Leaves turning red?

[ella777]

I have a few questions. First of all, some of the top leaves on some of my plants have turned pink. I did some research about this and found out it means they need more nitrates.
I have only noticed this today as I was away on the weekend, I haven't the leaves like this before.
Should I maybe feed the fish more, meaning I would over feed them?
Should I do something else? I have added plenty of root tabs and plant fertiliser. (I realise I don't need to use both of these.)
Could I possibly turn over some of the substrate to release ammonia?

The second question is, I have noticed a few of the leaves on one of my bigger plants has grown some black hair algae.
Apparently this isn't harmful to the fish or water?
My shrimp are very interested in one single leaf that has no algae on it whatsoever.
In the other hand, the guppies love eating the black hair algae. I'm not too bothered by it and it's barely noticeable, I'm wondering how quickly it will grow and if I do need to remove it?
It's currently only on one plant and only on a few of its leaves.

Third question, some of the leaves on a few of my plants seem to be going wrinkly? It could have something to do with the pinkness, lack of nitrates, but I'm not sure.

My last question is, how long should I keep the light on for low/medium lighting plants?
I currently have it on for about 10 to 12 hours a day, I realise this is a very long time but the fish have got used to the schedule and usually I'm out or at school.
I don't know what type of light I have, it came with a second hand tank.

 

[Byron]

First point, nitrates has nothing to do with plants. The plants in the photos take up ammonia/ammonium as their nitrogen, and will only turn to nitrate when they have insufficient ammonia/ammonium but this is not very likely in a low-tech or natural planted tank. I am assuming you are not adding CO2, as carbon will run out before ammonia/ammonium.

There may be a light and/or nutrient issue here. Can you give us the light data? And are you using any plant fertilizers, and if yes, which?

How long have you had the plants? What is the GH and pH?

A photo of the entire tank will allow us to see the plants and fish load which are part of the balance.

To answer the light questions we need to know the data on the light. Maybe you can find this on the website of the light manufacturer? What type of light is it (LED, T8 fluorescent tube, ...)? As for the duration, 10-12 hours is a lot, and therfe is evidence of some algae, so this could be reduced maybe to 8 hours. Use a timer so it is consistent each day, this is good for the plants but even more for the fish.

 

[ella777]

It's some sort of bacopa, apparently it doesn't need co2 and before you said you would never use it? So I won't either.
I use the Tropica Premium Nutrition, the tank has only been running for about 2 weeks and there are fish living in it.

I use root tabs too, don't know which type, I found some really cheap ones on ebay that I'm using. They don't contain anything bad for the fish.

gH and pH never seem to show up so I have no idea. I'll guess from the test strips but I'm really not sure. I'll take a picture because I have no clue what it means.

I have had the plants for almost a week (6 days)

This is what the test results show and what the tank looks like (I used to different brands of test strips)

Just noticed, nitrates are showing 25? No idea why. Nitrites also seem pretty high.

 

[Byron]

Tests are OK, I was primarily wondering about the GH as this is your primary source of calcium and magnesium, so OK there. As for nitrates, have you tested the tap water on its own?

The Tropica Premium is OK. Don't overdose.

You do not need CO2, I only mentioned this to illustrate that it is almost always carbon, not nitrogen, that depletes first, but this can be balanced. These are primarily stem plants so substrate tabs won't do much, except for the sword plant (looks like a sword to tyhe left of the far right piece of wood, behind the orange platy). Not all substrate tabs are good, the Seachem Flourish Tabs are, you only need one every 3 months.

That leaves the light as the unknown factor. I wold reduce it to 8 hours. It wuld help to know the spectrum though, stem plants need good light and thre is no way to assess this. I do think it looks quite good from the photo, but that is just my view.

 

[ella777]

I can test the tap water now, I'll put a picture in a minute. Pretty sure that one is a sword but I also have no idea.

The man gave me the Tropica so I used it because I had it spare, I'm going to start using about half the amount it recommends, apparently it's a very strong one or something?

According to someone on here, she's not actually a platy. Shes a swordtail? No idea, but yes.

I'll try to change the lights to 8 hours instead of 10 - 12.

 

[Byron]

I can test the tap water now, I'll put a picture in a minute. Pretty sure that one is a sword but I also have no idea.

The man gave me the Tropica so I used it because I had it spare, I'm going to start using about half the amount it recommends, apparently it's a very strong one or something?

According to someone on here, she's not actually a platy. Shes a swordtail? No idea, but yes.

I'll try to change the lights to 8 hours instead of 10 - 12.

When using a liquid fertilizer, you base the dose on the plants' response. It takes a couple of weeks to notice changes. You don't want to be overdosing which will affect fish and plants. The plants is a balance issue, the light intensity must balance the necessary nutrients and the latter have to be balanced among themselves which one would expect Tropica to be. Swordtail, fine, I can't see the photo that well but it has a Xiphophorus shape (this is the genus of platies and swordtails).

