Problem with Lagenandra Meeboldii 'Pink'

[jaypeecee]

Hi Folks,

I am having a problem with Lagenandra Meeboldii 'Pink'. Although it is growing and many of the leaves are fine, it frequently develops holes in the leaves, which then wither and disintegrate. It is planted into the substrate. Lighting is bright but I can't quantify that in terms of PAR. CO2 is around 30ppm after stabilization. I have a Flourish Tab in the substrate near the base of the plant. Alkalinity/KH is 4.5dH and GH is 9.5dH. Water temperature is 27C and pH is 7.0 - 7.2. The tank is 125 litres and has a healthy community of fish. Good water movement is maintained by an external filter in combination with an internal circulation pump.

What am I doing wrong?

JPC

 

[Siege]

So many variables

27 is HOT.

What are your other plants doing?

What lights do you have? Lighting regime?

Liquid ferts?

What is the substrate?

What’s the filter and powerhead?

Ignore the co2 chart.
What’s your diffuser?
What colour is your drop checker?
Co2 timing regime?

Questions questions.......

Ps. A pic of your tank as a whole will help.

 

[tam]

I'm growing it happily in low tech, no added CO2, in a fairly low flow area, with low lighting - if that helps cross out some variables.

 

[jaypeecee]

So many variables

27 is HOT.

What are your other plants doing?

What lights do you have? Lighting regime?

Liquid ferts?

What is the substrate?

What’s the filter and powerhead?

Ignore the co2 chart.
What’s your diffuser?
What colour is your drop checker?
Co2 timing regime?

Questions questions.......

Ps. A pic of your tank as a whole will help.

Hi Siege,

Thanks for your reply.

I have come to the conclusion that I don't have enough CO2 in the tank.

JPC

 

[jaypeecee]

I'm growing it happily in low tech, no added CO2, in a fairly low flow area, with low lighting - if that helps cross out some variables.

Hi tam,

Very interesting. Yes, it does help to cross out some variables.

Thanks,

JPC

 

[alto]

I have come to the conclusion that I don't have enough CO2 in the tank.

The Tropica cultivar has a low CO2 demand, further you mention 30ppm CO2, so I’d be surprised if CO2 was lacking ... though I suppose you might have very high light???
eg Giesemann MH T5 etc combined luminaire
or a couple of AI Hydra HD LEDs

 

[jaypeecee]

The Tropica cultivar has a low CO2 demand, further you mention 30ppm CO2, so I’d be surprised if CO2 was lacking ... though I suppose you might have very high light???
eg Giesemann MH T5 etc combined luminaire
or a couple of AI Hydra HD LEDs

Hi alto,

Thanks for the reply.

I have the AquaFleur cultivar but it probably has the same requirements as the one from Tropica. Yes, my note about 30ppm CO2 needs further qualification. As I said, this is after stabilization. But my tank takes several hours to get to 30ppm. Here are some more details:

1 CO2 bubble rate is around 40 bubbles per minute.
2 CO2 comes on at 1000 and goes off at 1900.
3 Lights come on at 1100 then ramp up to max. at 1200. Then stays at that level until 1930 at which ramps down to zero.
4 I have a Bazooka atomizer releasing the CO2 into the tank.
5 In order to measure CO2, I have a drop checker and I also use the JBL Direct CO2 Test Kit. The latter enables me to take instant measurements of dissolved CO2. The lag associated with drop checkers is beyond frustrating. I am able to make up the drop checker at different KH values and, of course, the reagent is bromothymol blue. I do not use the tank water.
6 I aim to keep loss of CO2 from the water surface to a minimum (gentle agitation).
7 The external filter is an Eheim Ecce Pro 130 and the circulation pump is an Eheim streamON+ 2000 set to maximum flow (2000 l/h).
8 Lighting is a BML LED custom design (30W if I remember rightly). I run it at a 60% light output setting).

JPC