Calcium deficiency
 

How do you take care of cupped leaves, leaves becoming wrinkly, and long
stems with spaced-out leaves. I dosed the tank with liquid fertilizers every
3-4 days plus weekly addition of iron tabs & Epsom salts. On top of that I
have placed laterite balls in the gravel. Leaves look very green on the dark
side so I don't think iron and magnesium are rpoblems. How do you get enough
calcium in then?

Calcium deficiency
 

How hard is your water? Calcium and magnesium are the major ions responsible
for water hardness. If you have really soft tapwater, you might try adding
some marble chips or crushed coral to your system - they are both just
CaCO3. You can put these in a small mesh bag and place it in your filter.
Alternatively, you could go to your local drugstore and pick up some Calcium
dietary supplement tablets. Check the labels to find one which has NO
additives or flavourings - you want relatively pure CaCO3. The ones I use
are made from oyster shells. Since you are already using Epsom Salts, your
Magnesium levels out to be O.K.

Do you have a household water softener? Most of these remove the Calcium and
Magnesium from the water, replacing them with Sodium. Elevated levels of
Sodium are not a good idea in a planted tank.

Deformed leaves _can_ be an indicator of Calcium deficiency. Elongated stems
with wide internode spacing can be due to light levels which are too low or
temperatures which are too high.

James Purchase
Toronto


"alex crouvier" wrote in message
...

How do you take care of cupped leaves, leaves becoming wrinkly, and long
stems with spaced-out leaves. I dosed the tank with liquid fertilizers
every
3-4 days plus weekly addition of iron tabs & Epsom salts. On top of that I
have placed laterite balls in the gravel. Leaves look very green on the
dark
side so I don't think iron and magnesium are rpoblems. How do you get
enough
calcium in then?