Happy Plants becoming Unhappy!

[Mr. Breeze]

Why are my plants showing brown spots?

Everything has been fine, but gradually over the last 8 weeks the water must be changing and consequently impacting my plants. I can't figure out what is causing this?

Vals are thinner and some turn brown and fall off
Java fern has brown spots
Wysteria growth has slowed and is very pale in color

Should I crank up the CO2?

Ph is 7.4, pretty stable there
Alkalinity is high
Water is very soft

29 gal aquarium

Light has been the same at 3.3 watts/gal

25% water change at 2 weeks.

Using Leaf Zone 5 ml/10 gal with water change

Things were doing fine, aquarium has plenty of growth in it, too much? No real algae issues either.

Thanks

 

[fort384]

What is your nitrate testing at?

What size tank, and what kind of lights? (color temp, bulb type, etc).

 

[Mr. Breeze]

29 Gal

Nitrate not evident based on dip stick

(2) T5 24w Gieseman Aquafloral 6500K - 12hr
(1) T5 24w Gieseman Midday Sun 6000k - 6hr
(1) T5 24w Pure Actinic - 6hr

Thanks

 

[fort384]

Ok...

Since you are only dosing leaf zone, and your nitrates are not readable, at least one of your issues is your tank has a lack of available nitrogen for uptake. You are running CO2 and pretty good lighting, and now that your tank has been setup for a while, it is going to be time to dose more than leaf zone, which is just a micro and K supplement. You need to supply N, and I would also guess your tank would benefit from some P dosing.

Your symptoms are also pointing to a possible N deficiency.

To dose N and P, you can either buy Seachem Flourish N and Seachem Flourish P to dose along with your leaf zone, or you can buy some dry ferts, KNO3 (Potassium Nitrate), and KH2PO4 (Mono Potassium Phosphate). Those you can get online at a site like Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - , , , , Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - , ,. If you go the dry route, might as well pick up some KSO4 (Potassium Sulfate, to dose K) and some Plantex CSM+B (to dose micro nutrients). A small bag of each will last you years of dosing in a 29 with 48 useable watts of t5ho lighting.

 

[Mr. Breeze]

I guess I need a more sophisticated plant feeding regimen. Any preference in using liquid or tablets?

What is your recommended dosage for P and N?

I currently use 5ml/10gal of leaf Zone once a week.

My concern has always been overdosing.

Thanks

 

[fort384]

You aren't going to find tablets that are going to meet your dosing needs for your particular setup. You have medium high to high light and CO2. I recommend getting away from liquid mixes and using your own dry powder mixes so you can individually dose micros and N, P, and K.

Don't worry about overdosing leafzone... that stuff is pretty innocuous. You could probably drink the whole bottle without many side effects, thought I wouldn't recommend that

As far as what dosing method to use and how much to dose, I cannot answer. It will depend greatly on a lot of different factors. For example, I dose 4 different mixes once a day, 7 days a week.

As far as targets, I like to shoot for 20+ PPM K, 0.5-1 PPM PO4, 10-20 PPM NO3 (unless I am intentionally N-limiting a tank).

To get an idea on different dosing techniques and methods, and to get an idea of quantities to dose, google the following:

Estimative Index
PPS Pro
Target Dosing

There is a lot of theory out there. I have tried em all (or most of em anyway). They all work. They all have positives and negatives. Estimative Index (EI) dosing might be the easiest to start with for someone new to a high tech tank. It is pretty fool proof.

 

[fort384]

Also, moved thread to: Freshwater & Brackish - Planted Tanks

 

[Mr. Breeze]

Thanks, I think I just entered a new universe.

 

[fort384]

The other option here would be to get rid of 1 of the 2 spectrum bulbs and cut your tank back to 24W of useable light and go low light and put in some root tabs. None of the plants you are currently trying to grow are particularly demanding - high light/high tech is not required, unless you plant to add more demanding plants down the road.

That's not to say your plants won't benefit should you go the high tech route. Java fern and vals can be amazing in a high light environment once a tank is well established and balanced. Wisteria I can't speak for, never personally grown it. I know it isn't demanding though.

 

[Mr. Breeze]

Can I intern at your house for a month to learn all of this?

When you get the dry mix, do you mix with water and have (4) different bottles you dose from? I am a little confused by all the options.

Would it be easier to go with the Excel P and N and see what happens?

OR

Are results better guaranteed dosing from the dry mix bags from your recommended website?

Thanks gain for your quick responses.

 

[abrahamavelar]

Ill do the co2 and have u tried any other ferts, I like seachem products, are u using root tabs, cool looking tank tho

 

[skiweeangel]

Sorry I can't really offer any advice. But I did want to say your tank is amazing!

 

[Mr. Breeze]

My hunch is that as the plants have matured, there is a greater need for ferts.

I have used Leaf Zone pretty much with a little Seachem Potassium, but I am very conservative.

I need to get on a dosing regimen that the experience aquascapers must use.

 

[abrahamavelar]

U could diy some root tabs and ferts

 

[fort384]

The results will be the same - Seachem P and and N are just a lot more expensive... probably 100 times more expensive if you calculate how many bottles of your own mix you can make with distilled water and a baggie of KNO3 etc. But Seachem P is just KH2PO4 mixed with water. Seachem N is KNO3 mixed with water. They are charging you 100 X more to fill it with H2O . There is a convenience factor though, and when I started out I used them... so go that route if it makes you more comfortable.

How you mix them and in how many bottles again depends on how you dose, but yes it is much easier to put the dry mix in a bottle and mix it with distilled water as opposed to trying to dry dose the powder directly into the tank (although I know people that do that). You need a gram scale (cheap digital ones on ebay are less than $10) and some way to measure water to the nearest 10mL or so. That would get you close enough.

No need to intern at my house, just stick around the forum . I learned pretty much everything I know about planted tanks from members of this forum. Lots of folks around here know what they are doing. Just takes asking questions and reading. You will get comfortable with the concepts of N, P, K, micros, what to look for with certain deficiencies, etc with a little experience.

 

[fort384]

Merged Duplicate threads to 1 thread.

 

[Mr. Breeze]

OK, let me know if this makes sense if I go the liquid route.

M, W, Fri 10 drops of NO3, 2 drops of Trace

Tu, Thr and Sat 2 drops of PO4 and SO4

What about the Iron, should I still use Leaf Zone once a week?

Thanks,

Mr. Breeze

 

[fort384]

You can use leafzone once a week, or you can get flourish Fe so you aren't dosing extra micros with it.

That dosing seems a little light, but it has been a long time since I have read the directions on the flourish macro bottles.

 

[Mr. Breeze]

Well I went with the EI dosing:

20-40 Gallon Aquariums
+/- ¼ tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- 1/16 tsp (5ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

I converted the teaspoons into drops and that is what I came up with.

Unless my math is wrong, that is what the dosing looks like. Any final thoughts? You have been very helpful, thanks again.

Mr. Breeze

 

[fort384]

tsp of dry powder and drops of liquid seachem do not convert. The seachem ferts are very diluted to probably 10% solution or less - so effectively you would probably need to multiply your dosing above by 10 X - though you would need to figure out exactly what the concentration of each of the solutions is before you could do that.