Monte Carlo Carpet Problem

Not best quality pic, sorry.

Please help ID deficiencies, my Monte Carlo seems to be shedding leaves. Pinholes, and lower parts of carpet dying off. Picture makes it look greener than it actually is (carpet is overdue for a trim).

Using Easy Green Nano fertilizer once a week.

 

Looks like it’s yellowing and has a tiny bit of algae. There is a section in the forum all about definencys

 

-Mak- thoughts?

 

Is this the 2 gallon? If I remember correctly it has controsoil?

 

Is this the 2 gallon? If I remember correctly it has controsoil?

Yep, the shrimp tank

 

Try giving it a trim

 

Try giving it a trim

Should I dose twice a week instead of just once?

 

Personally I would switch to thrive over easy green in terms of ferts, better balance of macros. Though the controsoil should help, better off with thrive.

Depending on the other plants in tank and lighting/co2 you might need to dose more frequently, but I would try giving it a trim first. Do you have a pic of the whole tank?

 

The pinhole pattern of necroses on the tip of the leaf in the bottom-right (which I assume to be older growth) is characteristic of potassium deficiency: K is remobilised from mature growth in order to furnish newer growth.

But this could well be a red herring: necroses in older growth that are the result of potassium deficiency may be induced by other factors, such as excess nitrate and sodium (Ashley, Grant and Gabov, 2005). Likewise, inadequate nitrate can also inhibit K concentration in the substrate, which is more of an issue for lower layers of older (sometimes newer) growth that receives less water circulation (YanaI et al., 1996).

Because Easy Green is very low in nitrates and phosphates, it might be an issue in that respect. Your suggestion of upping the dose to two times a week sounds good. Likewise Joceyln's recommendation of Thrive is excellent as well.

 

The pinhole pattern of necroses on the tip of the leaf in the bottom-right (which I assume to be older growth) is characteristic of potassium deficiency: K is remobilised from mature growth in order to furnish newer growth.

But this could well be a red herring: necroses in older growth that are the result of potassium deficiency may be induced by other factors, such as excess nitrate and sodium (Ashley, Grant and Gabov, 2005). Likewise, inadequate nitrate can also inhibit K concentration in the substrate, which is more of an issue for lower layers of older (sometimes newer) growth that receives less water circulation (YanaI et al., 1996).

Because Easy Green is very low in nitrates and phosphates, it might be an issue in that respect. Your suggestion of upping the dose to two times a week sounds good. Likewise Joceyln's recommendation of Thrive is excellent as well.

It appears to be a mix of old and new growth affected, with leaves turning white/yellowish, pinholes, and some necrosis.

I want to switch over to Thrive S but my tank is only two gallons. One pump of S treats 5 gallons. It's 500ml bottles, would cutting it 50/50 with distilled water in a 1 liter pump bottle be OK? Also, are any ingredients in Thrive photosensitive?

 

Thrive is best kept in dark bottles, mostly for the iron. When dosing into smaller tanks you would want to use an oral syringe... ie if the nilo dispenses 2ml as dose for 5 gal, just shy of 1ml would be the dose.

A full tank shot would really help in figuring out if it is an actual deficiency or just in need of a trim

 

Thrive is best kept in dark bottles, mostly for the iron. When dosing into smaller tanks you would want to use an oral syringe... ie if the nilo dispenses 2ml as dose for 5 gal, just shy of 1ml would be the dose.

A full tank shot would really help in figuring out if it is an actual deficiency or just in need of a trim

Unfortunately I'm at work and won't be home until 8:30pm (currently 9:15am my time). I'll try to get a good picture of it tonight.

 

I want to switch over to S but my tank is only two gallons. One pump of S treats 5 gallons. It's 500ml bottles, would cutting it 50/50 with in a 1 liter pump bottle be OK? Also, are any ingredients in Thrive photosensitive?

Diluting it with distilled water won't cause any issues.

All chelates (whether EDTA, DTPA, EDDHA, etc.) undergo photodegradation to some degree. Easy Green's All-In-One, from what I remember, uses an EDTA iron chelate.

Storing it in an opaque or minimally transparent bottle will also mitigate this, and it'll also help to prevent mould from growing.

 

Well it seems like Minnowette and Jocelyn have it handled, but trimming + upping the dose is what I would have said as well. If you don't want to dilute the Thrive, you can use a syringe. 1 pump is 2 mL, so you'd need 0.8 mL per dose

 

Got home later than expected, I'll post pictures tomorrow.

 

Honestly don’t drive yourself nuts for it, but from what I can see in the photo above it’s time for a trim either way. The current photo would help if there is a deficiency, but in either case a trim is needed and may help to correct you issues vs chasing ferts (keep in mind I’m a 1000% EI person, rarely ever say something besides “more ferts” )
But just my experience with carpets, this is how I would describe any of mine when they come do for trimming

 

Sorry for forgetting to post, hope these help

 

So I hacked it back pretty aggressively... hopefully that's not a bad thing. Also see quite a bit of spot algae on the carpet. Suggestions for treatment and preventing further algae issues?

 

I would just not feed the shrimp for a little bit and let hem take care of trhm