Sword plant problem.

[Mdmike52]

Hi. I recently started a small 34 gallon freshwater tank. It has heavy filtration and the chiller which I keep at 72 degrees. It is inhabited by mostly cold water fish about 12 Rosy Red Minnows two goldfish and 2 weather loaches and a few plants in pots. The largest plant is I believe called a sword plant with large oval leaves. I don't think it's doing very well. A few of its leaves are turning thin like paper and very light green. A few others are getting a dark algae growth on them and a few look okay. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. The tank was filled with RO water so I suspect a nutrition problem but I don't know what to do about it. Thanks Mike

 

[Mebbid]

Is there a reason you're doing straight RO water on the tank? It usually causes more problems than it solves.

Are you using any root tabs?

 

[ahmad.echols]

Either you need some nutrient rich substrate or you need to dose nutrients and also your tank is way over stocked goldfish need at least a 55 gallon tank

 

[Mdmike52]

Hi Mebbid and Ahmad thanks for replying. First the RO water I thought was better for the fish. I wasn't even considering the plants. I have my own Ro system for my saltwater fish tanks. I did put in a small piece of a pond plant food spikes in the bottom of each pot before I potted them. Is there a liquid nutrient I could get that won't cause a Giant algae bloom in my tank? Do you have a suggestion there?
As War the overcrowding yes I know it's a pretty heavy bioload. To be honest it's a semi temporary set up to test out the Tank & Equipment in hopes of possibly converting to a reef tank in six months or so. It is a used Red Sea C-130 so I got the Rosy Red Minnows to test for contamination which there was none. Besides the onboard filtration provided by the C-130 I also have running a Fluval G6 filter TECO TK 1000 chiller and a turbo twist X6 sterilizer and water quality so far is not a problem except or the lack of nutrients for the plants. I don't have much experience with plants so could you fill me in on a few details of the nutrients? Thanks. Mike

 

[Mebbid]

Reverse osmosis takes all the nutrients out of the water. It's excellent for salt water for algae issues but for fresh water there isn't anything to replenish those missing minerals.

As for substrate fertilization, take a look at this thread that I made a while back.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/mebbids-diy-root-tabs-308735.html

Osmocote + is being produced again so that would probably be the best option for substrate fertilizer.

For liquid fertilizer, seachem flourish would likely be sufficient until you get a lot of plants growing at once. Then you will need to look into something else such as mixing your own fertilizer and using a dosing regimen such as PPS Pro or EI dosing.

 

[Mdmike52]

Thank you so much. That gives me a lot of good options. Next water change I will use tap water and dechlor. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks

 

[Mebbid]

Thank you so much. That gives me a lot of good options. Next water change I will use tap water and dechlor. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks

I wouldn't do more than a 25% water change when adding in tap water, the change could be harmful to the fish if you did a large water change.

 

[Mdmike52]

I wouldn't do more than a 25% water change when adding in tap water, the change could be harmful to the fish if you did a large water change.

Okay will do. Thanks

 

[Pschmitt]

If you want to using your RO unit, you can add this product to add back all minerals and trace elements.
https://www.marinedepot.com/Kent_Ma...rium_Products-Kent_Marine-KM5331-FIFW-vi.html

 

[Mdmike52]

Very cool. I will check that out. Thanks a lot.