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Re: ca defficiency in swords
elie wrote:
> recently my amazon sword, which has been rapidly growning ever
> larger,seems to have developed a calcium defficiency.
> the leaves are all crinkled and bent.
For me, sword plants are always the most prone to Ca deficiency.
> all of my stem plants with "arial" roots and other water column feeders
> seem unaffected.
Giant Hygro (H. Corymbosa, I think) is prone to calcium deficiency in my
tanks; Ammania senegalensis proved to be very sensitive and Limnophila
may have occasional problems. Most other plants seem immune.
> So my question is what is the best way
> to deliver Ca to the roots of my sword? I was planning
> on just shoving a piece of eggshell into the substrate
> by its roots. will this be effective? anyone?
That might work. I use 500 mg calcium tablets, cut in half and pushed
into the substrate near the base of the plant. The first new leaf the
plant develops after the treatment is always free of distortions.
Already deformed leaves won't recover.
The tablets I use fall apart under water fairly quickly. Egg shells and
other possible sources (oyster shells or other sea shells, marble chips,
aragonite sand, etc) won't fall apart and probably won't dissolve as
quickly, but they may provide an effective dose for longer.
Out of curiosity, how hard (GH) is your water?
Roger Miller