nutrient deficiency?

[kagentx]

hi, my tank has been running wonderfully for quite some time now and i do regular 25% water change weekly. its a 50 gallon tank heavily planted i think. the pictures are in my gallery . Anyways, i've started to notice these black algae, or maybe withering on the edge of some plants not all. My red rubin grows weird leafs where it starts out skinny with no leaf and opens up only when it reaches about 5 inches high. It seems the growth is stunned? I have a pressurized Co2 system so that shouldn't be the problem since its on 2 bubbles a second... any help will be nice

 

[gheitman]

Do you have any information on how much lighting you have and what your nutrient levels are? What kind and amount of fertilizers do you use to dose your tank? If you have more than 2 watts per gallon (assumed since you are using a CO2 system) then you may be suffering from a nutrient imbalance. Stunted growth is sometimes a sign of insufficient phosphorus.

 

[malkore]

that's how red melons put out new leaves...it comes out looking like just a thick stem, then eventually the leaf 'un-rolls'. As long as the leaf looks normal once it opens, it doesn't sound stunted.

50 gallon tank
lighting?
nitrate?
phosphate?
CO2 levels? (2bps means nothing)
trace/iron dosing?

gotta have all the facts before I can weigh in.

 

[BillD]

Rubins are not Melons, last time I looked. Melon has round leafe, Rubin long thin leaf. Can't think of the species name for melon at the moment.

 

[malkore]

I need my vision checked. I totally read 'melon' when he obviously posted 'rubin'.

however, my questions on tank parameters remain