Multiple Plants With Deficiencies

HI everyone! I need help on figuring out some deficiencies in my aquarium. First I’ll get you my parameters: nitrate 30ish, nitrite/ammonia 0, and ph is 8.2 currently. Gh is 3 kh 6.
I’m about fed up with them. I’m not achieving the light/fert balance. Osmocote root tabs every two months. Dosing 3 pumps nilocg thrive once a week, iron 2ml twice a week and 1ml excel daily. Lighting is the 17w t8 24” that came with the tank and I’ve got one 9w-800 lumen lamp for extra light. Comments and help are appreciated. Sorry that’s all the info I have.







38 gal aquarium 21” deep

 

I really don’t see any noticeable deficiencies. Those plants look great based in the pics. Full disclaimer I am still rather new at the planted tanks and fishkeeping in general.

 

Wow, really want to know what's going on. I'm having plant weirdness but nothing like yours. Is it a dirtied tank?

 

Wow, really want to know what's going on. I'm having plant weirdness but nothing like yours. Is it a dirtied tank?

It’s not a dirted tank I wish it were.

 

My water is really hard. What's yours?

 

I really don’t see any noticeable deficiencies. Those plants look great based in the pics. Full disclaimer I am still rather new at the planted tanks and fishkeeping in general.

Maybe the pics aren’t clear enough.
1st the crypt has issues with outside leaves yellowing and falling off. 2nd pic stem plant is missing a bunch leaves. 3rd pic tiger lotus is getting pinholes. 4th pic amazon sword leaves are tearing or falling off at the base of the plant. 5th is a melon sword. This one has been having issues for almost a year. I figured root tabs and more light would fix it but... it’s getting yellow tips and deteriorates

My water is really hard. What's yours?

Gh of 3. I know it’s not hard enough but I can’t do much about that. We have a hard well but it has traces of radium.

 

This is totally off the wall but I would try putting some potassium and magnesium vitamin tablets in the substrate. I may be totally nuts about this, but human additives are ok for a tank.

Or at least not toxic. Also calcium

 

This is totally off the wall but I would try putting some potassium and magnesium vitamin tablets in the substrate. I may be totally nuts about this, but human additives are ok for a tank.

Haven’t you ever tried this? I don’t want a mass fish death!

 

No I haven't, like I said it was off the wall, but 1 pill or break it apart should slowly add nutrients. Just don't try instant release or timed release. I'd look for pills that DIDN'T say gluconate. That's the word that says easily absorbed, and I'd look for the lowest dosage I could find. Just guessing, sorry.

 

No I haven't, like I said it was off the wall, but 1 pill or break it apart should slowly add nutrients. Just don't try instant release or timed release. I'd look for pills that DIDN'T say gluconate. That's the word that says easily absorbed, and I'd look for the lowest dosage I could find. Just guessing, sorry.

I guess I’m not comfortable using something no one has tried. I was thinking my problem was coming from unbalanced light/fert dosing. So If anyone could help me out here I’d appreciate it. Thanks

 

You are welcome

 

What is the volume of this tank?

 

What is the volume of this tank?

38 gal. 21” deep. 19” from substrate to surface.

 

So referencing the chart above which I think is a good guideline. Look at the ingredients of the ferts/root that you are dosing. Consider what you need aand which product contains said nutrients and slowly over the course of a week add/subtract x nutrients. There is no instant cure so you just have to experiment.

 

Haven’t you ever tried this? I don’t want a mass fish death!

General fertilizers should help. Root tabs

 

HI everyone! I need help on figuring out some deficiencies in my aquarium. First I’ll get you my parameters: nitrate 30ish, nitrite/ammonia 0, and ph is 8.2 currently. Gh is 3 kh 6.
I’m about fed up with them. I’m not achieving the light/fert balance. Osmocote root tabs every two months. Dosing 3 pumps nilocg thrive once a week, iron 2ml twice a week and 1ml excel daily. Lighting is the 17w t8 24” that came with the tank and I’ve got one 9w-800 lumen lamp for extra light. Comments and help are appreciated. Sorry that’s all the info I have.

38 gal aquarium 21” deep

HI fishman'iac

There is nothing more frustrating that a planted tank that won't grow. Plant needs are pretty basic, light and nutrients. Your nitrates are 30 ppm so it is unlikely it is a nutrient issue. The T8 is likely providing PAR@<10 so basically no usable light, with the additional 9 watt you may have PAR@15....if your bulbs are over a year old then substantially less than that. Low light is considered PAR in the 10-35 range. My first investment for that tank when I had the opportunity would be a light, LED fixtures are getting much less expensive and the savings on not replacing the bulbs every year, along with the reduced electricity cost typically provides a 3 - 4 year payback.

In picture #2 one of the tank occupants has been enjoying a salad on your Rotala.

