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RE:High nutrient loading
>Hard to say, actually. Tom had visited my tank a couple of days prior and
>told me he thought it was just getting ready to kick into high gear.
>
>> I think I'll go grab some Sticks and try it myself to see. I have a newly
>set up flourite
>> tank to try it on.
>
>Orchard Supply Hardware, $1.49. If I had it to do over again I'd look for
>the standard houseplant sticks which have MORE phosphates than the 16-2-6
>variety (for ferns). My plants are growing well, and although I'm sure the
>tank is phosphate-limited my testing indicates I probably tolerate a lot
>more PO4 and STILL be phosphate-limited.
I have these both (Jobes). The palm and the flowering(10-10-4).
>> Perhaps the plants(at least some of them) are now taking N from the soil
>as well as
>> from the water column now due to the slower NO3 usage?
>
>I don't have Tom's experience, but I think this has got to be the case. I
>find that different plants have responded to the environmental changes in
>different ways. Some of the stems seem absolutely nitrogen-starved
>(Limnophila sessiflora), while others are growing great (Rotalla macranda),
>and I've been throwing away handfuls of Salvinia, a know nutirnet sponge,
>every week. I finally got smart and got rid of most of it. My cute little
>E. bleheri is no longer a small plant. New leaves are 1.5" wide, tinged
>with red, and at 10" long they still haven't stopped growing in length. Be
>careful what you wish for.
>
>> I think it is interesting that Mr. Rubin's tank was able to absorb so much
>nutrient load.
>
>It gets more interesting, Mr. Barr. By careful testing and watching the
>plants' response to nutrient changes I had learned how to keep my PO4 levels
>very, very low and my NO3 levels only slightly higher. Bear in mind that
>I'm referring to measurable nutrients in the water column, and that there
>may be some transference or leakage of nutrients from the substrate involved
>as well. After reading Steve Pushak's recent post on PMDD nutrient target
>levels it occurred to me that I wasn't providing enough NO3 - there were
>symptoms among the plants to corroborate, such as rotten jungle val leaves,
>chlorotic new growth on Anubias nana, and light (white, not yellow) color in
>tenellus and sags. So I began adding 1/4 tsp KNO3 per day to my 50g tank,
>doubling my normal dosing rate, and I've been feeding the fish heavily.
>Careful testing still shows minimal PO4 (0.05ppm - 0.10ppm) and slightly
>elevated NO3 (2.5ppm). The swords are darkening up and I'm seeing increased
>growth elsewhere (Riccia, for instance), though I'm still waiting on the
>Anubias and it's too soon to tell whether the vals are happier.
>
>Don't get me wrong, I'm really enjoying the ride, but I feel like I've
>created the Frankenstein monster. At 2.2w/gal PC with CO2 at 24-30ppm, I'm
>now feeding my 50g 5ml TMG every two days, 5ml Flourish Iron every two days,
>1/4 tsp KNO3 daily, heavy fish feeding (flakes) and I leave a bag of
>granular dolomite in the sump to maintain general hardness. This, on top of
>the 8 Jobes plant stick I placed 10 days ago. So far no visible algae other
>than the green-spot-on-the-glass variety.
>
>I may have overbuilt. <g>
The amounts of TMG and fertilizer are not that far off from what I've done
for some plant tanks in Mr Rubin's tank.
I must say there might be a Mg deficiency due to the swords being whitish
before the tank got going. I believe we'd thought at first this might be a N
deficiency. Looking at the Sears/Colin algae control experiment and their
findings seems like that might a possibility be the case for your white
tenellus and other plant problems are due to Mg being to low? Add some
epsome salt to see if this might be the case? Just a thought.
Regards,
Tom Barr