Hmmm... Now i'm stumped. (invisable plants!)

[sudz]

Phospates at 1, Nitrate at 5ppm from dosing KNO3
Using Big al's liquid plant ferts, dosing 2 tablespoons twice weekly

PH at 6.8, KH at 8, 30 PPM CO2
Temp at 81
8 hour day at 96watts in a 24 deep 44 gallon tank.

Now... ANYONE have an idea while my hornwort is brown, except for the new growth, and why the old growth on my watersprite has gone transparent (started as see through cracks) and the new grown has more "narrow" leaves?

My java fern and java moss is fine. Everything else has gone down hill.

Any idea's? do they just not like me?

IN my 10 gallon they are flourishing. THe only difference is that i have 19ppm CO2 and super hard GH (over 20 degrees hardness)

I'm getting rather frusterated/flabbergasted.

I look forward to any idea's or knowledge you can share!

 

[BillD]

Hornwort tends to brown under high light, with the whorls growing close together. In lower light the whorls are farther apart, and a nice dark green.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

Phospahtes @ 1, Nitrates @ 5, I thought it was supposed to be a 10:1 ratio in favour of nitrates.

Also, do you add iron and other chems?

Hornwort requires things other then Co2 from what I was reading it requires carbonate hardness which it will breakdown to make an elevated GH (Calcium), this is 1 reason it's considered a plauge outside of the aquarium, it grows very fast and can alter the conditions of an entire river.

There is a lot of interesting reading about the uniqueness of hornwort, just google hornwort and you'll be amazed at what it can survive (it also likes slightly alkaline water)

 

[malkore]

Wizard is right about your nutrient ratio. Nitrates need to come up to about 10ppm.

As for your watersprite, it sounds like you received emmersed growth plants, that are shifting to submersed growth. Watersprite has broad leaves above water, and much finer leaves under water.

Tank is also a little on the warm side. Mid-70's is plenty warm. Some plants don't do well above 78 degrees.

 

[sudz]

Alright, Lowered the temp to 79. (for now)
Will add more KNO3 to up the Nitrates to 10.
Also... Does anyone have, and can scan the Aquarium Pharmesuticals Nitrate test card?... I kinda lost mine

The Big al's plant fertilzer contains:

Soluble Potash (K20) -----------------3%
Copper ---------------------------------.00001%
Iron (FE)(minimum) ------------------.24% Chelated Iron
Manganese (Minimum)----------------.01%
Molybdenum (minimum)--------------.0009%
Zinc (minimum) -----------------------.00014%
Kelp Extract and Vitamin B1 Added.

It also says to watch your iron. Do i NEED an iron tester now too? Or is it one of those things that is hard to overdose, or is controlled with water changes?

 

[malkore]

Iron oxidizes really fast. the issue is too much iron can leave some live bearing species sterile...but it takes a lot.

don't waste cash on an iron test kit...they aren't reliable anyways.

I believe you can order a replacement card (for free) for the nitrate test kit.
I have one and can scan it, but unless your monitor is set up properly, the colors on the scanned image may look too different, especially since it goes from yellow (0ppm) to orange (5ppm) to shades of red (10ppm and up).

 

[sudz]

Malkore, if it isn't too much trouble, could you scan it for me? I use the standard adobe color profile, and i have my printer is calibrated with photoshop.

Even if it isn't exact, it'll give me a ballpark estimate until i buy another test kit! (in about 3 weeks the way i'm goin)

If you have to dig out your scanner or something (like i would have to) don't sweat it, i'll just buy a new kit prematurly. The stuff doesn't really expire, does it?

 

[malkore]

Kits do in fact expire...there should be a lot # and expiratione date on the package or reagent bottles.

I'll try to remember to grab the card to scan when I go home for lunch. I have a $2000 scanner on my desk here at the office...it should work well enough.

(and I'm serious too...we typically deal with MUCH more expensive scanners)

 

[Jchillin]

Or, I can take care of it since I'm home.

 

[Jchillin]

Hopefully, this is large enough.

 

[malkore]

Bill,

Interesting..I don't think AP pays much to have their cards printed, because my Nitrate card doesn't have as much difference in the shades after 20ppm as the one you scanned in.

(Really hoping my wife did get me that LaMotte kit for christmas)

 

[Jchillin]

Funny you mention it Greg, the colors reproduced quite nicely but as you can see, not much difference between 40 and 80ppm. 8O I probably got one of the better cards. LOL.

PS - If you do get the LaMotte kit, see if there's one in there for me.

 

[sudz]

I think it depends on your monitor... On my "cruddy" monitor, my samsung 900NF, it looks the same, but on my Trinitron P110 21inch, there is quite a noticeable difference.

Degaussing your monitor if its been on for a while usually helps with color definition. I know my monitor starts to become more "cold" and blue tinted if its been on for a couple days. Monitors usually degauss when they turn on. Its the horrible racket they make.
Thanks a million JChillin and Malkore!

 

[sudz]

LOL... and plus... Do you really NEED the tester to go over 40? Once mine hits 20 (rarely) its time for a big water change! (no, i dont WAIT for it to hit 20, its just if i notice it up there for some reason (i.e. parents feeding the fish after i have)

 

[Jchillin]

Good question. If you are over 40, something is terribly wrong. 8O I recall a member having such an issue with readings higher than 80 and his fish weren't suffering whatsoever. The consesus was that the testing was in error.

We do occassionally see where folks need to dose and an accident could give a higher than normal reading. AP probably didn't have a choice in having the high range as a part of their full spectrum.

 

[caribou]

I was looking into getting a LaMotte test kit for NO3 from Marine Depot. Their low range kit only has a scale to 10 ppm. Is this adequate? I'd like to have a range of up to 20 in case any unknown problems come up. My well water has 13 ppm of NO3, but my plants now suck most of it out. Has anyone tried the Tunze kits? They have a broader range.

 

[sudz]

Most people like to keep there tank around 10ppm, for plants.
I would say a test to 10ppm is not adequate for a planted tank.