Help me with these plant problems thanks

[kaz]

if you look at the sword, rotala or widgia and wisteria you can see some of the leafs problems that I have, could this be lack of co2? is this lack of nutrients?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Almost looks like there's a Potassium deficiency there. At least it's part of the problem. Possibly even CO2. But since it's not really heavily planted, I'd have to lean more towards Potassium. But let's see what others say about it, I'm having a similar problem in a smaller tank (5.5G) with my java fern, looks kind of like yours.

 

[Hoovercat]

Looks like you ran out of NO3 at some point to me. It looks like you need root tabs for your swords too. Your java fern has lots of leaves that are broken or have rotted from NO3 being sucked out. Trim off those damaged leaves, they won't get any better. The alternanthera likely wants less light or more CO2 to stop stunting.

 

[kaz]

I test every week and my test comes out 20 to 30 of nitrate, I have one or two fishes that keep eating my leafs I'm assuming the wholes etc are from this.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Don't trust nitrate tests. It can measure 20ppm even when you have almost none. I never test for it. I just dose 3x weekly to keep me in excess, and then do 50% PWC's.

 

[Purrbox]

Well, you can trust test kits BUT ONLY if you've calibrated them. If you haven't taken the time to do this, then your test results are indicators only. When using Test Kits in this manner, trust what the plants tell you over the Test Kits. Heck even if you have calibrated them your plants are a more accurate indicator since the Test Kit can be reading much higher levels than what is actually available to the plants to use. Just because something is present doesn't mean it's in a usable form.

 

[kaz]

I don't do pwc do to keeping the co2 levels without having a bunch of buckets around to change 50% of the water i only do this once a month.
so what you saying it is a nitrate and not a potassium dif?
how do I calibrate my test kits?
I am afriad of overdosing nitrates to the point that it becomes toxic.

 

[Purrbox]

To calibrate your test kits you have to test them against a reference solution (preferable several different ones). How closely your results match the known value of the reference solution will tell you how accurate your test kit is. This then allows you to adjust your test results since you know how far off your test kit is. Since your kit could be more accurate within a certain range, it's best to test several values instead of just one.