More Sunset Hygro Questions

[fish_4_all]

Well the verdict is still out on what the cause is of the reds but I can say I get reds with high NO3 and I get brighter oranges and pinks with low levels. I dose 10ppm every other day now but when I didn't dose for 3 days, Pink! Then I dosed again and it was gone in 2 days.

The new question is, I now have quite a bit of it and I need to know if I can bunch 3-7 stems together and have them grow thicker? I know this will cut a little more light from the lower leaves but they shed the leaves so much that I don't care. I need to know if the stems need large areas for roots or if grouping them will be ok. I want to keep the bunches about 6 inches tall for a kind of jungle look. Any reason why this shouldn't work?

Also, the fact that they lose their leaves, is this normal or am I missing something?

 

[mr funktastic]

they shouldnt be loosing to many leaves. are they loosing them every where or just off the bottom? i think if u bunch that many stems together the bottoms will rot. i would say 2 stems togeht would be fine then just plant the other really close. it grows so fast that it will fill in in no time.

 

[fish_4_all]

25-40 leaves a week. Just the largest leaves fall off. The ones that are over 1 inch long. And they look like they are just eaten up and really nasty. Black edges and holes, almost kinda mushy looking. The other plants are looking awesome and some plants I couldn't get to grow are taking off really well. I think it is just the plant or just my tank. My swords pick at them a little and maybe they knock some off.

I will try the closer planting and the two stems idea. Maybe I will just let them be until I have enough to trade for something I am looking for and keep a few. I just have to make sure I stay with fast growers so I don't throw my tank out of whack. Maybe I will just trim them back and let them send out the new sprouts and take root thickening up the overall appearance.

I really don't care if they lose the leaves, I just want to make sure it isn't a sign of an early deficiency. I dose 11ppm NO3 every other day so maybe I need to increase that. Any ideas of if I should or maybe it could be a sign of another deficiency?

I dose 11ppm NO3, 16ppm total K every other day, 3.5ppm MgSO4 once a week and CSM+B to .2ppm Iron. Not dosing PO4 because it is always high. I admit, I overfed a little and tapwater has .5ppm+.

dKH 8
dGH 10
pH 6.6
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
Other unknown, dosing EI religiously and not measuring so I don't try to fix something I shouldn't. Will be changing levels only if signs of a deficiency show up.

 

[fish_4_all]

Well my snset is still losing a lot of leaves. I don't know why but any leaf that gets larger than 1.5 inches seems to fall off if it had any color at all. If the leaf has very little white and no other colors the it stays for quite a while.

Any ideas what is going on here or is this actually normal?

 

[GlitcH]

I'm new to this plant ......I've had mine for about two months and I've yet to see it loose any leaves. Just keeps growing mad crazy.
What kind of substrate do you have it in F4A?

 

[Jchillin]

Mine loses leaves all the time. I thought it was due to my Buenos aires tetras. It had never occurred prior to my adding them.

 

[fish_4_all]

My swords run through it all the time chasing each other so that could be why. My cories also spend most of their time in it. I will bet the fish are knocking the leaves off. No bibbie as long as it shouldn;t be a deficiency. I am thinking though that because they grow so fast and I have them kinda thick that the water flow is really low and might cause them to not get enough CO2.