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Unhealthy plants!

Hi Victor
Why are you aiming for a target of 100ppm Co2?
30 to 35ppm is the norm for a Green drop checker!
hoggie
I don't think he is aiming for 100ppm CO2, his concern is that his plants aren't looking healthy even when his DC's are telling him that he has more than sufficient CO2.
 
Hi
Could be he has low magnesium....or emersed plants changing to submerged!
Do you add Mgso4 to your EI Macro mix?
On another point!
What I cant get my head around how do you measure out 276.3 milligrams of Bicarbonate soda?
Is that not 0.28 of a gram?
hoggie
 
First...you are using two different style drop checkers this could have a bearing on the result!
Secondly the first picture looks as though you have 615ppm Co2 according to the chart!
If you are using 20dkh water?
What water are you using to make up the dkh solutions?
No, it seems I have about 150 ppm of CO2. The 20 dkh drop checker is green and the 8 dkh DC is almost yellow. Look at the chart left side and compare it's colours. It makes sence?

If you are using 20dkh water?
What water are you using to make up the dkh solutions?
Well I just take 1 L water from my tap that is very soft and have added 615 mg of baking soda to it. I have a very precise balance here to measure this quantity. So the result will 1 L of 20,5 dkh water. (The correct would be use RO water but as my tap water is very soft there are very little diferences). And to make the 8,58 dkh water, we need just add 257 mg of baking soda to 1 L of RO water or very soft water.

Hi Victor
Why are you aiming for a target of 100ppm Co2?
30 to 35ppm is the norm for a Green drop checker!
Exactly. Because I was using roughly 70 ppm of CO2 and my plants was still showing symptoms of CO2 deficience. Just look at page 1 the pictures that show my rotalas glassy and leggy. So to try to solve this, I'm keeping a huge amount of CO2 now. As you can see, approxymately 150 ppm.
 
I don't think he is aiming for 100ppm CO2, his concern is that his plants aren't looking healthy even when his DC's are telling him that he has more than sufficient CO2.
Actually my plants never stop to show symptoms related to CO2 deficiences. Even at more than 70 ppm as I said before. So now I'm aiming for more than 100 ppm to try to see a improvement.

Could be he has low magnesium....or emersed plants changing to submerged!
Do you add Mgso4 to your EI Macro mix?
No, the rotalas is 100 % in a submerged form. Yes, I do. I add 100 g MgSO4 + 7H2O to my 1 L solution which means that each 100 mL dose provides 3,3 ppm of Mg to my tank.
 
What I cant get my head around how do you measure out 276.3 milligrams of Bicarbonate soda?
Is that not 0.28 of a gram?
Yes, it is. I use a balance that measure milligrams with a great precision.
 
Guys, I'm getting crazy now! It's only CO2 that causes glassy leaves and leggy plants? If not, what would be the others causes?
 
Hi Victor!
I have used RO water before to make up dkh 4 water and the readings never came out consistently!
Saying that it was a 3 stage RO unit!
I used Di-ionised water eventually.
Members have reported that using a 4 stage RO unit to produce 4dkh water a while back but I can't remember the outcome.
What colour is the drop checker before you install it into the aquarium!
 
Guys, I'm getting crazy now! It's only CO2 that causes glassy leaves and leggy plants? If not, what would be the others causes?
Flow and lack of light!
hoggie
 
What colour is the drop checker before you install it into the aquarium!
I didn't remember. I need to do a test. If I take both drop checkers and shake they a lot I'll reach the inicial color?
 
Your Co2 and flow could be fine as you seem to have a high ppm. Could just be old parts of the plant that didnt have enough co2 when they were growing. Just keep things stable and wait.
 
My plants could be suffering with O2 lack? It's possible?

Dont think so really. In a high tech tank you produce loads of O2 during the day. At night O2 is lower but Id expect the bacteria to suffer not the plants directly. If bacteria suffer you might have ammonia spikes and algae but not what you are seeing. This shouldnt happen if you have a bit of surface movement on your water. Havent you seen any improvement at all? If not, dont overthink it so much and leave for a few days. Just apply EI the right way.
 
Guys, it's better I turn on the CO2 4 hours before the lights on and turn it off 2 hours before to lights off or turn on 3 hours before and turn off 1 hour before?
 
Turn on what ever hours necessary to get the drop checker the required colour at lights on (usually 1-2 hours) and off 1 hour before lights off is fine. Obviously if your CO2 injection/distribution is good, then 1 hour early may be all that is necessary. No point using gas if not needed.
 
Turn on what ever hours necessary to get the drop checker the required colour at lights on (usually 1-2 hours) and off 1 hour before lights off is fine. Obviously if your CO2 injection/distribution is good, then 1 hour early may be all that is necessary. No point using gas if not needed.
I was doing all wrong! I was turn on the gas 6 hours before the lights on and turn it off 4 hours before the lights off :wideyed:
 
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