With a pH of 8.2 there will be very little non-organic carbon dioxide in your tank, and plants require carbon molecules for growth. I would suggest adding Seachem Excel as a carbon supplement for your plants; dose per the instructions. Also, with a pH of 8.2 most iron is typically a problem. Osmocote Plus indicates about half of the iron in their 'balls' is 'water soluble iron' but most iron is not soluble in alkaline conditions. The other half of the iron in Osmocote is in chelated form, the most common form of chelated iron is ETDA which is unavailable to plants with the pH gets above 7.2. Start adding Seachem Flourish Iron to your dosing schedule, dose per the directions on the bottle.

The low dKH and dGH number can lead to deficiencies in calcium and magnesium. I think the most evident deficiency I see in your tank is magnesium related as displayed by the interveinal chlorosis of the older leaves of the Cryptocoryne wendtiI and the 'rolling' under (or sometimes over depending upon plant species) of the leaf margins. To resolve this, and improve your dGH I suggest Seachem Equilbrium. Add sufficient to bring the dGH of your tank up by 2.0 degrees (i.e. 5.0 in your case). When you do a water change add sufficient Equilibrium to bring the tank back to 5.0 dGH. This should resolve any magnesium, calcium, or potassium issues in your tank. Hope this helps! -Roy

 

General fertilizers should help. Root tabs

I am using osmocote root tabs

HI fishman'iac

There is nothing more frustrating that a planted tank that won't grow. Plant needs are pretty basic, light and nutrients. Your nitrates are 30 ppm so it is unlikely it is a nutrient issue. The T8 is likely providing PAR@<10 so basically no usable light, with the additional 9 watt you may have PAR@15....if your bulbs are over a year old then substantially less than that. Low light is considered PAR in the 10-35 range. My first investment for that tank when I had the opportunity would be a light, LED fixtures are getting much less expensive and the savings on not replacing the bulbs every year, along with the reduced electricity cost typically provides a 3 - 4 year payback.

In picture #2 one of the tank occupants has been enjoying a salad on your Rotala.

With a pH of 8.2 there will be very little non-organic carbon dioxide in your tank, and plants require carbon molecules for growth. I would suggest adding Seachem Excel as a carbon supplement for your plants; dose per the instructions. Also, with a pH of 8.2 most iron is typically a problem. Osmocote Plus indicates about half of the iron in their 'balls' is 'water soluble iron' but most iron is not soluble in alkaline conditions. The other half of the iron in Osmocote is in chelated form, the most common form of chelated iron is ETDA which is unavailable to plants with the pH gets above 7.2. Start adding Seachem Flourish Iron to your dosing schedule, dose per the directions on the bottle.

The low dKH and dGH number can lead to deficiencies in calcium and magnesium. I think the most evident deficiency I see in your tank is magnesium related as displayed by the interveinal chlorosis of the older leaves of the Cryptocoryne wendtiI and the 'rolling' under (or sometimes over depending upon plant species) of the leaf margins. To resolve this, and improve your dGH I suggest Seachem Equilbrium. Add sufficient to bring the dGH of your tank up by 2.0 degrees (i.e. 5.0 in your case). When you do a water change add sufficient Equilibrium to bring the tank back to 5.0 dGH. This should resolve any magnesium, calcium, or potassium issues in your tank. Hope this helps! -Roy

Wow! Thanks man for the lengthy reply. First I’m relieved the second picture turned out to be a fish salad! I introduced a snowball pleco to my aquarium prior to the “deficiency”.
I will try to look into a light Currently I’m working on a diy cfl light so I’ll experiment with this first. My budget is pretty tight so I can’t buy one anytime soon but I’ll keep it in mind.
Ok about the excel... I have jungle Val. I’ve been dosing 1 ml for 2 weeks now so I’ll up it a bit slowly and maybe my Val’s will adjust. I will follow up on the iron dosing! I’m going to check into the equilibrium but I have a question first. I have a well with gh of the charts so I was thinking of adding maybe a cup per water change first and see if I can get it up this way first. Let me know what you think! Thanks again

So referencing the chart above which I think is a good guideline. Look at the ingredients of the ferts/root that you are dosing. Consider what you need aand which product contains said nutrients and slowly over the course of a week add/subtract x nutrients. There is no instant cure so you just have to experiment.

I’m feeling you man. It’s no easy fix. Frustrating stuff! Thanks for the chart.

 

Wow! Thanks man for the lengthy reply. First I’m relieved the second picture turned out to be a fish salad! I introduced a snowball pleco to my aquarium prior to the “deficiency”.
I will try to look into a light Currently I’m working on a diy cfl light so I’ll experiment with this first. My budget is pretty tight so I can’t buy one anytime soon but I’ll keep it in mind.
Ok about the excel... I have jungle Val. I’ve been dosing 1 ml for 2 weeks now so I’ll up it a bit slowly and maybe my Val’s will adjust. I will follow up on the iron dosing! I’m going to check into the equilibrium but I have a question first. I have a well with gh of the charts so I was thinking of adding maybe a cup per water change first and see if I can get it up this way first. Let me know what you think! Thanks again

HI fishman'iac,

Yes, some plecos just do not work with some plant species. For my cleaning crew it is corys, otocinclus, and Siamese (not Chinese) Algae Eaters (Crossocheilus oblongus).

