has hit a bit of plateau but overall things are getting better. All plants other than Anubias and Java fern are now sending out new, albeit stunted leaves. The Amazon sword is in active growth and growing quite fast. New leaves of any type are not instantly getting covered in algae anymore so fingers crossed.
New growth on the word looking good. A bit pale but that's fine as the plant is finally actively growing.
Crypts are looking a lot better and less covered in algae. New growth is stunted but healthy. Luckily the leaves seem to be getting bigger.
Hygrophila is actively growing and doesn't look unhealthy so I'm happy with that. Java fern also looks a lot cleaner but I'm not sure if it is in active growth yet.
Frogbit looks OK. The photo turned out yellow but they aren't really that yellow, they are quite green and growing readily. Not a nice dark green but acceptable considering they aren't dying.
The dwarf water lily bulb has been chewed on by the Laetacara a bit. Some of the new leaves on my Cryptocoryne and Helanthium have similar damage and I wonder if that is why some of the plants were having issues. The new leaves are coming out already deformed so I'm wondering if something has been nibbling at the actual crown of the plant. One C. Usteriana leaf even grew out with just the bottom part of the leaf attached to the petiole and not much else.
Overall I can't complain as for a tank to recover and for the plants to make all the necessary adjustments to their chemistry etc to suit the new conditions probably takes a while. I'm a lot happier with the tank now.
New growth on the word looking good. A bit pale but that's fine as the plant is finally actively growing.
Crypts are looking a lot better and less covered in algae. New growth is stunted but healthy. Luckily the leaves seem to be getting bigger.
Hygrophila is actively growing and doesn't look unhealthy so I'm happy with that. Java fern also looks a lot cleaner but I'm not sure if it is in active growth yet.
Frogbit looks OK. The photo turned out yellow but they aren't really that yellow, they are quite green and growing readily. Not a nice dark green but acceptable considering they aren't dying.
The dwarf water lily bulb has been chewed on by the Laetacara a bit. Some of the new leaves on my Cryptocoryne and Helanthium have similar damage and I wonder if that is why some of the plants were having issues. The new leaves are coming out already deformed so I'm wondering if something has been nibbling at the actual crown of the plant. One C. Usteriana leaf even grew out with just the bottom part of the leaf attached to the petiole and not much else.
Overall I can't complain as for a tank to recover and for the plants to make all the necessary adjustments to their chemistry etc to suit the new conditions probably takes a while. I'm a lot happier with the tank now.
greenbliss
Member
I am adding 10ppm nitrate, 2ppm P and around 6ppm of K per dose. Tank is also dirted and I pop in some root tabs in some areas.
PARAGUAY
Member
Looks ĺike you have made some good progress. Dont be bothered about trimming big java fern leaves new ones will form
greenbliss
Member
The Frogbit is unfortunately on its way out. I wonder if it might not be getting enough light since the LED is quite directional. Would it be worth switching to a low powered fluorescent lighting fixture so that the floating plants get enough light?