Possible Calcium deficiency issue??

Hey all, I'm newer to live plants in the aquarium, and man it can be stressful to manage what nutrients they all need. I upgraded to all the proper lighting in my 29 gallon, and currently use seachem flourish, seachem iron. Definitely noticing, with proper dosage of each, that my leaves are curling downwards and also turning slightly yellow with brown patches. After looking at many threads, it looks to me like I may have a calcium deficiency? I attached some pics, any advice would be appreciated!

 

Some of it looks like melting of emersed growth (1st and last pic). Bacopa in the second pic looks like it might be nitrogen deficient which would make sense because flourish does not include macronutrients. What are your nitrate levels?

 

Some of it looks like melting of emersed growth (1st and last pic). Bacopa in the second pic looks like it might be nitrogen deficient which would make sense because flourish does not include macronutrients. What are your nitrate levels?

Just checked, nitrates are between 10-20ppm. Full disclosure, these plants have been in my tank for 2 weeks. Trying my best to prevent melting lol. Would flourish excel help?

 

Just checked, nitrates are between 10-20ppm. Full disclosure, these plants have been in my tank for 2 weeks. Trying my best to prevent melting lol. Would flourish excel help?

Flourish Excel is good for getting rid of algae but won't help with nutrient deficiencies. As it breaks down, it adds a negligible amount of co2.

What is the KH and gh in your tank? If your water is soft or your using RO water, you may need to increase gh. Its more likely though your missing one of the macro nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). In that case you need to start dosing npk. Seachem sells all the macro nutrients separately. If you want to try it, buy the tiny bottles first. See if it helps. Option 2 is to buy a true all-in-one fertilizer like Easy green from aquarium co-op or Thrive C from NilocG. Follow the dosing directions on the bottle.


You will have plants melt on you, especially in the beginning. Sometimes its us not knowing enough to get the plants the right amount nutrients. Sometimes certain plants just don't thrive in your water parameters. Its all a process of trial and error.

 

Flourish Excel is good for getting rid of algae but won't help with nutrient deficiencies. As it breaks down, it adds a negligible amount of co2.

What is the KH and gh in your tank? If your water is soft or your using RO water, you may need to increase gh. Its more likely though your missing one of the macro nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium). In that case you need to start dosing npk. Seachem sells all the macro nutrients separately. If you want to try it, buy the tiny bottles first. See if it helps. Option 2 is to buy a true all-in-one fertilizer like Easy green from aquarium co-op or Thrive C from NilocG. Follow the dosing directions on the bottle.


You will have plants melt on you, especially in the beginning. Sometimes its us not knowing enough to get the plants the right amount nutrients. Sometimes certain plants just don't thrive in your water parameters. Its all a process of trial and error.

I appreciate your response! I really like aquarium co-op products as I've bought root tabs and a few of these live plants from them. I'll check them out for the all in one fert. Thanks guys!

 

I appreciate your response! I really like aquarium co-op products as I've bought root tabs and a few of these live plants from them. I'll check them out for the all in one fert. Thanks guys!

Hopefully it will help. I learned the hard way when I started that using all of the separate Seachem fertilizers could lead to algae problems. I followed Seachems recommended dosing schedule. As a beginner I found an all-in-one to be easier.