Should/could I be dosing ferts??

[mommytron]

I've got a 20gallon tall tank, right now at the end of the cycle. i switched the light in the fixture to an 18" 15W 6500k bulb (no CO2). i've got 2 anubias (one nana), a few chunks of java fern on the driftwood, and a wendtii. the plants have been looking a bit droopy so i put the fixture from my 10gal on top as well, which has an 18" 15W 8000k bulb in it. the plants seem to have perked up a bit since i added the second fixture, but they still don't look as good as they could. i was wondering if there are any ferts i could be dosing with?? i was looking into Flourish Excel, and was wondering if that would be OK with my set up, and if there are any other ferts, like iron, i should be dosing as well?? TIA

 

[meegosh]

Are the plants showing any deficiencies? That will be your guideline as to what is lacking. I would say with the plants you have you probably won't need to dose anything. Unless you add some more demanding plants or more light you should be fine.

 

[mommytron]

i think there is a deficiency of some sort. i just barely noticed a new leaf on the larger anubias and it is quite yellow. all but one of the leaves on the nana seem to be brittle and tearing and have brown looking stuff all over them. a few leaves on the larger anubias look like this as well. the wendtii actually looks pretty good, but the java ferns, although they are nice and green, a few leaves have brown spots/holes in them.

am i gonna kill these plants like every other house plant i've ever had???? i figured they'd be OK because it's not like i can forget to water them!!! which is the cause of demise for all other plants in my care.

 

[taylorodw]

Plant Deficiency Picture Diagram - Fertilizing - Aquatic Plant Central

Sounds like phosphate deficiency, although it could be iron/nitrogen as well.

Hope that link helps!

 

[meegosh]

Thanks for posting that taylor, I was looking for that yesterday when I replied. I really have to sort my aquarium related bookmarks...

What are your nitrates? Are you bottoming out your KNO3? I'm leaning towards that more than phosphates but that could also be the cause I suppose. If the whole plant - not just new leaves - are turning yellow then it is most likely a lack of iron.

 

[Lowryder]

I would definatly use seachem excel as yout dont have co2.

 

[mommytron]

thanks lowryder. i am planning to pick some excel up this saturday. thanks for the input everyone. i just read in another thread that bubble walls can take CO2 out of the water, so we immediately shut it off. i think that is a huge part of it. the plants looked even worse this morning. the java ferns are definitely dying. so we shut off the bubble wall, and also the second fixture we recently added. we think it was stressing our new cardinal tetras out so we just have the one 15w bulb now. i hope they get better, like i said we also plan to start adding Flourish Excel this weekend so hopefully that helps

 

[timwag2001]

running an airstone doesnt remove co2 that isnt injected. the co2 level in your tank will be very close to the co2 level in the ambiant air above the tank.

new leaves on anubias are usually yellow untill the chloroplast get a chance to get going. give it a little time and it'll green up

i would love to see some pics as it will make a diagnosis much easier.
if it is a nutrient def it would have to be a long term/serious def for a slow growing plant such as an anubias to show a def.

also i wouldnt expect to see dead, dying, or leaves with holes in them to recover. some nutrients are called mobile nutrients. when there is new growth that needs a certain nutrient that it isnt receiving, the plant will transport that desired nutrient from an older leave. for instance potassium is a mobile nutrient and will leave little needle holes in old leaves.
also the plant just may not form correctly as it grows if it doesnt have access to new nutrients.