Yellowing leaves

[Jujubee]

Out of 3 planted tanks I have one anubia that isn't doing so well. It's attached to a piece of driftwood and had been doing fine until this last past week. The leaves are yellow :/ I do have flourish and excel but have not dosed the tank since it's cycling. What could the issue be?





Any help is appreciated

 

[aqua_chem]

Are the leaves growing yellow or turning yellow after previously having been green? If it's the former, it's a micronutrient issues. If it's the latter, its a macronutrient deficiency.

Are you dosing anything? Do you happen to have a recent phosphate/nitrate level? How often do you do water changes?

 

[Jujubee]

The tank has been set up for about 3-4 weeks now. I have no test for phosphate but ammonia is 0 nitrite 0 nitrates 10. I hadn't been focusing too much on the tank, been a bit busy. But it's cycled. I haven't done a water change on it since setting it up. I did top it off 3 days ago with about 3 gallons from evaporation.
I dosed excel and flourish yesterday after finding out the tank was cycled. I was told to wait before dosing until the tank was cycled, hence why I waited.
The leaves were gorgeous and very green then started turning yellow. I've lost a few leaves due to them turning yellow. There are no fish in the tank so could it be that the plant hasn't been getting food? & could the excel and flourish help now that I've dosed it? And how much would you suggest a week I dose each one?

Thank you

 

[flitabout]

My first thought is an iron deficiency. Maybe try some api leaf zone. Comp only doses Micros so it's most likely iron. Excel is meant to be dosed everyday and I broke down the dose of the comp when I used it and dosed that everyday too. I did about 1 ml a day in my 37g.

 

[Jujubee]

My first thought is an iron deficiency. Maybe try some api leaf zone. Comp only doses Micros so it's most likely iron. Excel is meant to be dosed everyday and I broke down the dose of the comp when I used it and dosed that everyday too. I did about 1 ml a day in my 37g.

I have both of those. So try using both everyday? Thank you!

 

[aqua_chem]

It's a macronutrient deficiency, not iron, probably phosphorus judging by what you've told me. When people do a fishless cycle with plants, they add ammonia to feed the bacteria, which supplies nitrogen, but without fish there's no source of phosphorus. Once you add fish, there will be phosphorus coming into the tank via fish food (and subsequently fish poo) that should mostly satiate the plants. Unfortunately, the affected leaves are probably toast at this point, but you'll regrow more as the plant recovers. You should also be dosing a micronutrient fertilizer, which you just started, but that's not playing into the issue you're experiencing.



In an ironic twist, if you HAD been dosing ferts from the beginning, especially Excel, your problem would be much worse as the demand for phosphorus would have been increased. What an odd world we live in eh?

 

[flitabout]

Sorry to hijack
Ok well that gets me thinking I am starting a new tank on Christmas. So it obviously will need cycled. I am dosing pps pro. Should I up the dose of the macros until it is cycled?

 

[Jujubee]

Well then :O that's make a lot more sense. I don't plan to get fish until January for the tank. I'll be gone from dec 28-jan 8 I didn't think it'd be smart to get fish until after I get back.
Could I add fish food to the tank without fish? Just to give the plants what they need. I used fish food to actually cycle the tank. May sound weird but it's worked for me in 2 tanks now

 

[aqua_chem]

Sorry to hijack
Ok well that gets me thinking I am starting a new tank on Christmas. So it obviously will need cycled. I am dosing pps pro. Should I up the dose of the macros until it is cycled?

If you're dosing PPS, you'll at least have some phosphate coming into the tank via KH2PO4. If you find yourself having trouble with phosphate, sure you can increase it without much blowback. The only way PPS really breaks down is if you don't dose enough; you can overdose without to dramatically affecting tank's balance.

Well then :O that's make a lot more sense. I don't plan to get fish until January for the tank. I'll be gone from dec 28-jan 8 I didn't think it'd be smart to get fish until after I get back.
Could I add fish food to the tank without fish? Just to give the plants what they need. I used fish food to actually cycle the tank. May sound weird but it's worked for me in 2 tanks now

Well, you can, but I don't think it's a very good idea. Uneaten food will rot in the tank, which generally causes problems on its own beyond just the ammonia.

Do you have easy access to a Walgreens or similar drug store? I just had a nifty idea.

 

[Jujubee]

I have a cvs right across the street, yes

 

[aqua_chem]

Well OK then.

You can get a product called "Fleet Enema" (it's exactly what it sounds like) that is composed of potassium phosphate salts. It should be ~$3 or so. You can use that as a pure phosphate source until you get fish.

How big of a tank is this?

 

[Jujubee]

It's a 30 gal.

 

[aqua_chem]

I would dose 1 mL or 20 drops of fleet enema twice a week until you have fish.

 

[Jujubee]

What about the 10 days I'll be gone? Any advice there :/ I don't want to come home to a tank full of dead plants :O I could rehome some of the plants to my 20 & 10 gal but I'm not sure how many I can move. My 20 gallon is pretty well stocked and everything is thriving, I'm afriad the new plants would throw it off balance. The 10 gallon only has 3 plants that have also been doing really well. Ahh!

 

[aqua_chem]

I'm afriad the new plants would throw it off balance

Are they all anubias? Anubias have such slow growth that I doubt that they would have much of an impact in 10 days time.


Alternately, you could just put 2 doses in before you leave and reduce your photoperiod to 6 hours to reduce demand. They should be fine when you get back.

 

[Jujubee]

I was really thinking of seeing if I can detach the anubia from the driftwood and put it either in my 20 or 10 gallon.

I have the one anubia in the 30 with vallisneria Americana, ludwigia repens, nyphaea sp, hydrophila difformis, and certophyllum demersum.
Sorry for all the scientific names :/ I have them written down from when I bought them. My other tanks I could barely tell you what was in them hence why I wrote it down haha. They were all low light and relatively easy to moderate care

 

[Jujubee]

What about this, I was planning on moving my 4 platys and even maybe my ballon belly molly from my 10 into the 30 gallon. Should I just go ahead and move them? I think I'll do some rescaping in it first but the water is great. The 10 gallon was going to be used for quarantine once I start stocking the 30 gallon.

I could easily move the 3 plants in there to the 20 or 30 gallon and leave the 10 empty. I just don't know how I would keep bacteria alive In it if it's my going to be getting ammonia.

This is difficult

 

[Jujubee]

Update
I went ahead and took the anubia completely off of the driftwood and rearranged some of the plants I added my 4 platys and 1 ballon belly molly to the the tank. The 10 gal they were in has 2 nerite snails which I will be moving into my 20 gallon.
The 10 will be a quarantine/sick tank when needed. Everyone is super happy and healthy, my molly swims with the platys like he's one of them it's kind of cute.
I have also been dosing my 20 and 30 with flourish and excel.

I did it for 3 days in a row and haven't today and don't want to for a few days and then dose again, is this okay? Or should I be dosing everyday? The plants in the 20 never gave me problems but just to give the plants a little more. The plants in the 30 are looking great and really perking up. Both tanks also have root tabs!

Thank you again for your help

 

[aqua_chem]

I did it for 3 days in a row and haven't today and don't want to for a few days and then dose again, is this okay? Or should I be dosing everyday? The plants in the 20 never gave me problems but just to give the plants a little more. The plants in the 30 are looking great and really perking up. Both tanks also have root tabs!

Thank you again for your help

That will work fine. I only advised adding it spaced out so that the levels didn't peak to high, but that's not really a huge issue and more of a precautionary step. That being said, if the plants are in with fish now, you might not need to dose any more for the time being.