Plant Deficiency

[AzzaM74]

Not sure what is going wrong here.

The plants are not growing well and new growth quickly show signs of defiencies.

Aquarium is C02 injected, TNC complete 20mls twice per week and 50% Water changes. 180L aqauarium with a single T5 light for around 7 hours per day.

Flow seems good as drop checker green at lights on

Do I need to add more fertilisers? I thought TNC complete would be enough.

 

[Edvet]

I would add more ferts and more plants ( even just cheap simple oxygenating pondplants) to improve stability, seems to lightly planted

 

[ceg4048]

Not sure what is going wrong here.

The plants are not growing well and new growth quickly show signs of defiencies.

Aquarium is C02 injected, TNC complete 20mls twice per week and 50% Water changes. 180L aqauarium with a single T5 light for around 7 hours per day.

Flow seems good as drop checker green at lights on

Do I need to add more fertilisers? I thought TNC complete would be enough.

View attachment 114614 View attachment 114615

Hello,
The damage appears to be Green Spot Algae (GSA).

GSA is caused by any combination pf poor CO2 and poor PO4.
As it turns out, over 90% of problems in a CO2 injected tank is actually poor CO2.
Plants not growing well almost always points to a CO2 shortfall.

I don't know how you arrived at the conclusion that just because your dropchecker is green then flow must be OK. Dropchecker turning green has absolutely nothing to do with flow being good or bad.

It is more than likely that the plants are telling you that flow/distribution is poor.

The good news is that the DC is green at lights on, so assuming the DC is configured properly you are on the right path, however, you do still need to perform a pH profile by taking pH measurements every hour or half hour from gas on to lights out to monitor the behavior of the gas.

Also it's not really clear how your filter outlet is arrange or what the rated flow of your filter is. We need to see photos of that.
Are the lights controllable? can you reduce their intensity? That's normally the first step in resolving an algal bloom.

Cheers,

 

[AzzaM74]

Thank you for your replies.

The fliter is rated 1400lph. I have a spraybar across the back and a mini pump in the aquarium (with the intention of improving flow). The lights are not controllable as it is a fixed 2 tube T5 fitting. I only have one tube running.

I have included a photo so you can see the arrangement (Just added more plants so ignore the healthly ones!!).

I don't really understand the PH profile..I'll do some research and re think my flow.

 

[rebel]

Also cut out the old leaves with algae .

Increase co2 slightly and observe. Forget the drop checker .

I think you are on the right track .

 

[ceg4048]

I have included a photo so you can see the arrangement (Just added more plants so ignore the healthly ones!!).

Hi,
I can see from the photo that the pump is pointing in the wrong direction. Instead of pointing it in the long direction, try mounting it on the back wall, midway between the end of the spraybar and the left wall, and pointing forward in the same direction as the jets from the spraybar.

In this way, the flows from both the spraybar and the pump will act in concert.

I don't really understand the PH profile..I'll do some research and re think my flow.

As I mentioned, a pH profile is done by simply taking measurements every hour or half hour from gas on to lights out.
Record the pH values and report back letting us know when the gas-ON and light-ON times.

Cheers,

 

[AzzaM74]

update..I carried out the PH profile and saw that it was not dropping much so changed the position of the diffuser and added another small pump to aid circulation (moved both to the back to complement the spraybar). Now I get a PH drop from 7.6 to 6.6 (roughly as using API test kit) before lights on and it is steady throughout the period. Only a few days in but plants responding well.

Fingers crossed but hopefully things will continue to improve.

Thank you all