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Nutrient problems
Hello Folks
I haven't posted here in a while.
Having some problems with some plants so let me list them first.
Hydrocotyle verticillata
Ludwigia repens x arcuata
Limnophila spec.
Microsorium pteropus
Some kind of rigid Crypt? Lutea?
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Pistia stratiotes
Bilbotis spec.
Hygrophila polysperma
Anubias barteri
Aponogeton madagascarensis
Didiplis diandra
Micranthemum spec.
Problems:
Pistia: Old leaves turning yellow and melting, no shoots, and roots
black and decaying (particularly the tips).
Potassium? Winter dormancy?
Java Fern: Black spots after months of gorgeous green growth
Hygrophila and Micranthemum: Decent condition but no high level growth
in about a year. Micranthemum has been the worst with stunted growth.
These are the two oldest plants that used to grow like weeds. There is
no discoloration, no dying, just no growth.
I used to use straight lead weights but two years ago switched
to Plasti-Coating them. Could they still be suffering from lead
poisoning this long?
Didiplis: Plant grows a beautiful lush dense green growth for about a
month, and then slows down. Leaves turn black and fall off followed by a
month of beautiful red growth. Red leaves die and green growth occurs.
Ad Infinitum.
(This plant is my favorite. I want this to stop.)
Ludwigia: Goes from decent growth to stunted growth cycles, right now
leaves are showing signs of white spots and shoots are submerged yet
look like they are drying out. Looking sick but the darned thing appears
to be producing flowers. Does this plant flower submerged?
Calcium problem here? I live on Lake Ontario in Upstate NY with
calcium rich water so this seems odd.
Limnophila and Hydrocotyl grow like mad and double their mass about
every two weeks, so things can't be that bad.
I change 20% water every week about 9 gallons for a 55 (discounting
displacement from substrate and Iron Wood/Bog Wood). Stringy Peat Moss
in the HOT Magnum Filter. 2 GE Ultra Sunlight bulbs 2 GE P&A bulbs 12
hour cycle. I don't CO2 at all (I know burn me at the stake). Substrate
is simple Black Blasting Sand with natural mulm. Every week add
2 teaspoons of Tetra FloraPride
2 teaspoons Black Water Extract
1 Teaspoon Tetra Water Conditioner
I am under dosing here aren't I? I just bought the Kent
3 pack (black water, plant supplement, plant pro) Is this better than
the FloraPride, and any suggestions on dosing?
I have only lost 4 fish in three years in this tank so conditions are
not that bad, yet I can't seem to get ghost shrimp to last much longer
then 2 months (which is why I refuse to spend $3 a piece on Amano
shrimp). Any tips on them? For while I had trusted the idea that tap
water conditioner was not needed. Bad Idea. Do a 20% water change and
watch the ghost shrimp turn white and go through seizures as they drop
dead en mass. I use water treatment but could my chlorine levels be too
high still?
I have a strange plant that I found at the LFS. I thought it might be
some variant of Elocharis, but not any more. It was growing with some
Lilaeopsis and was about 4 inches high. In my tank it has just reached
the top after a month of growth. It grows really thin (talking a few mm)
strands that grow 3 - 6 inches, develop a brown internode which yields 3
- 7 new branches, and keeps on growing and branching. This thing started
out as about 10 strands that has branched to the surface and is too
numerous to count. Does this sound like a wild rice hitch hiked or is
this some growth variant of Lilaeopsis?
No bad algae in over two years. Just light algae growth on the front
glass that I wipe off once every few weeks. Just want to get these
plants back to lush growth. Is this all just a winter slow down I have
to learn to accept?
This is a lot of questions at once; and I apologize if it is bad
etiquette. If so give me smack and I won't do it again, although this is
hardly a crime when compared to the I love/hate Amano flame fest. ;)