Help with no growth
Hello,
I've had a 55gal planted tank for over 5 years... I initially lived in Milwaukee: The tank was initially setup with yeast CO2, but my successful setup was 2 dbl tube flourescent lights stacked--approx 2w/gal CO2 injected into Eheim 15-20ppm weekly 20% water change gravel with Dupla laterite PMDD dosed 1-2cc/day Thinks worked great---I had to trim and cut stuff twice a week to keep it all from being overgrown I've since moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan Setup is a little different Flourite--10 inches or so Same CO2 Same PMDD (in different combinations out of desperation) Same tap water changes (different water supply) and setup with AHSupply 2 bulbs at 96watts The problem is, my new tank won't grow worth crap. I've tried Tropica instead of PMDD, changed my PMDD a few times (more Nitrate, less nitrate, no nitrate, more trace, less trace.....) and still no real growth, my sword held on for a year before dying, and most new additions of any sort (even easy rapid growing stuff like Vals) wither away and die really quickly The only thing growing lately has been BlueGreen algae that I finally killed off with Erythromycin I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all! Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite, what's the deal?!?! I was SOO successful before! -- Chris Schmelzer, MD Capt, 110th Fighter Michigan ANG University of Michigan Hospitals Ann Arbor, MI |
Help with no growth
**** Post for FREE via your newsreader at post.usenet.com ****
That really sounds bizzard... Normal test kits won't do you good either I guess, since you will probably notice excessive NH3, NO2 or PO4... etc by fish death of mad algae. Okay, if BGA thrive, and nothing else... how about moss? Try throw in some mosses and watch, if they do okay, its probably the salt! Just my guess. Good luck Kenneth "Chris Schmelzer" ¦b¶l¥ó ¤¤¼¶¼g... Hello, I've had a 55gal planted tank for over 5 years... I initially lived in Milwaukee: The tank was initially setup with yeast CO2, but my successful setup was 2 dbl tube flourescent lights stacked--approx 2w/gal CO2 injected into Eheim 15-20ppm weekly 20% water change gravel with Dupla laterite PMDD dosed 1-2cc/day Thinks worked great---I had to trim and cut stuff twice a week to keep it all from being overgrown I've since moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan Setup is a little different Flourite--10 inches or so Same CO2 Same PMDD (in different combinations out of desperation) Same tap water changes (different water supply) and setup with AHSupply 2 bulbs at 96watts The problem is, my new tank won't grow worth crap. I've tried Tropica instead of PMDD, changed my PMDD a few times (more Nitrate, less nitrate, no nitrate, more trace, less trace.....) and still no real growth, my sword held on for a year before dying, and most new additions of any sort (even easy rapid growing stuff like Vals) wither away and die really quickly The only thing growing lately has been BlueGreen algae that I finally killed off with Erythromycin I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all! Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite, what's the deal?!?! I was SOO successful before! -- Chris Schmelzer, MD Capt, 110th Fighter Michigan ANG University of Michigan Hospitals Ann Arbor, MI -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= *** Usenet.com - The #1 Usenet Newsgroup Service on The Planet! *** http://www.usenet.com Unlimited Download - 19 Seperate Servers - 90,000 groups - Uncensored -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= |
Help with no growth
"Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message
... I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all! Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite, what's the deal?!?! I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start doing some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when you have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4. They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general, but they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of it. You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like way too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and macronutrients separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing that already. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com |
Help with no growth
"Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message
... I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all! Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite, what's the deal?!?! I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start doing some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when you have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4. They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general, but they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of it. You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like way too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and macronutrients separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing that already. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com |
Help with no growth
In article cynbc.161653$1p.2053529@attbi_s54,
"Alex R" wrote: "Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message ... I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all! Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite, what's the deal?!?! I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start doing some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when you have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4. They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general, but they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of it. You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like way too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and macronutrients separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing that already. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com Can you make a starting recommendation for how to mix the macro and micro nutrients and where you would start dosing? Thanks -- Chris Schmelzer, MD Capt, 110th Fighter Michigan ANG University of Michigan Hospitals Ann Arbor, MI |
Help with no growth
In article cynbc.161653$1p.2053529@attbi_s54,
"Alex R" wrote: "Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message ... I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all! Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite, what's the deal?!?! I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start doing some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when you have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4. They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general, but they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of it. You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like way too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and macronutrients separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing that already. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com Can you make a starting recommendation for how to mix the macro and micro nutrients and where you would start dosing? Thanks -- Chris Schmelzer, MD Capt, 110th Fighter Michigan ANG University of Michigan Hospitals Ann Arbor, MI |
Help with no growth
"Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message
