Plants still growing, but yellowing

[tsonnenl]

I added purple cabomba and another thick-leaved stem plant that I forget the name of to my tank a month or so ago after my stand debacle. They are growing well, but all new growth is noticably yellower than the lower sections. I have always thought my tank had more of a yellow tint than I wanted, but figured it was because of the tannins in the water and the 6700K bulbs producing a 'yellower' light than I expected, or just because of the off white wall behind the tank. Watching new plants start to yellow, especially the deep green purple cabomba, has opened my eyes.

I have about 50/50 flourite/gravel mix as a substrate, and 2.7 wpg PC lighting. My pH is a perfect 7.0 and nitrAtes are ~10-20 ppm. I need to get a phosphate test, I know.

I'm planning on setting up a pressurized CO2 system in the near future, but I would have thought the growth would have stunted if that was the problem.

I want deep green plants. What's holding me back?

 

[mgkaelen]

i've heard that a yellowing of plants CAN be due to a lack of potassium-- NOT sure if this is what's going on in your situation . are you using any fertilizers? i have fluorite in my 10g tank but i'm pretty sure it can take a few months for the iron rich vitamins in it to really kick in. perhaps buying some FLOURISH would give the plants the vitamins they may be lacking ? wait for some more advice but this could be it ? =]

 

[medge00]

check out rex's faq

 

[gone fishin]

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm

 

[rocky_2197]

If the leaves are growing in yellow then that could be an Iron issue. If the leaves turn yellow then it could be nitrogen. So a dose of flourish couldn't hurt.

 

[TankGirl]

I would suspect iron deficiency, too. You can get a test kit for that, and it is easy to dose.

 

[vega]

Its lack Iron.

HTH

 

[tsonnenl]

New Iron tests reads zero. Flourish iron added today. Thanks for the helpful responses.

 

[Guest]

Flourish really won't help solve a lack of either nitrogen or iron. And iron test kits are worthless for the most part.

What is your total fertilizer dosing regime?

 

[tsonnenl]

I have to admit, there isn't much of any fertilizing regimen. Until I noticed the yellowing, I had been getting good growth and good color in almost all plants with no liquid fertilizers at all and was happy with that.

I would hope flourish IRON that I added today would actually add iron. I also picked up the regular flourish and dosed that today as well. I'm hoping that does the trick, but you don't sound too optimistic...

What is your fertilizing regimen? I imagine its pretty thorough.

 

[Guest]

Which tank? I have five planted tanks. I cover one of my tanks in my FAQ.

 

[TankGirl]

What is your fertilizing regimen? I imagine its pretty thorough.

I'll go ahead and answer for Rex, read his FAQ, it is pretty comprehensive and self-explanatory.

I dose iron even though I use Fluorite substrate and I don't have yellowing, and my Seachem iron test does give me consistent results.

However, I think if you do not dose iron and you have yellowing, and are otherwise on top of the other important levels (potassium, phosphate, nitrate and CO2) then toss some iron in there. If you see improvement, stick with the added iron. If you don't, look for another cause.