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I have some plants that are not growing as well as I think they might
and am wondering if the water analysis from my water supplier and
other basic tank
info gives anyone some ideas of what might be wrong. This is my first
planted tank. I have 6-40 W fluorescents over a 50 gal tank, laterite
in the lower third of the substrate (2-3 mm gravel, 3 to 4 in deep),
and CO2 injection to bring pH down to about 6.8 from about 8.0 from
the tap. Here are some other tank parameters;
moderate to heavy fish load
light feeding
Nitrates ~ 10 ppm (Tetra test)
phospates ~ 3 ppm (Seachem) - working on reducing
no ammonia / nitrite
13 dKH, 2-3 dGH (after water softener - starts about 20 dGH)
Water analysis from city (average, ppm)
aluminum .118
arsenic .003
barium .03
chromium .0088
copper+ .029
fluoride .325
iron+ .094
lead .003
manganese+ .012
mercury .00065
nitrate 19.9
selenium .0026
silver .0017
zinc+ .03
chloride 136
sulfate 140
alkalinity 234
calcium 113
carbonate <1
hardness 340
magnesium 28.5
potassium 3
sodium 110
pH 8.0
hydroxide 125
bicarbonate 266
Sword plants and crypts seem to be doing well, though some leaves are
more translucent with veins more pronounced than I see in the books.
Some of the newest sword leaves seem to have very short stems. Hygro.
corymbosa and difformis are doing ok. Pygmy chain swords are sending
out some runners but
the old plants aren't doing much (maybe they aren't supposed to?)
Fine leaved plants like rotala wallichi, mayaca, and green foxtail are
not growing very fast. I have tried anacharis a few times because I
thought it was supposed to
be "easy" to grow but have never had any really grow at all, just
slowly die.
I have been supplementing with the Flourish products as per
directions. Fish seem happy. No algae problems. Tank has been set
up for about 2 months now. Good circulation within tank. Any ideas
from which plants seem to grow well
and which don't? Too much light, C02, ?
Also a few questions about the water analysis. (1) Is the iron likely
to be in the form plants can use? If so, then it seems like the tap
water has enough so that I wouldn't need to supplement (unless iron
tests in the tank show < 0.1 ppm?) (2) Are the nitrates high for
drinking water? Testing tap and tank water indicates nitrates at
about 25 and 12.5 ppm (Tetra test) respectively, showing that the
plants are using some? (3) I get the impression that copper can
sometimes be a problem. What levels are we talking about? Sorry for
the long post and thanks in advance for any ideas of what to
check/try.
Jay Dike
Livermore, CA
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