Plants turning yellow. Please Help

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Well, long before I got back in to the game a guy named Tobi Coring (founder of aquarebel fertilisers) had ADA soils tested at a lab in Germany.

So if these results are correct, I also have confirmation

http://aquascaping.flowgrow.de/aquascaping/naehrstoffe/item/111-ada-aqua-soil-analyse

**website may need google translation**

That’s why ADA use Brighty K.

In the link Tobi recommends K is kept at 3ppm at all times. I calculated your dosing using Rotala butterfly and it would seem you are close to this assuming there is no build up. My thoughts are that if K was culprit then the plants are indeed using lots of K.

I notice when using EI things can turn sour after a while of good growth. It normally takes several 50% water changes using RO water to bring K levels to a readable level on my test kit (requires calibration) I don’t know if high K is the reason for poor growth but in terrestrial plants High K can interfere with both calcium and magnesium uptake. It’s amazing just how quickly K can accumulate dosing potassium phosphate and potassium nitrate.

I wouldn’t dose N or P unless plants are showing signs of deficiency.
Thanks for the link and yes I think we have enough evidence that potassium was missing and the other day I was watching YouTube and a guy who specializes in plants said plants use potassium so much. That's why some guys even dose daily.

On a side note I am highly impressed by Seachem products. I read there iron is best too which I experienced myself. I have a ludwigia ripen and since I started dosing Iron it gets very dark red. Almost look like an artificial plant.
 
I do run a high tech tank but potassium I have been dosing daily. No hygro left in tank now though and ferns have grown over swords (so can’t see any problems [emoji16]).
 
I do run a high tech tank but potassium I have been dosing daily. No hygro left in tank now though and ferns have grown over swords (so can’t see any problems [emoji16]).
Thanks. More evidence.
 
Any thoughts on the latest info on dosing levels? I never quite know what latest thinking is.


Hi Dela.

My thoughts have been very mixed. For me that is partly because of the short lived success of EI dosing. You will get a response from most ferts but things seem to stagnate very quickly. I’ve been quite meticulous ensuring I have enough of everything and eventually things just seem to stop working. I don’t think we are talking toxicity per se but perhaps some kind of interference. I’ve been speaking to a lot of different kinds of plant keepers and at the moment I’ve gone back to substrate fertilisation and decent fish, shrimp, snail stocking. I’m still trying to bring NPK down despite 3 x 50% RO water changes. That’s assuming the test kits are accurate which I have my reservations about.

From all the information I’ve accrued over the years potassium dosing shouldn’t need to go far beyond 4ppm. I’m focusing on getting my N and P from the fish and fish food and calcium magnesium and other micros are below the plants. Things are looking up for me. EI I don’t think I’m going to be using this again.
 
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Thanks! I was just looking at tank today and thinking if I just went java fern, bolbitis fern, etc - these always look pretty happy. Was back thinking about discus and low dosing [emoji51] (well mainly discus).
 
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