Whats wrong with my plant? (pics)

[cgcaver]

Can anyone tell me whats going on with this 1 plant of mine. The leaves are looking really puny (almost see thru) and a lot of them have these huge brown splotches. Is there a certain nutrient that its not getting enough of? Ive been staying on top of the dosings, and as far as I know, Ive given my plants everything they need. I have the 2x55w Bright Kit from AH supply.

I use Seachem stuff:

Flourish
Flourish Excel
Flourish Iron
Flourish Nitrogen
Flourish Potassium
Flourish Phosphorous

_________________
~ Gabe

Black Tiger Oscar - currently 4"
Pictus Catfish - currently 4"
55gal :: AC500 :: 2wpg
Hooray for sand and live plants!

 

[cgcaver]

oh yeh, i also forgot to add - a lot of my bigger leafy plants have very brittle leaves, and some are even breaking clean off from the gentle water current (looks like someone cut them with scissors)... Im assuming it's because they are dead? But I cant figure out why! Im upset because I thought I've been doing everything possible to keep my plants happy and growing

 

[malkore]

well on a 55gallon tank, the flourish line of ferts will get expensive (except for Iron). to keep proper potassium levels, you should be going through a bottle of Potassium every 3-4 weeks. Nitrogen probably lasts 5-6 weeks.

It looks like the sword plant is buried a little too deep...the roots should be buried, and the leaf stems should be 100% above the sand.

Are you using root tabs? Sand has no nutrients, so you'll need root tabs for swords.

How often do you dose Excel? Every day? every other day? You'll be burning through that on a 55g as well. Pressurized CO2 is really the way to go.

Here's an index of nutrient deficencies and their symptoms - http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm

I think you're low on boron, maybe nitrogen, maybe phosphorus too.
Can you post your water parameters for nitrate and phosphate? pH, Kh and Gh will also be helpful.
And how frequent are your water changes, and how much is changed?

 

[cgcaver]

Im at work, but I'll try to give you all the info I have atm LOL

My nitrogen levels are ample for the plants (was at 30ppm yesterday and I did about a 40% water change)

I dose Flourish Excel daily.

You think I should dose Potassium daily or what? I've been doing it twice a week.

I'll try to run by the LFS and get some root tabs, I was thinking about getting some anyways - glad you recommended them.


Thanx for the info!

 

[cgcaver]

OK, here's my plan of action - I bought a Phosphate test kit and Flourish root tabs from Big Als, and they should be here soon. A couple of ppl on different forums have recommended that I dose HALF of what the bottle says to dose on the Flourish products, since I only have a moderate light tank (2wpg). I also plan to stop dosing PO4 and NO3 completely because I faith in my pictus and oscar to make enough of it and to also stop dosing the Fe almost completely, since the Flourish has some in it already. I planned on:

Flourish = 1/2 cap ful weekly
Flourish Excel = 1/2 cap ful daily
Flourish Iron = 1/2 cap ful monthly
Flourish Nitrogen = as needed
Flourish Phospate = as needed
Flourish Potassium = 1/2 cap ful twice a week


How does this sound to you guys? Do I need to up something or cutback on something? Please critique!