# Name That Deficiency!!!!!!!



## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

Like the title says guys help me figure this one out. This is a 120gal tank with 2x175 MH lights that run for 8hrs a day. I have pressurized CO2 that should be at 30ppm (to confirm this tonight). The substrate is aquasoil. I dose 1/4 teaspoons of KNO3, and 1/8 teaspoon of K2SO4, PO4, and CSM+B, and 1/2 teaspoon Mg (epson salts) each day. I cut back from .5 teaspoons of KNO3 because of all my fish and I was getting really high nitrates on my test kit (like 80+). Let me know what you guys think and what I need to change so I can turn this tank back into the jungle it once was and can be again.


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## orlando (Feb 14, 2007)

are you dosing both micro and macro at the same time?


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

yes but I dose dry and have always done both at the same time and I have other tanks without this problem so I don't know if that could be it.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

I would first make sure your CO2 is good. How are you measuring it?

If you haven't heard of it, the best way to check CO2 is to use the modified drop checker...


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## azfishguy (Jul 1, 2005)

IMO this is not a deficiency but more like toxicity from overdosing. The plants got stunted from your previous 80ppm and up nitrates  Then you reduced everything but as you see hardly anything is now growing so dumping all that stuff everyday doesn't really do anything. I think you way overdosed with nitrates. Red plants look Kermit green + burnt + tired. On top of so much nitrates you are still adding potassium (!) and if that's not enough you pour 1/2 tsp of magnessium daily. I don't think those plants are consuming 1/2 tsp of magnessium every day when they look like this. You don't even have a lot of plants to begin with so why all this heavy dosing? Anyways...Perhaps the experts will say otherwise but to me this is basically too much of everything.


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

I just got my standard 4KH solution yesterday and according to my drop checker my CO2 was ok. I do plan on keeping a close eye on it though throughout the day because it may not get high enough till the very end of the photoperiod. I was having problems with CO2 before being to high and causing my fish to gasp at the top of the tank the last half of the photoperiod.

I dose 1/4 teaspoons of KNO3, and 1/8 teaspoon of K2SO4, PO4, and CSM+B, and 1/2 teaspoon Mg (epson salts) each day.

according to the EI dosing guide on this site for a tank my size I should be dosing the following

100 - 125 Gallon Aquarium
+/- 1 1/2 tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- ½ tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- ½ tsp (30ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

If you convert that to daily dosing it it 

N .643 teaspoons
P .214 teaspoons
CSM+B .214 teaspoons


I also just tested my phosphates and nitrates. Phosphates looked to be between .1 and .2 and nitrates were somewhere between 0 and 10. I am red green colorblind so i have a REALLY hard time figuring out what color these things are but they should be somewhere within that range, assuming the test kit is even accurate.


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## azfishguy (Jul 1, 2005)

Yes that's all correct. However, EI may work (never worked for me) when plants are in good condition and actually absorb the nutrients. Your plants right now look stunted so nitrate is accumulating as you're adding it. Another thing is your phosphate level. Assuming your phosphate test is accurate, .1ppm is too low. Add phosphate to 1-2ppm. Eliminate dosing potassium. There is enough of it in KNO3 and KH2PO4 combined. Cut down on magnesium. What kind of water are you using? Tap/RO? What's the GH?. As you can see for yourself, you add everything that's there to add and things are not improving. Maybe it's time to consider a little leaner approach. Obviously make sure your CO2 is good.


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

according to my dropchecker with a 4KH solution my CO2 is at 30ppm. I will do a big waterchange tomorrow and just remove the crappy plants and replace them with healthier ones from another tank.


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## pepperonihead (Nov 25, 2004)

I doubt if you need to dose any nitrates at all with the fish load you have. I completely stopped dosing nitrates because I too was getting big numbers when I tested. After I stopped my nitrates are now about 10 ppm just from fish load and food alone. I don't know for sure but I don't really think EI is designed for tanks with high fish load. IT seems more designed for planted tanks only with little or no fish. My tank is like a jungle without all the extra nitrates!


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

Well I had cut back on my nitrate dosing and my tank just kinda crapped out. I guess though if you are doing 50% waterchanges each week the max nitrates you will build up is 

nitrates added +nitrates produced by fish - nitrates used by plants

So even if I didn't need to add any I should only have twice what I add in my tank a week which shouldn't be to dangerous.


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## azfishguy (Jul 1, 2005)

Don't forget about phosphate level. With low levels of phosphate, nitrate is not used by plants.


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

oblongshrimp said:


> according to my dropchecker with a 4KH solution my CO2 is at 30ppm. I will do a big waterchange tomorrow and just remove the crappy plants and replace them with healthier ones from another tank.


You could just prune all the crappy parts. If you get the dosing where they like it, they'll recover nicely.


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## oblongshrimp (Aug 8, 2006)

Well after taking a week off work I figured out the problem. My MH lights weren't igniting properly. They wouldn't come on fully when they were suppose to and I think they were coming on within 6hrs when I would come home so I wouldnt know about it. I got new lights and started adding more nitrates and within a day things started pearling again . I am getting some green spot alage which leads me to believe that I need more phosphates.


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