What am I missing?

[Fubie]

Hello everyone. I am having some leaf die off and growth issues with my plants and I need to know what I am missing. First off here are my stats:

10G planted (Anacharis, Microsword, Java Fern, Java Moss)
3 WPG CF 6700K (Screw in type, not long tubes)
7.0 pH
0 ppm ammonia
0 ppm nitrites
10 ppm nitrates
0-.25 ppm phosphates
7º KH
8º GH
78º-80º F
30% PWC once a week

Here is my fertilization schedule:
2L CO2 generator attached to a Hagan ladder
1 ml of Flourish Excel daily
1 ml of Flourish Iron 2 times a week
1 ml of Flourish 3 times a week
3 Flourish tabs spaced evenly in the gravel around the tank

I am really noticing the problems with my Anacharis, which has plenty of new growth but the lower/older sections of each plant have leaves that are turning translucent and falling apart. TankGirl has already suggested that I dose with some Flourish Nitrogen which I now have on order. Am I missing anything or is all well and Anacharis does this? Thanks.

[Purrbox]

My guess is that the current problems are due to low Nitrates and/or Phosphates. The Phosphates is a bit low. Target should be 10:1 Nitrate to Phosphates.

You might want to pick up some Potassium as well, since I didn't see that you are dosing it yet. I don't think that it is likely to be your problem right now, but as long as you are going to dose the other macros you might as well have this one on hand as well.

[Apocalypse_Gold]

My anacharis always did that. I think that is expected. Stem plants usually have quite a bit of die-off.

[Fubie]

Thanks Purrbox. I've read about the 10:1 Nitrate to Phosphate but I wasn't sure if mine was causing my problem.

Apocalypse_Gold when you pruned your Anacharis did you just snip below where the new growth started and replant?

[travis simonson]

I suspect it is your Flourish Excel supplementation that is hurting your Anacharis. Anacharis is extremely sensitive to things like formaldehyde. From what I understand Flourish Excel contains a cousin of formaldehyde called glutaraldehyde. Glutaraldehyde is typically beneficial for aquarium plants but Anacharis is sensitive to it and can be harmed by high enough levels of it. Here is what the Seachem site says about it:

Q: I've been using Flourish Excel for the 4 days, and I've noticed that my Anacharis seems to be dying, while my other plants are doing fine. Why is this?
A: Anacharis is a particularly sensitive species (known to be sensitive to high temperature, trace copper, formaldehyde etc.). It is also sensitive to Flourish Excel. If you have Anacharis in an aquarium in which you are dosing Flourish Excel we recommend using Flourish Excel every other day rathter than daily.

HTH

[Fubie]

Wow travis nice find. Thank you. How did you find that BTW? As TankGirl said in another thread of mine I really don't need to add Excel with the new DIY CO2 I have so I'll stop immediately and see what happens. Right now it looks like the oldest/lowest part of some of the plants are a complete loss. I'll prune those and replant. I have completely lost several though. I'm glad I asked for and got some fast help. Thank you.

[travis simonson]

I seemed to recall reading something about Excel and Anacharis not playing well together on Seachem's website a few months ago. I've spent a lot of time reading the details about Seachem's products on their website because: 1] They have one of the best designed, most informative websites I've ever seen; 2] I've always been a big fan of their products - they are well-researched, tested, and really do what they claim; 3] I'm hoping a Seachem rep reads this glowing testimonial and loads me down with free schwag :P

[Fubie]

Heh, I knew the motivator wasn't just me and my questions...

[workfortheman]

Wow, i'm impressed Travis, kudos!

[greenmaji]

I say try to find the seachem rep and give em this link.. travis needs some free swag! :P

[malkore]

Travis is stealing my bluster again.
Here's some more info from a Seachem rep about Excel and its adverse effect on a few plant species.
http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5216

Anachris seems to start going downhill the instant I add any amount of Excel to a tank. Vals seemed less damaged, it was more like their growth was stunted...they wouldn't spread out across the substrate until I stopped dosing Excel for several weeks.

[Purrbox]

Kudos Travis! Now that you've brought that up I remember that there were some plants that didn't do well, since I don't keep any of those species it went completely out of my mind.

Fubie, from everything I've read low Nitrates and low Phosphates have some very similar symptoms, which is why I brought up that as a possible cause. When one of my tanks was low on Nitrates (and later Phosphates) I saw the plants turning light brown and then translucent. Just gotta love it when plants show symptoms that could be multiple things!

Anyway, I'd probably lean towards Travis's conclusion, and try that before beginning to dose anything new. Of course this is from the person that is very good at trying several things at once, so of course ending up not knowing for sure which one worked in the end!

[Fubie]

Here's a quick update. I haven't does Excel in two days. My test this evening showed:

7.0 pH
0 ppm ammonia
0 ppm nitrites
10 ppm nitrates
.25-.5 ppm phosphates
7º KH

I have lost a significant portion of my Anacharis though. Probably around 75 percent. As I read in some other threads, both here and other links provided, my plants appear to be "melting" away. The newest growth on some of the plants looks like it might survive, but tomorrow I'll be doing a lot of pulling. This is really to bad because I had heard such good things about Excel. The rest of my plants look like they are doing great though.