BCarl's 26 gallon Bf Build

[Sk3lly]

Personally I think your melting plants are a co2 disorder. Main cause of plant melt is co2 changes. I wouldn't know how to even begin to fix that on a bow front. Doesn't strike me as an easy shape to get a great flow


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[bcarl_10gal]

I have had the CO2 at about 70-80ppm with my drop checker for about a month. All the other plants are growing very well except the star repens. Already there has been no/limited melting in the soil cups. So that makes me think we are onto something.

When it comes to flow since i use the inline atomizer i can watch the bubbles and the plants move. The plants have a slight movement and bubbles are pretty evenly distributed around the tank.


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[bcarl_10gal]

Plot twist, So I remembered a while back the bag of K2SO4 I received from GLA that i started using in september looked like a different powder than I was using. It looked suspiciously close to KNO3.... Well I just tested that solution for nitrates, if it is K2SO4 it should read 0.... To my surprise the solution is about 80ppm of nitrates.......... Looks like my suspicion was right all along. The K2SO4 is not really K2SO4....

 

[Brookster123]

That's whack.. i just read somewhere that kno3 will not effect fauna the same as bio waste?? Thought it was interesting. You think this is the/a culprit? By all rights your stem plants should be going bananas with all that plant crack in there..
Edit- major potassium deficiency then?? You wouldn't be dosing any if it's actually kno3?? That makes a lot of sense. I blitz my tanks with potassium, like 4x what it should need.
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[tiger terror]

Makes total sense...with the change in ferts one should see enough change one way or another in a relatively acceptable period of time giving you either your answer or just another issue dealt with.

sit in silence

 

[bcarl_10gal]

It honestly all makes sense, thats why i questioned the powder back in october.... If my math is right i still have about 10-15ppm of K but that might not be enough for all the plants.... I have mostly stem plants that leaves structurally won't show pin holes. GLA is going to send me a new bag of K2So4 and run tests on the bag I have.

 

[tiger terror]

You can do it....You can figure it out...

sit in silence

 

[RadMax8]

The plot thickens! Very interesting observations. Looking forward to see how the new powder stacks up against the mystery substance.


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[bcarl_10gal]

So now im 100% sure its not potassium. Used my pure RO/DI water in the 500 ML dosing bottle and mixed .3 grams of the suspected false potassium to make the solution 40ppm. I then tested it with my nitrate test and what do ya know it came back at 40ppm


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[tiger terror]

So now im 100% sure its not potassium. Used my pure RO/DI water in the 500 ML dosing bottle and mixed .3 grams of the suspected false potassium to make the solution 40ppm. I then tested it with my nitrate test and what do ya know it came back at 40ppm


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Good to hear bro...a mislabeled bag responsible for a huge headache..that's jank dude,glad to hear GLA is stepping up..

sit in silence

 

[Brookster123]

That's scandalous actually.. if that's the reason here I'm thinking witch hunt! this has been emotionally draining over here.. watching all my plants melt away over there (I'm totally joking, big smile as I type away)

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[Fresh2o]

That's scandalous actually.. if that's the reason here I'm thinking witch hunt! this has been emotionally draining over here.. watching all my plants melt away over there (I'm totally joking, big smile as I type away)

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PPS-Pro-Gate! That is unfortunate. You've been struggling with melt for months. You should contact GLA, explain your situation and maybe they can send you some of the "correct" stuff.


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[bcarl_10gal]

They are sending me a new bag but that doesnt even put a dent into all the money, time, and headache that has been the last 6 months.... Hopefully the new stuff helps, naturally i will run tests to make sure it doesnt have nitrates ?


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[bcarl_10gal]

Also if i did my math right i should only have 7-10ppm of potassium at best in the tank which in the high light environment will certainly cause issues.


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[Fresh2o]

Glad they are sending you more ferts. It's a shame you have to QC it, but considering what happened before...
All this time I was thinking it was water (salt, chlorine, etc). Hope this turns the corner for the melting issue. I should have more stars to harvest soon just in case.


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[bcarl_10gal]

Im very confident this will resolve my issues for a few reasons, the "k2so4" and the RO filters were the only 2 variables that changed before the melt. The guy on TPT with the exact same melt has had success by adding more potassium.

Thanks for the offer, im going to continue the substrate experiment in the front of the tank for the next month or so.


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[Brookster123]

I'd be pretty tickled to see this bad boy take back off!

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[bcarl_10gal]

That makes the two of us!

 

[bcarl_10gal]

New bag of K2So4 came in today, made a dummy solution of 250ML of RO water mixed with 1 TSP of the new powder and what do you know... No nitrate.

 

[PerfectDepth]

Wow, that's kinda worrisome. Glad you got it figured out! For others who may be wondering, K2SO4 should be sort of chalky with more clumping compared to KNO3, which appears more like a finely ground table salt. KH2PO4 is the most crystalline in appearance, like small shards of salt. (I'm specifically speaking of the dry ferts from GLA, I have no experience with ferts from other sources)