Buce is losing leaves?

[TMaier]

I have some Buce in my tank now for over 16 months now. It recently started losing leaves? I’m back to healthy stems but wondering what would cause this.

 

[ZxC]

Ferts / parameters / lighting?

 

[TMaier]

All the same for the whole period.

Finnex Planted + 24/7

0 ferts

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 40
Gh 7 drops
Kh 3 drops.

 

[ZxC]

Hmm... pic of the buce? Fish load / tank size / how much are you feeding. Is this the only plant in the tank?

 

[TMaier]

Here is a pic from March 5th.

The plant on the right is a bunch of stems I have now removed to elsewhere hoping it will recover.

The purpleish one on the left here is how it looks today.

About half the leaves are gone.

 

[ZxC]

Hmm.... maybe try some Seachem flourish, even a light dose once or twice a week should help out. It looks a little starved (no access to substrate ferts, so water column should have "some").

No N or P in flourish comp tho.... a little bit of K.... should be enough for buce / anubia / java fern + mosses

 

[TMaier]

I’ll give it a shot. I thought the fish were supplying the fertz. They must be constipated.

 

[ZxC]

I’ll give it a shot. I thought the fish were supplying the fertz. They must be constipated.

They will, but likely not enough micro nutrients (Sulfur, Iron, Magnesium, Calcium, Boron, Zinc, Manganese).

Probably not enough Potassium either....

Phosphorous and Nitrate ... the fish should produce enough.

New or old growth being affected?

 

[TMaier]

One plant lost all of its leaves young and old. I have flourish and Potassium and will start adding. I did for a while last year but stopped after a few months and it didn’t seem to make a difference.

 

[Barliman]

One other thing to consider: I was listening to Art Pennom's "Tank on Fire" podcast today --an episode on bucephelandra-- and he mentioned that, like crypts, buces can lose their leaves when changing from emersed to submerged growth or adapting to changed water conditions, such as after a large water change wherein the qualities of the new water aren't closely matched to the old. Assuming for the moment he's right, I wonder if you're seeing that here?

Oh, and regarding fertilizers, I gave up on the Seachem line: I've had much better results using an all-in-one, in this case Aquarium Co-Op's "Easy Green" and "Easy Iron."

 

[Bert2oo1]

Yea I agree with above, potassium and micros. Most likely potassium going by those holes (unless it’s catfish damage) just dosing some 2 times a week should help I’d imagine.

I’ve found my buce actually has a pretty good growth rate under high light and all the high tech goodies (planted in Ada soil) they also have constant flowers.

Maybe you could make up pps pro fert mix with no kno3 and just dose it a couple of times a week [emoji106]