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Re: nutrient deficiency?
Refering to my poor Egeria densa, Steve Pushak wrote:
> Sounds more like calcium or even boron. were you adding chelated Fe at
> all? Lack of green makes me think of nitrogen."."."
The light color isn't typical for calcium deficiency instances I've seen
and the growth, while slow and unusually compact is not deformed, which I
think is typical for calcium deficiency.
I add ferrous gluconate but only to the substrate. As Ms. Pastor pointed
out a couple months ago and my experience supports, fertilizer added to
the substrate tends to stay where you put it. I didn't add ferrous
gluconate to the substrate below the Egeria.
The light color could be attributed to nitrogen deficiency, but I don't
think it is. I didn't mention this in my original letter, but I tested
for nitrate before posting the question. My Wardley nitrate kit indicates
that nitrate is present, but at a level at or just below 10 mg/l - the
lowest color value on its chart.
I have Tetra and Aquarium Pharmaceuticals nitrate tests as well and in the
past I've often used all three when I tested for nitrate. The Tetra and
Wardley kits agree and the A.P. test never detects nitrate in this tank. I
only ran the Wardley this time. I recall Roxanne Bitmann tested several
kits and concluded the Wardly was a was a good nitrate test for the price.
At any rate, if the test is right and there's nitrate present then it's
unlikely to be a nitrogen deficiency.
Roger Miller
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