Plants Stretching

[Guest]

Ever since I added a third 2l bottle to my DIY Co2 system and built a powerhead type reactor for my 55gal, the Ph has been steady at around 7 and Kh has been 6. If I am correct, this gives me approx 20ppm Co2. But a couple of my plants(name unknown) have been stretching towords the the lights and turning slightly yellowish. The swords seem like they are growing 2 inches a day, if not more.

110w flouro
Dose with Seachems Flourish

The plant stretching the most started out as a short bushy dark green and soon will be to the top of the tank. Is this a nutrient problem? Another note, my nitrates are really low. Thanks for any help or comments.

 

[7Enigma]

Ever since I added a third 2l bottle to my DIY Co2 system and built a powerhead type reactor for my 55gal, the Ph has been steady at around 7 and Kh has been 6. If I am correct, this gives me approx 20ppm Co2. But a couple of my plants(name unknown) have been stretching towords the the lights and turning slightly yellowish. The swords seem like they are growing 2 inches a day, if not more.

110w flouro
Dose with Seachems Flourish

The plant stretching the most started out as a short bushy dark green and soon will be to the top of the tank. Is this a nutrient problem? Another note, my nitrates are really low. Thanks for any help or comments.

If you are only dosing Flourish, potassium is probably your biggest threat to deficiency. I would recommend Greg Watson's dry ferts, as your tank is large enough that they will pay for themselves very quickly (I assume your dosing quite a bit of Flourish to properly trace fertilize your tank).

You have fast growers, so they are sucking up HUGE amounts of nutrients from your tank. That is great for algae purposes (if nutrients are ample), but if not dosed properly, you can have a massive algae outbreak.

I'd suggest a potassium source (potassium sulfate), a nitrogen source (potassium nitrAte), a better trace source (CSM+B). You also *MIGHT* need a phosphate source depending on how much your food supplies (I don't add phosphate unless a huge PWC is done as my food supplies enough). If you need it monopotassium phosphate is a good choice.

What is the GH of your tank? While not near as important usually as the others, if your GH is low you can also bottom out on magnesium and calcium if you wait too long on a PWC.

How's that algae experiment? I'll be starting a new thread shortly with final results, but mine have been very good...

 

[rich311k]

I would start with potassium. How much Flourish are you adding?

Stems do tend to grow to the top and the leaves space out, when they are not getting enough light. Do you have a picture of them? How closely planted are they?

 

[Hara]

I am curious, why would nobody think it is a lighting issue? Dont plants tend to get leggy with less light? I would wonder if the plant started out bushy as a new addition but is growing leggy after settling in..
Probably a stupid comment..but I am interested in the response as to how it is a nutrient deficiency vs light deficiency. I still havent figured this stuff out.



edited to add that I totally missed rich's comment on lighting..oops

 

[Purrbox]

Hara - I have to agree that the legginess sounds like a light deficiency. Either there isn't light for this plant over the tank, or the stems are planted to closely together, or another plant(s) has grown such that this plant is shadowed too much. The yellowing on the otherhand could be due to insufficient light or a nutrient deficiency.

A full round of tests would show what the CO2 levels are (KH and pH) and if there is a macro deficiency of either NO3 or PO4. With this setup it would definately be advisable to start dosing Potassium reguardless.

 

[Guest]

Pics. The one with the clown loach shows this plant is near the top of the tank, you can see yellow and brown. The red square is the stretch and the yellow square is how it started out. I dose every other day with two capfuls of Flourish. Water changes are once a week @ 30%.

 

[rich311k]

Is that asian ambulia? The coloring is normal, it will do that as the light gets brighter toward the top. The bottom spacing is due to the plant bottom not getting enough light.

 

[Guest]

If you are only dosing Flourish, potassium is probably your biggest threat to deficiency. I would recommend Greg Watson's dry ferts, as your tank is large enough that they will pay for themselves very quickly (I assume your dosing quite a bit of Flourish to properly trace fertilize your tank).

You have fast growers, so they are sucking up HUGE amounts of nutrients from your tank. That is great for algae purposes (if nutrients are ample), but if not dosed properly, you can have a massive algae outbreak.

I'd suggest a potassium source (potassium sulfate), a nitrogen source (potassium nitrAte), a better trace source (CSM+B). You also *MIGHT* need a phosphate source depending on how much your food supplies (I don't add phosphate unless a huge PWC is done as my food supplies enough). If you need it monopotassium phosphate is a good choice.

What is the GH of your tank? While not near as important usually as the others, if your GH is low you can also bottom out on magnesium and calcium if you wait too long on a PWC.

Ok, looking into Greg Watsons dry ferts, potassium sulfate/nitrate and CSM+B. I will have to get a GH test kit and look at Plant Geeks to see if this plant is Asian Ambulia.

 

[Hara]

so aqurius, what is the lighting situation on your tank? I did not see it listed in your profile.

 

[fish_4_all]

55 gallon tank with 110 watts fluorecent.

 

[Guest]

Yes, 55 gal, 110w floro's, GE aquarium bulbs from the hardware store.

Edit:
I looked up asian ambulia at plant geeks and thats not it. Im not sure what it is because when I bought it from PetSmart, it was not labled. It reminds me of pine tree needles or like some shrubs I see in peoples yards. It was a nice green color and now it's losing it and shooting straight up.

 

[875mill]

I'm going to guess it is because of the extra C02 you added. Your plants are growing faster now so the space between the nodes is greater. My cabomba (which looks very similar to that) does the same thing. In my 29 gall with 2.5 wpg and 25-30 ppm c02 it is very leggy, but in my 20 with 1.5 wpg and no co2 it is pretty compact.

 

[Guest]

I looked up cabomba and thats not it. Cabomba(according to plantgeeks) is a difficult plant to grow needing high light and a nutrient rich substrate. I found my plant and it is called hornwort. It is a low light plant that is good for removing excess nutrients from the tank and grows faster when exposed to higher light, so it looks like that may be the problem. It will stay low and compact under low light condidtions.

Aside from the nutrients I am going to advance, it appears that the stretching is due to the type of plant and lighting I have, which coincidently took off under increased Co2. I will just trim it back down to size to keep it under control.