Why Is My Alternanthera Reineckii 'mini' Going Green?

[PsychoATCO]

Hi guys...
 
I planted several of these from the 1-2-Grow pots from Tropica plants...
 
It is a new aquarium, about 10 days into it's cycle...
 
The tank is a Jewel Vision 260, and has two T5 54W bulbs, which are on a timer from 0600 thru til 2300.
CO2 is on from 0500 thru 2200. As I don't have a CO2 tester yet (waiting *still* for delivery), I am feeding it through at 
 
My water's Fe content is very low, so I use JBL Ferropol to correct that, and at the same time is a plant fertiliser.
 
In the last few days I have noticed that the bottoms of this plant have been turning green.
 
All that lives in the tank are 3 small Assassin snails, and three very small (I believe them to have arrived as eggs on my plants) mystery snails. They are not assassins, and are probably too small for the assassins to eat as they have even ridden along on the shell of one of them. However that I doubt is neither here nor there for this discussion...
 
I will try get a close up picture of the parts that are going green.
 
Thanks 
Bryan

 

[SO19Firearms]

Needs more light. I think.
Fairly sure.

 

[PsychoATCO]

Needs more light. I think.
Fairly sure.

 
Thanks for the reply!
 
What I didn't add in the OP was that both bulbs have a reflector too...
 
So: Should I be leaving the lights on longer? or is this lighting combination just too little?
 
And to be specific, they are the T5 High output, Daylight (9000K)... The tank doesn't allow anything to be added except the reflectors, which I have done already.
 
I have a very low KH. Would that be problematic with regards to CO2?

 

[fm1978]

A picture would be most helpful, but, this type of plant, I think, requires dosing of decent ferts (CSM +B). In addition, you could consider dosing some Potassium Nitrate (Calcium Nitrate if you can't get KNO3).
 
This plant likes also to be in a good water flow area.
 
Are the leaves curling?

 

Needs more light. I think.
Fairly sure.

 
Thanks for the reply!
 
What I didn't add in the OP was that both bulbs have a reflector too...
 
So: Should I be leaving the lights on longer? or is this lighting combination just too little?
 
And to be specific, they are the T5 High output, Daylight (9000K)... The tank doesn't allow anything to be added except the reflectors, which I have done already.
 
I have a very low KH. Would that be problematic with regards to CO2?
 

 
I don't think your light is the problem...sorry to disagree.
 
A GH around 8 - 10 and KH around 3 - 5 should be fine.

 

[PsychoATCO]

I don't think your light is the problem...sorry to disagree.
A GH around 8 - 10 and KH around 3 - 5 should be fine.

 
I have a KH of 4, and a GH of around 11. PO4 was 0. PH is 7.1 stable. NH4 is low at 0.20.
 
I will post a photo shortly. Need to get the camera from upstairs...
 
I was just concerned about CO2, as the graph for optimal CO2 between my PH and KH didn't have an optimal value. LOL.
 
Thanks for the replies!

 

[fm1978]

The Tropica details for this plant outline a 6 - 14mg per litre of CO2. 
 
The light needed is 0.5 watts / litre, which you are a bit short on at 0.41 watts / litre, however, I think you more than compensate for that by having them on for so long as well as having the reflectors - that's why I don't think it's a light issue. Happy to be corrected though! 

 

[PsychoATCO]

The light needed is 0.5 watts / litre, which you are a bit short on at 0.41 watts / litre

 
Thanks for that! I came to the same calculations as to raw light output. However, this little caveat from Juwel (manufacturers of the tank and lighting):
 
 

Double the luminosity of your High-Lite T5 and T8 fluorescent tubes with JUWEL reflectors. The perfect geometry gives you maximum light yield, particularly at depth.

 
I was therefor under the impression that the two 54W T5's plus reflectors pushed me well over the 0.5w per litre requirement....
 
No curling of the leaves that I can see - just green 'infestation'...
 
I promise - a picture will appear shortly LOL!

 

[fm1978]

Yeah, that's pretty much why I can't see the light as the issue. Juwel lights are already quite good even without a reflector.
 
Look forward to the picture!

 

[PsychoATCO]

Look forward to the picture!

 
Here it is... Not the best quality, but I think it gives the idea. Bowfront aquariums impossible to photograph close up LOL!

 

[PsychoATCO]

I have also just noticed some green hair algae strands developing. I wonder if my CO2 levels are too low... I am sure the nutrients are ok, as I use both the ferropol daily drops and weekly liquid...

 

[levahe]

The jbl ferropol ferts don't contain phosphates or nitrates which are very important in a co2 injected planted tank.

Your lights are on 6am till 11pm? A planted tank needs 6-8 hours of light, the co2 should be coming on a couple of hours before lights on and turning off a couple of hours before lights off.

You can use a liquid ph test to find out wwhat the co2 is doing in your tank and allows you to then adjust accordingly. Get a base reading of your aquarium water that has been left to stand overnight.
Then test the tank water every 30mins or every hour during the co2 on period, and write down the readings. You should aim for the ph to drop by 1 ph by the time lights turn on.
Set the co2 to turn off a couple of hours before light off or you can turn is off sooner if the co2 level gets too high.
Its not easy to get the co2 right to begin with but its worth it in the end, just dont make too mant adjustments too close together. Spend a few days making gradual adjustments till you get it right.

Here is a good algae guide http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

 

[PsychoATCO]

Hi Levahe,
 
Thanks for the comprehensive feedback. I see what you mean about the Ferropol. I shall check out a more comprehensive fertiliser. I was primarily using the Ferropol to increase my Fe as it was close to 0.
 
Once this long awaited CO2 tester arrives, I shall be sure to monitor the water and see what is going on.
 
As it stands, I have the CO2 coming on /and going off, an hour ahead of the lights. I shall change the timer on the lights. Is 2 x 4 hours ok, or should it be 1 x 8 hours? Is more than 8 hours a problem?
 
Also - anybody know what this thing is ( in attached picture)?? Saw it inching across my front glass and removed it straight away... I seem to have acquired several unwanteds with plants from my LFS... <

 

[levahe]

1 x 8hrs is better, the reason for not too much light is that the plant therefore requires less amounts of co2 and fertilisers so there is less chance of something going wrong. There is a bigger margin for error and its easier to keep the plant healthy.
If there is too much light the plant wants to grow more and so needs lots of co2 and fertilisers, but it can be difficult to supply enough to satisfy the plants needs and it becomes unhealthy. Then there will be an outbreak of algae and doom and gloom and a unhappy PsychoATCO lol

 

[Ch4rlie]

Not too sure what that pic is, looks to be some sort of freshwater leech.
 
Reckon you probably did best by removing that as unsure if does any good for your tank!

 

[PsychoATCO]

Thanks Levahe and Ch4rlie!
 
Appreciate the input. I understand the issue of 8 hours now. I have adjusted the timer to turn on at 1300 and turn off at 2100. There will be some ambient light, however as both the missus and I work odd hours, its all random.
 
Will go and see if there is the CO2 drop test, as well as some better fertiliser...
 
One more question Levahe, is that wouldn't a (relatively big?) fluctuation of 1pH affect the fish negatively? It is planned to have fish and RCS in the tank eventually??