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Re: Problem Tank to Paul Sears
> * To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
> * Subject: Re: problem tank
> * From: psears at NRCan_gc.ca (Paul Sears)
> * Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 10:31:23 -0400 (EDT)
> * In-Reply-To: <199607180739.DAA21238 at looney_actwin.com> from
> "Aquatic-Plants-Owner at ActWin_com" at Jul 18, 96 03:39:02 am
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> > From: John Lobingier <jlob at wpa_net>
> > Subject: Problem Plant Tank
> > Conditions before I had problems: 55 gallon tank. One 40 watt Vitalite.
> > One large, beautiful, and healthy 5 year old Amazon Sword. This sword plant
> > has been in this tank for 3 years without one problem under these conditions.
> > GH= 3dh; KH= .5 to 1dh; Nitrate: 25 mg/l; pH= 6.0. No CO2 injection
> > provided. Fairly heavily stocked with Angelfish. Filter media= Efimech,
> > efigrob, efisubstrat and efiflavin, Dick Boyd's Chemi-Pure, and filter
> > floss. Algae= very light amount of green spot, and hair algae algae on the
> > glass only. Fertilizers= Dupla laterite and Tetra Hilena Crypto tablets (
> > 1-0-25 ).
> The one amazon sword was presumably getting enough nutrients.
> The bulk elements came from the fish food and the tablets, and the trace
> elements came from the fish food. The lighting was pretty weak, so one
> plant cannot have used very much in the way of nutrients. How often
> did you regenerate/change the Chemi-Pure? If it was active it would have
> consumed both GH and micronutrients, if it was old and dead, it would
> have caused no problems.
Hi Paul, Thank you for the help. I would replace the Chemi-Pure on an
average of every 3 to 4 months. The company claims it is good for 6
months. There were times that I left it go for almost 6 months before I
replaced it. Per advice from the list I am not using the Chemi-Pure at
all now. This Chemi-Pure thing has me thinking. I can't remeber it
consuming the GH is this tank when I used it in the past. Maybe since I
have put more plants in my tank recently the plants consumed the GH? Is
that possible? I don't know. I am trying to think of everything. The
problems I am having with this tank are frustrating.
> > Present Problem Plant Tank Conditions: same 55 gallon tank. 120 watts of
> > light provided by 1 Penn Plax Ultra Tri-Lux, 1 Coralife Trichromatic, and
> > one Vitalite. CO2 provided by the yeast sugar method at one bubble per
> > second. CO2 is bubbled into the intake my Eheim canister filter. Algae=
> > very light amount of green spot and hair algae on the glass only. Plants=
> > the same old ( 1 ) Amazon sword, 1 wyteria, 3 hrgrophila polys, 2 very small
> > Java Ferns, 2 Onion Plants, 2 Apons. These plants were all tried out (
> > experimental reasons mostly ) because I have made drastic chages in my tank
> > lighting level and CO2 conditions. With these changes in place I wanted to
> > see what would happen before I make a large plant purchase through a
> > mailorder company.
> > Fish Presently In This Tank: a mixture of tetras, some dwarf cichlids, 4
> > clown loaches, ottos, and cory cats.
> > Present readings: GH= 2dh; KH= 3.5dh; Nitrate= 12.5 mg/l; pH= 6.6; Tank
> > temp= 80 to 82 degrees F. Per advice from the list I have been adding baking
> > soda to bring my KH level up from the prior reading of .5 to 1dh. The KH
> > has now been at 3.5dh.
> > Per advice from the list I removed the Dick Boyd's Chemi-Pure because some
> > people thought that it was the reason for my GH level dropping from 3dh to
> > .5dh. I do realize it can and will remove nutrients from the water.
> > Chemi-Pure has been eliminated and even after making water chages, the GH
> > level is still not where it always used to be at. It used to be at 3dh, but
> > is now at 2dh.
