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Re: Plant problems



MP:
> Currently i have 215 Watts of light which consists of GE Aqua Ray Bulbs on my
> 90 gallon and i use 2 DIY co2 reactors, My tank ph goes no higher than 7.2,
> most of the time i use peat moss to get the ph to 6.8-7.0. I had pearling on
> all of the amazon swords and plants then every thing started dying including
> the anacharis. Oh yes i also use a co2 fizz factory.

What's the KH?
Leave the peat moss out unless you add it to the gravel, you don't need it
for the plants.
 
> My substrate is Seachem Flourite i have a 4 inch substrate level.
> I use 2 Tetratec PF300's and a Fluval 204 for filtration
> The tank temp is 78 deg F
 > I use Seachem Flourish, Flourish Iron, Flourish Excel, Flourish Trace and
> Flourish Potassium as Directed.

Why peat, Excel, CO2 fizz factory and DIY CO2?
I'll say this once : Cut it out.

Use only CO2 gas to manipulate your pH. And use only one system.

> My Iron is 1.0 PPM

Well, light, traces etc are not the problem so what do you think the odds
are it's CO2? All that iron will do no good if there's not enough CO2. Same
for the light.
 
> I thought it might of been light, but everyone said no that isnt the problem,
> but i ordered a new light kit which should be here soon:
> It consists of 2 175 Watt Metal Halide Bulbs @ 5500K and 2 NO 48 Inch
> Flouresents which should give me approx 430 Watts of Light.

Well this will simply make your bad problem worse.
  
> I also have a 10LB CO2 Tank w/Regulator on its way to me, i was told i would
> have to go with pressurized Co2 with the 430 Watts on my tank.

Now you can _fix_ things with that. This is your main area to work on and
focus on. Get this right, then add the other lights etc.
With that much light, you'll need KNO3, K2SO4, PO4 and good CO2.
 
> I got a town water report, the water contains all sorts of great chemicals in
> it. I am wondering honestly if it is somthing in the tap water causing me
> these problems.

No, no and no.

> If so do you think i could use a Reverse Osmosis Unit? That is
> my last resort, if you cant help, or the RO unit doesnt work i just think i
> cant keep live plants, i just cant figure it out.

Again. no, no and no. It's going to make the issue more complicated. There's
an extremely tiny chance, less than 0.5% that the copper is high in the tap,
see if it's over .2mg/l (ppm) or higher etc. That's should be clearly
marked.

Stop messing with the pH with 4 things, say what the tap water's KH is,
measure it.

All you do is check the pH/KH/CO2 chart then and see what pH you need for a
CO2 level of 20-30ppm. Add enough CO2 gas ONLY to do that. That's all there
is to it.
Regular water changes, light, add nutrients(such as PO4, NO3 and K along
with the traces) and make sure you have a good level of CO2 during the
entire time the lights are on. Swords are weeds.
The rest of the tank checks out: good light, traces, substrate, filters, all
you need to work on is regular water changes, macro nutrients, NO3, PO4 and
K and then the CO2 issue.

Regards, 
Tom Barr