... In article cynbc.161653$1p.2053529@attbi_s54, "Alex R" wrote: I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start doing some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when you have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4. They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general, but they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of it. You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like way too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and macronutrients separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing that already. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com Can you make a starting recommendation for how to mix the macro and micro nutrients and where you would start dosing? Thanks I actually dose the macronutrients in dry form. I used to make solutions of them, but figured it was more work than necessary. I never mixed the traces with the macros, though. For my 30-gal. tank with 3.2 W/g of lighting, I dose about 1/4 tsp of KNO3, 1/4 tsp of K2SO4 and 3 pinches of KH2PO4 twice a week. I also add 3 mL of Flourish per day. So I'd recommend starting with roughly twice those amounts for your tank, or slightly less than twice, with the PMDD trace mix corresponding to Flourish in concentration. You can probably get away without testing if you dose the nutrients in the quantities I mentioned and make at least a 50% water change per week. That's what Tom Barr recommends. It would prevent your nutrient levels from becoming excessive and any dosing mistakes from accumulating, while ensuring your plants have enough nutrients. I only make 25% water changes, but I don't mind testing. Also, your CO2 should be more than 20 ppm at all times. 15-20 ppm is not enough for this much lighting. I'm guessing there is some kind of algae in your tank resulting from poor plant growth. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com |
Help with no growth
"Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message
... In article cynbc.161653$1p.2053529@attbi_s54, "Alex R" wrote: I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start doing some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when you have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4. They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general, but they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of it. You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like way too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and macronutrients separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing that already. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com Can you make a starting recommendation for how to mix the macro and micro nutrients and where you would start dosing? Thanks I actually dose the macronutrients in dry form. I used to make solutions of them, but figured it was more work than necessary. I never mixed the traces with the macros, though. For my 30-gal. tank with 3.2 W/g of lighting, I dose about 1/4 tsp of KNO3, 1/4 tsp of K2SO4 and 3 pinches of KH2PO4 twice a week. I also add 3 mL of Flourish per day. So I'd recommend starting with roughly twice those amounts for your tank, or slightly less than twice, with the PMDD trace mix corresponding to Flourish in concentration. You can probably get away without testing if you dose the nutrients in the quantities I mentioned and make at least a 50% water change per week. That's what Tom Barr recommends. It would prevent your nutrient levels from becoming excessive and any dosing mistakes from accumulating, while ensuring your plants have enough nutrients. I only make 25% water changes, but I don't mind testing. Also, your CO2 should be more than 20 ppm at all times. 15-20 ppm is not enough for this much lighting. I'm guessing there is some kind of algae in your tank resulting from poor plant growth. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com |
Help with no growth
"Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message
... I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all! Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite, what's the deal?!?! I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start doing some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when you have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4. They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general, but they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of it. You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like way too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and macronutrients separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing that already. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com |
Help with no growth
In article cynbc.161653$1p.2053529@attbi_s54,
"Alex R" wrote: "Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message ... I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all! Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite, what's the deal?!?! I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start doing some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when you have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4. They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general, but they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of it. You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like way too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and macronutrients separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing that already. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com Can you make a starting recommendation for how to mix the macro and micro nutrients and where you would start dosing? Thanks -- Chris Schmelzer, MD Capt, 110th Fighter Michigan ANG University of Michigan Hospitals Ann Arbor, MI |
Help with no growth
"Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message
... In article cynbc.161653$1p.2053529@attbi_s54, "Alex R" wrote: I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start doing some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when you have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4. They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general, but they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of it. You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like way too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and macronutrients separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing that already. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com Can you make a starting recommendation for how to mix the macro and micro nutrients and where you would start dosing? Thanks I actually dose the macronutrients in dry form. I used to make solutions of them, but figured it was more work than necessary. I never mixed the traces with the macros, though. For my 30-gal. tank with 3.2 W/g of lighting, I dose about 1/4 tsp of KNO3, 1/4 tsp of K2SO4 and 3 pinches of KH2PO4 twice a week. I also add 3 mL of Flourish per day. So I'd recommend starting with roughly twice those amounts for your tank, or slightly less than twice, with the PMDD trace mix corresponding to Flourish in concentration. You can probably get away without testing if you dose the nutrients in the quantities I mentioned and make at least a 50% water change per week. That's what Tom Barr recommends. It would prevent your nutrient levels from becoming excessive and any dosing mistakes from accumulating, while ensuring your plants have enough nutrients. I only make 25% water changes, but I don't mind testing. Also, your CO2 should be more than 20 ppm at all times. 15-20 ppm is not enough for this much lighting. I'm guessing there is some kind of algae in your tank resulting from poor plant growth. __ Alex pcalex (at) hotpop.com |
Help with no growth
Chris Schmelzer wrote:
Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite, what's the deal?!?! Chris, The answer appears to be in your paragraph above. Adequate PO4 and NO3 are not a substitute for inadaquate Calcium or Magnesium. And you are guessing about the PO4 and NO3 levels anyway! Easy answer: Add Kent RO Right to raise GH, and see what happens. Cheaper answer: Add Calcium Carbonate (Aragonite, crushed seashells, even eggshells) and Epsom Salts and see what happens. Likely outcome: Plant growth will improve for a while, then you'll run out of Potassium unless you have adequate supplies in your PMDD mix. Good luck! |
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:58 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
GardenBanter