> How many water changes have you made, how large were they, and
> what is the GH of the water you add? Was the Chemi-Pure new when it went
> in?
I have made three water changes since I stopped using the Chemi-Pure.
They were 50%, 50%, and 75% water changes. The GH of the tap water I add
to the tank is 3 to 3.5dh. Yes, the Chemi-Pure was new when I had it in.
> > Prior Conditions Before Following Advice From the List: Lighting= the same;
> > CO2= the same; GH = a 3dh reading that eventually dropped to .5dh; KH= .5;
> > pH= 6.0 Nitrates= 25 mg/l.
> > Fertilizers I have on hand and have used= Dupla laterite balls, Tetra Flora
> > Pride ( solubale potash 3%; and iron 0.02% ) and Tetra Hilena Cryto ( 1-0-25
> > ) tablets, Aquarium Products Pond fertilizer with potash, chelated iron,
> > manganese sulfate, and zinc sulfate. Analysis of Aquarium Products
> > fertilizer:
> > Total Nitrogen= 0.00%, Available Phosphoric Acid= 0.00%, Soluble Potash= 1.00%
> > Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Aquatic Plant Stimulant with: manganese, zinc, copper,
> > iron, molybdenum, and boron.
> > Plant Conditions: Hygro poly and wysteria= leaves pale becoming clear; leaf
> > veins stay mostly green before these "bad" leaves desinegrate and fall off.
> > My once old and healthy Amanzon Sword= gets yellow/brown spots on the inner
> > sections of the leaves only. The tips and edges do not go bad. Onion
> > Plant= just fine. Java Fern= just fine.
> Make sure these plants get enough K, N and trace elements, and they
> should be all right. Use the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Stimulant for the
> trace elements (it has the major 6). The Flora Pride can be used for
> potassium (albeit _very_ expensively), but is pretty well useless for iron,
> as it uses ferric sulphate if I remember correctly. You have plenty
> of nitrogen for now.
The Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Plant Stimulant is labeled for Pond use, but
the company told me it is also good to use for an indoor plant aquarium.
How true that is I do not know. The directions say to use one teaspoon
full ( 5 ml ) of this product for each 100 gallons of water every 2 weeks.
Now, because I have 120 watts of light and CO2 for this 55 gallon tank,
should I be adding this fertilizer more frequently? Like everyday, or
every other day like the PMDD? Should I be confident with the ingredients
that make up this Aquarium Pharmaceticals fertilizer, or is it missing
something?
> > Recovery of Plants: I took all of the hygro poly and wysteria that was
> > going down hill and placed them in the following condtions. These conditions
> > reversed the problems with these plants. These once "bad" plants have made
> > a full recovery in the following conditions.
> > Conditions: 30 gallon long tank; Water Temp: 80 degrees F. One 20 watt
> > Coralife Trichromatic bulb; no CO2 injection provided; Fish= small number of
> > inbabitants. GH= 3dh; KH= .5 to 1dh; pH 6.0; and two very healthy amazon
> > swords already occupying this tank.
> > Results: The leaf sections of the hygro poly and wysteria that were pale and
> > clear have almost completly "filled" back in with green color. They are
> > growing slow, but steadily. I admitt that the very most bottom leaves of
> > the hygro poly and wysteria have turned yellow and gone bad, but the other
> > parts of these plants are very healthy now.
> They are getting very little light in this tank! Maybe the nutrient
> supply in there is adequate for the poor light conditions.
> Paul Sears Ottawa, Canada
I agree this tank gets very little light, but I can't argue with the
results. I have two swords in this tank that have lived under these
conditions for 5 years and they are beautiful. I would like my 55 gallon
tank with all of this new (120 watts ) light and CO2 to be like this tank.
It has been suggested to me that I add one drop of iodine per 12.5 gallons
of water to this tank everyday. Is iodine safe for plants and fish? What
will iodine do for the plants? I do not know what the liquid measurement
for one "drop" would be. Thank you for your help.
John