# HC Suddenly going brown - deficiencey? too crowded?



## mpagri (Dec 7, 2007)

Hi all

I am currently attempting to grow HC emmersed and it was all going really well until yesterday. I am putting this in the general forum because I don't think its an emmersed issue as much as a general issue that happens to be in an emmersed tank.

Yesterday i saw that the some of the older leaves were turning yellow. I added some flourish comprehensive thinking it might be fertz deficiency and comprehensive is all i had (I pretty much had not fertilized at all yet, except for lots of root tabs). Today more leaves look yellow and the yellow leaves of yesterday are brown. i am wondering if the old leaves are being over crowded or if anyone can tell me from a picture what fertz i am deficient on or if it looks like i burnt the leaves from over fertilizing yesterday.

the setup:

10g - emmersed
65w cfl lighting
eco complete substrate - used before, probably spent of nutrients
sea chem root tabs

trying to grow HC, dwarf hairgrass, and riccia

i bought flourish nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus but havent added anything yet. figured id wait till i heard from you guys.

The pictures (sorry for bad qual, camera phone shots)


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## Bunbuku (Feb 10, 2008)

Guessing that is probably a deficiency in macronutrients (NPK). Probably N or K.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

The plants seem to be in water. If so, they are not emersed, but submersed. That means they need CO2 to provide the carbon to build new tissue. I suspect you now have the worst of both worlds - submersed, but no CO2 and in such shallow water that the water contains too little nutrients for them. Growing plants emersed requires that water level to be slightly below the top of the substrate.


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## mpagri (Dec 7, 2007)

yea, i raised the water level as a consequence of adding the fertilizer, i put in enough water to try and make sure i didnt burn the plants with nutrients, is this more of a terrestrial concern?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I don't know if emersed aquatic plants can be burned by the fertilizers we use, but I am almost certain they can't be. Burning is due to ammonia, as I recall, and our fertilizers don't contain any ammonia.

When you raised the water level you cut off access to CO2 in the air. If you drop the level back below the substrate surface the plants should recover.


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