My 60P tank over the last couple of years has suffered Iron & Manganese Deficiency due to my hard water (GH 13, KH 8, Aquarium PH before co2 7.6, PH degassed 8.0-8.1, after Co2 6.8-6.9). A photo of my deficiency issues that I can induce freely. 
I have got to a point where I have overcome the deficiency issues enough to grow a limited amount of plants via Full EI dosing (APT EI) and dosing DTPA + EDDHA + sechem iron + Manganese on alternative days. I found certain plants would grow (especially those that liked hardwater) and others would stunt such as Rotala, or struggle a bit such as Ludwigia Super Red.
A couple of weeks ago I did a full rescape, that included replacing my aquasoil (tropica). I have reduced APT EI dosing by half as there is less plant mass, but continued dosing iron & manganese. I had noticed that my previous plants that I had put into this new scape were now looking more healthier than ever, with the myriophyllum mattogrossense taking on a stronger shape, ludwigia super red growing less leggy and even Rotala Orange not stunting (yet). Today I had to trim the mattogrossense and was very suprised when I felt how strong the plant was, this has always been a very delicate plant for me, that had to be handled with care so not to damage it, whereas now it felt super strong, healthy and easy to re-plant stems.
So I decided to check my water parameters, and it appears the aquasoil (and wood??) have reduced my KH to 6. I am coming to the conclusion this is the reason for the plants improvement and wondering if other people here would agree. I used to have seiryu stone at one point in the previous scape and that caused my KH to rise to 10, and once I removed it and my KH reduced to 8, I found improvement in plant health, hence starting to come to the same conclusion. This buffering effect, I assume will slip away over the coming weeks / months, with my KH creeping back up.
With this in mind, I am thinking of cutting my water with 50% RO, with the hope, this will keep my KH in the lower levels and help with the plant health. In my thoughts I am thinking, the hassle of cutting the tap water with RO, may reward me in better plant health, which I have healthy plants = less algae. Will this slightly reduce my PH also, so I don't have to dose the iron anymore.
Any thoughts would be great 🙂
I have got to a point where I have overcome the deficiency issues enough to grow a limited amount of plants via Full EI dosing (APT EI) and dosing DTPA + EDDHA + sechem iron + Manganese on alternative days. I found certain plants would grow (especially those that liked hardwater) and others would stunt such as Rotala, or struggle a bit such as Ludwigia Super Red.
A couple of weeks ago I did a full rescape, that included replacing my aquasoil (tropica). I have reduced APT EI dosing by half as there is less plant mass, but continued dosing iron & manganese. I had noticed that my previous plants that I had put into this new scape were now looking more healthier than ever, with the myriophyllum mattogrossense taking on a stronger shape, ludwigia super red growing less leggy and even Rotala Orange not stunting (yet). Today I had to trim the mattogrossense and was very suprised when I felt how strong the plant was, this has always been a very delicate plant for me, that had to be handled with care so not to damage it, whereas now it felt super strong, healthy and easy to re-plant stems.
So I decided to check my water parameters, and it appears the aquasoil (and wood??) have reduced my KH to 6. I am coming to the conclusion this is the reason for the plants improvement and wondering if other people here would agree. I used to have seiryu stone at one point in the previous scape and that caused my KH to rise to 10, and once I removed it and my KH reduced to 8, I found improvement in plant health, hence starting to come to the same conclusion. This buffering effect, I assume will slip away over the coming weeks / months, with my KH creeping back up.
With this in mind, I am thinking of cutting my water with 50% RO, with the hope, this will keep my KH in the lower levels and help with the plant health. In my thoughts I am thinking, the hassle of cutting the tap water with RO, may reward me in better plant health, which I have healthy plants = less algae. Will this slightly reduce my PH also, so I don't have to dose the iron anymore.
Any thoughts would be great 🙂
... the fish and plants appeared to be happy though.