I agree, increase the Excel slowly with Vals in the tank. Skip the well water, it will have mostly calcium and little to any magnesium....go with the Equilibrium.

If you currently have a DIY CFL an inexpensive upgrade that will get your approximately 2X the PAR with less watts used are these LED lamps on Ebay: You will want the 13 watt, E27 Base, Cool White for $2.87 each free shipping by slow boat from China. (I use 2X the 7 watt lamps on my low tech 10 gallon and get PAR@50 (medium)
E27 G24 LED Lights Horizontal Plug 5050SMD Ceiling Corn Lamps Bulb

 

HI fishman'iac,

Yes, some plecos just do not work with some plant species. For my cleaning crew it is corys, otocinclus, and Siamese (not Chinese) Algae Eaters (Crossocheilus oblongus).

I agree, increase the Excel slowly with Vals in the tank. Skip the well water, it will have mostly calcium and little to any magnesium....go with the Equilibrium.

If you currently have a DIY CFL an inexpensive upgrade that will get your approximately 2X the PAR with less watts used are these LED lamps on Ebay: You will want the 13 watt, E27 Base, Cool White for $2.87 each free shipping by slow boat from China. (I use 2X the 7 watt lamps on my low tech 10 gallon and get PAR@50 (medium)
E27 G24 LED Lights Horizontal Plug 5050SMD Ceiling Corn Lamps Bulb

I agree on the pleco but I’d rather have him than the rotala... I’m going to go easy on the excel at first. I will try to go with the equilibrium if my budget will allow. About the lights-how many bulbs should I go with? Thanks



Is this the bulb you were talking about?




These are some bulbs I have on hand. Is the a possible way to use them? My diy light allows me to use multiple bulbs so I could go with 2 or 3 bulbs. Thanks

 

I agree on the pleco but I’d rather have him than the rotala... I’m going to go easy on the excel at first. I will try to go with the equilibrium if my budget will allow. About the lights-how many bulbs should I go with? Thanks

HI fishman'iac

Unless you have a really good reflector behind the bulbs much of the light of a standard 'round' lamp is lost. What is great about the ones I suggested is they direct the light only one way.......down. That said, you can certain try those and see how they do, likely they will be better than the CFL's currently in use. If they do the job great, if not the go for the ones suggested. BTW, most LED's for lamps are 'Warm White' (about 3000K - 4000K) which may not allow the plants and fish to look as good as you would like. If you can find 'Daylight' or 'Cool White' those may improve the look of your tank if 'Warm White' washes out the greens, reds, and blues too much.

I would start with two bulbs for a couple of weeks and see how the plants respond and if algae becomes an issue. If after two weeks the algae is minimal try three bulbs and see what happens after a couple of weeks.....you'll figure it out!

 

HI fishman'iac

Unless you have a really good reflector behind the bulbs much of the light of a standard 'round' lamp is lost. What is great about the ones I suggested is they direct the light only one way.......down. That said, you can certain try those and see how they do, likely they will be better than the CFL's currently in use. If they do the job great, if not the go for the ones suggested. BTW, most LED's for lamps are 'Warm White' (about 3000K - 4000K) which may not allow the plants and fish to look as good as you would like. If you can find 'Daylight' or 'Cool White' those may improve the look of your tank if 'Warm White' washes out the greens, reds, and blues too much.

I would start with two bulbs for a couple of weeks and see how the plants respond and if algae becomes an issue. If after two weeks the algae is minimal try three bulbs and see what happens after a couple of weeks.....you'll figure it out!

Ok sounds great! I made the diy fixture so that the bulbs point straight down. You said try with two bulbs first, should I go with 2 of the 1500 lumen or 2 of the smaller ones? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks

 

HI fishman'iac

If it were me I would go with two bulbs about the same input (not output) wattage as the CFL bulbs that you are currently using.

 

HI fishman'iac

If it were me I would go with two bulbs about the same input (not output) wattage as the CFL bulbs that you are currently using.

Where do I find the input on the bulb? Sorry if I’m being slow here... thanks

 

HI fishman'iac

It may or may not be marked on the base of the CFL bulb/lamp. If it is not there if you know what the incandescent equivalent of the bulb is it is easy to work backward.

Let's say your CFL bulb is 60 watt equivalent; then the likely input wattage is 13 to 16 watts. A 13 watt CFL bulb puts out about 950 lumens.

Let's say you buy an LED bulb that has an input wattage of 13 watts which is a 100 watt incandescent equivalent. A 13 watt LED bulb puts out about 1200 lumens or 26% more light using the same amount of power.

 

HI fishman'iac

It may or may not be marked on the base of the CFL bulb/lamp. If it is not there if you know what the incandescent equivalent of the bulb is it is easy to work backward.

Let's say your CFL bulb is 60 watt equivalent; then the likely input wattage is 13 to 16 watts. A 13 watt CFL bulb puts out about 950 lumens.

Let's say you buy an LED bulb that has an input wattage of 13 watts which is a 100 watt incandescent equivalent. A 13 watt LED bulb puts out about 1200 lumens or 26% more light using the same amount of power.

Ok thank you! I’ll get it straight now. Thanks for all your help