what am i doing wrong?!?

[Hoovercat]

I keep NO3 of ~20ppm as well

 

[crazycat]

UPDATE:

i added extra mg to my trace mix in the form of a teaspoon of epsom salts.

it raised my gh from 10 to 15.5 degrees.

i have backed off from the mg, b/c i think 15.5 is a little high. my previous gh of 10 seemed to be fine.

anyone think i'm doing the wrong thing?

 

[malkore]

that's a lot to raise. with a gh of 10, why bother with epsom salts? as long as you're doing weekly water changes, you'll replenish the Mg via tap water. Same with calcium.
Remember, those are traces. A little goes a LONG way.

TravisSimonson raises his Gh to 16, but that's for the benefit of his cichlids, not the plants. He actually has issues with many plants considered 'softwater' plants. They can't handle his hard malawi water.

 

[crazycat]

yup--it was an experiment. and it raised the gh too much--my gh was fine where it was. and i am trying to grow tonina fluviatilis which likes soft water--we'll see--i
'm not toohopeful in the long run, but i could get lucky. i have growth, and none of the bottom leaves are rotting (yet)--but it's only been there for a week.

now i have enough epsom salts to take foot baths for a year

 

[czcz]

Just FYI, when folks speak of soft water plants, they generally mean KH. FWIW, ditching Mg dosing makes sense to me too, but suggestion was with the thought that the pics could be showing Mg deficiency considering high K dosing. If the great growth on the swords continues then you know you are set. Great work.

 

[crazycat]

yeah, the swords are doing MUCH better with the root tabs. i also have root tabs under the crypts and a few other plants. no more brown, discolored, holey leaves!

my kh is at 8 which is a little hard for tonina, and my ph is at 6.8. i may lower the ph even more. even so, from what i've read, it's not the most hospitable environment for tonina, although tom barr would disagree but he's tom barr and i'm not! butone can always hope. keep your fingers crossed!