Whats Gone Wrong?

[xing]

I've recently upped my lighting from 1.5 wpg to 2.5 wpg, replaced DIY co2 with pressurised (bubble counter green so 30ppm or thereabouts), moved to EI and most of my plants have started to die . everything was fine for the first 3 weeks or so but now it's all going wrong. The only plant that is thriving is my echinodorus rose (which is actually growing rampent - next to co2 diffuser & filter outlet). Other swords have more or less stopped growing, 90% of my stems have been reduced to stalks with no leaves, my indian fern has practically gone completely and my nymphaea stellata bulbs have turned into just bulbs and don't seem to want to grow. So far the whole upgrade has been a complete disaster. The only upside is that the BBA is no longer tanking over (but it's not going either). Is it a case of not dosing enough? Currently I'm dosing as below, I don't want to just move it up a notch if the plants aren't growing as the extra ferts may encourage algae. New plants I've added to replace the dead/dying ones don't last more than a few days/week before they start looking the same. I've not added any new fish so no nibbling going on.


60 USG tank, 50% water change each Sunday
Sun, Tue, Thur: 1/2 tsp KNO3, 1/8 tsp KH2PO4, 1/8 tsp K2SO4
Mon, Wed, Fri: 1/8 tsp traces
Sat: nothing
(all as per Jamesc's EI article above)

Any advice please, I currently feel like reverting back to my old setup (algae was bad but at least I also had plants) but what to persevere and try to get it right

 

[JamesC]

Seems very odd that plants are beginning to die. Is your water supply connected to a water softening system? Is there any way that salt could be getting into your tank?

Just switching to EI and upping the light a bit will not kill plants. There must be something in your tank that the plants don't like which is why I asked about water softners and salt. Have you made any other changes that might affect water quality?

James

 

[nry]

There can be a degree of time where the plants need to get used to the increased lighting and CO2, though this doesn't normally make them die in the process!

The only things I have seen causing plants to die so quickly is excess ammonia/nitrIte (as in really high levels) or possibly some medications which could affect the plants. Possibly overdosing with Flourish Excel could have an effect too but not sure on that one.

Can you take any photo's of the tank and the affected plants?

 

[xing]

nothing else has changed, unless the wter co has added something. Ammonia and nitrite readings are nil, ph is 6.6-6.8. No water softener or salts being added. Will try and get some photos up later. Thanks for the responses so far

Stu

 

[JamesC]

Possibly a stupid question but is has happened before, you haven't got the chemicals mixed up?

James

 

[xing]

hasn't happened before - all chems clearly labelled. At a real loss. Came home today and my indian fern is basically just brown mush. Had to remove the lot, plus several bacopa stems (no leaves left). What I can't understand is why most plants are dying off but my hairgrass is slowly spreading and one sword is doing so bl00dy well!! I don't suppose it's sucking up all the nutrients (being next to the diffuser and growing really well) and denying any for the other plants? I've noticed one other sword, which shed 50% of its leaves in a matter of days, now appears to be regrowing from the rhizome. Maybe the others will follow suit and it's just been a "shock" to them to get more light/regular ferts.

 

[plantbrain]

Indian fern, you water sprite?
That should grow like a weed.

If not, then something else, namely CO2 seesm to be amiss.

If you know you are adding say 1/4-1/2 teaspoon 2-3x a week of KNO3, a bit of KH2PO4, traces, have good GH(Ca/Mg), then you also have good light, all that's left by elimination is CO2.

CO2 uptake goes way up when you add more CO2, and so does growth rate.
If the plants are no longer or stopped, lull, slowed their growth vs what they should be, then you should look at CO2, ruling out the other things like nutrients is fairly easy.


Your plants are growing well nearest the CO2 reactor?

That's a big hint right there.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[xing]

thanks for the replies.

the indian fern/watersprite used to grow wild (i was regularly trimming and binning loads) but has now all gone - turned to brown mush rather quickly. with regards to c02 my drop checker, filled with 4kh water from AE, is green indicating around 30ppm. I'll try upping the output and keep an eye on the fish for signs of stress to see if things book up.

ta
Stu

 

[JamesC]

Do you have good water circulation around your tank? The CO2 levels need to be evenly distributed around the tank.

James

 

[xing]

Water circulation is one thing I did change thinking about it.

I have an external eheim and originally I didn't add the plug to the end of the spray bar to limit surface agitation, reducing co2 drive-off. I was getting a milky scum build-up (protein?) on the surface so added the plug a few weeks back to increase the pressure coming out of the spray-bar holes. This certainly removed the scum and helped circulate some co2 bubbles around the tank, but may also have ended up driving the c02 out of the water with the increased surface movement. I've now removed the plug again to see if things improve. I'd rather have the scum and growing plants than what I have now.