 

[Essjay]

You can check your GH on your water company website. I assume Windsor is Thames Water? If it is, enter your postcode on this page

Check your water quality | Help | Thames Water

Enter your postcode to check the water quality in your area. Learn about the hardness, fluoridation and lead content of your water.

www.thameswater.co.uk

It isn't really important for plants but it is for fish.

 

[ella777]

You can check your GH on your water company website. I assume Windsor is Thames Water? If it is, enter your postcode on this page

Check your water quality | Help | Thames Water

Enter your postcode to check the water quality in your area. Learn about the hardness, fluoridation and lead content of your water.

www.thameswater.co.uk

It isn't really important for plants but it is for fish.

It says my gh is 312.

 

[ella777]

When using a liquid fertilizer, you base the dose on the plants' response. It takes a couple of weeks to notice changes. You don't want to be overdosing which will affect fish and plants. The plants is a balance issue, the light intensity must balance the necessary nutrients and the latter have to be balanced among themselves which one would expect Tropica to be. Swordtail, fine, I can't see the photo that well but it has a Xiphophorus shape (this is the genus of platies and swordtails).

They're even more pink now! I can't tell if they're dying or not.

 

[Byron]

This is most likely due to the change in environment for the plants. I frankly see nothing to worry me. These being stem plants (most of them) they are fast growers and that means brighter light than slow growers would need, and more nutrients. We still have no data on the light (I understand why) but I would not panic. Not all plants will grow in the same tank. Over the years, I tried many and stayed with those that grew well under my light, and forgot those that did not do well. But again, I do not see anything of concern in these photos.

 

[ella777]

This is most likely due to the change in environment for the plants. I frankly see nothing to worry me. These being stem plants (most of them) they are fast growers and that means brighter light than slow growers would need, and more nutrients. We still have no data on the light (I understand why) but I would not panic. Not all plants will grow in the same tank. Over the years, I tried many and stayed with those that grew well under my light, and forgot those that did not do well. But again, I do not see anything of concern in these photos.

Okay, I have put one or two root tabs right near them.
There are two lights in the tank, I only ever use one. The other is half broken which is fine.

 

[ella777]

This is most likely due to the change in environment for the plants. I frankly see nothing to worry me. These being stem plants (most of them) they are fast growers and that means brighter light than slow growers would need, and more nutrients. We still have no data on the light (I understand why) but I would not panic. Not all plants will grow in the same tank. Over the years, I tried many and stayed with those that grew well under my light, and forgot those that did not do well. But again, I do not see anything of concern in these photos.

I did a bit of researching and people try to get their bacopa to turn red?

 

[Byron]

I did a bit of researching and people try to get their bacopa to turn red?

I have no idea whether the Bacopa you have is the Red variant or green. But I can tell you that adding too much iron is unsafe to plants and fish. You are already using a "comprehensive" fertilizer in the Tropica, and it has iron. It most probably has the right amount in balance with other nutrients, and this is crucial. Adding more of any nutrient usually throws off the balance.

Iron is a micro-nutrient, used in small quantites by plants. This level is provided in quality comprehensive fertilizers. Iron excess can cause a deficiency in zinc. It can also cause calcium issues. Twice I nearly killed the floating plants (Ceratopteris and the red leaf Tiger Lotus floating leaves) by adding additional iron. Both times the situation resolved itself by eliminating the additional iron.

Iron is a heavy metal, and it will kill all life forms, bacteria, plants and fish in excess. Yes, there are a few members here who continue to advocate dosing iron. They say it does this and that. This is impossible to substantiate from appearance, and I am not going to waste my time over it.

 

[ella777]

I have no idea whether the Bacopa you have is the Red variant or green. But I can tell you that adding too much iron is unsafe to plants and fish. You are already using a "comprehensive" fertilizer in the Tropica, and it has iron. It most probably has the right amount in balance with other nutrients, and this is crucial. Adding more of any nutrient usually throws off the balance.

Iron is a micro-nutrient, used in small quantites by plants. This level is provided in quality comprehensive fertilizers. Iron excess can cause a deficiency in zinc. It can also cause calcium issues. Twice I nearly killed the floating plants (Ceratopteris and the red leaf Tiger Lotus floating leaves) by adding additional iron. Both times the situation resolved itself by eliminating the additional iron.

Iron is a heavy metal, and it will kill all life forms, bacteria, plants and fish in excess. Yes, there are a few members here who continue to advocate dosing iron. They say it does this and that. This is impossible to substantiate from appearance, and I am not going to waste my time over it.

Okay I'll leave it, thanks