Nutrient deficiency or excess?

[MichaelJ]

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This was my tank after I returned from holiday last year. Actually apart from a few stem plants that grew like weeds, most of my plants only grew modestly. That led me to the realisation that if I removed more of the fast growing plants, I could have a longer interval between tank maintenance.... 😀

Geez @erwin123 thats pretty awesome ... how long did it sit unattended? 🙂

Cheers,
Michael

 

[_Maq_]

I've been maintaining my tanks pretty infrequently

Recently, I've been struggling with my health for almost two months. I do not neglect my tanks totally, but maintenance is limited & irregular.
I don't inject CO2, and due to winter, temperature in most of my tanks fell below 20 °C (in my bedroom tanks below 17 °C), and still, fast growers (Myriophyllum simulans, Tonina fluviatilis, Rotala wallichii, Ludwigia Meta) have overgrown. What would I do if I used CO2 and heated my tanks?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

This was my tank after I returned from holiday last year. Actually apart from a few stem plants that grew like weeds, most of my plants only grew modestly. That led me to the realisation that if I removed more of the fast growing plants, I could have a longer interval between tank maintenance...

and still, fast growers (Myriophyllum simulans, Tonina fluviatilis, Rotala wallichii, Ludwigia Meta) have overgrown. What would I do if I used CO2 and heated my tanks?

I only have "floating" stems now, it makes the <"occasional thin a lot easier">.

............ Even now I'm looking at Bolbitis heudelotii and "Susswassertang" (Lomariopsis lineata) and thinking that I could replace them with a slower growing alternative.......

cheers Darrel

 

[Matth22]

From their website, it seems the radeons are 95W

Interestingly they’re actually 60W. I have two pairs of these lights I’ve picked up second hand. These ones are the original XR15FW which were 60W, whereas the other pair are XR15FW G4 Pro which are 95W.

Saving the G4’s for a deep tank I have sat in my garage, and on this basis I’ve turned the intensity up to 70% and see how we fare with that.

 

[xZaiox]

Interestingly they’re actually 60W.

So that means you'd only have 30W of power in total in your tank - definitely insufficient.

Saving the G4’s for a deep tank I have sat in my garage, and on this basis I’ve turned the intensity up to 70% and see how we fare with that.

Good shout, I'm confident you'll likely see growth improvements from that. As you start feeling more confident, you can work your way up to 100% intensity on both lights, but I do think your 70% is a good starting point. Please let us know if the increased lighting ends up working, we love seeing success stories with follow-ups on this forum 🙂

 

[Matth22]

So that means you'd only have 30W of power in total in your tank - definitely insufficient.

Good shout, I'm confident you'll likely see growth improvements from that. As you start feeling more confident, you can work your way up to 100% intensity on both lights, but I do think your 70% is a good starting point. Please let us know if the increased lighting ends up working, we love seeing success stories with follow-ups on this forum 🙂

Well my ludwigia glandulosa looks happier already! Pretty sure you guys cracked it!! So much I’ve read talks about too much light intensity being the primary cause of algae, but I still feel a bit stupid that I’ve not been giving the tank enough light!

I figured 70% puts me at around 84 watts and just as you say is probably a good starting point.

I’ve also bought a TDS pen and it’s 490 out of the tap and just over 600 in the tank. I’m aware that the difference is likely ferts, but anything to be concerned about with these numbers?

 

[Matth22]

So that means you'd only have 30W of power in total in your tank - definitely insufficient.

Good shout, I'm confident you'll likely see growth improvements from that. As you start feeling more confident, you can work your way up to 100% intensity on both lights, but I do think your 70% is a good starting point. Please let us know if the increased lighting ends up working, we love seeing success stories with follow-ups on this forum 🙂

Well my ludwigia glandulosa looks happier already! Pretty sure you guys cracked it!!

I figured it needed to be higher than 50%, but thought a gentle ramp up from 70% might spare me some algae scrubbing

I’ve also bought a TDS pen and it’s 490 out of the tap and just over 600 in the tank. I’m aware that the difference is likely ferts, but anything to be concerned about with these numbers?

 

[xZaiox]

Well my ludwigia glandulosa looks happier already!

Great it's still very early days, but in 1-2 weeks you should know for sure whether light was the issue.

So much I’ve read talks about too much light intensity being the primary cause of algae, but I still feel a bit stupid that I’ve not been giving the tank enough light!

It's not your fault, I fell for the exact same thing when I started out. I think the issue, is that a lot of the people who claim that too much light causes algae are often either not using co2 or are using powerful lighting units themselves. Most commonly available lighting for aquarium plants will rarely be too much even on maximum settings. On the other hand, many aquarists from the past were using very strong T5 lighting units that could blast their plants with a lot of power. If you're using co2, your plants will be able to handle much more light. I think you will be fine to have your units on 100% intensity - although this will result in more maintenance (due to increased need for pruning).

For most people, all of this is kind of a trap IMO. Because insufficient lighting can cause algae due to unhealthy plant growth, people then think the lighting will further drive the algae, so they turn it down, thereby amplifying the problem. I personally think you can use the plants as your guide - some plants tend to change colour as the intensity increases. I.e hygrophila polysperma rosanervig can start becoming pink under high lighting. Many plants that are usually red (i.e ludwigia glandulosa) will often grow green when the lighting is inadequate. You can think of the more vibrant/red colour as a "sun tan".