# Lets play name that deficiency



## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Can anyone tell me what is causeing this problem with my anubias?










Tank stats: 
10 gallon with 36watts PC, kH ~3 (buffered up with K2CO3), pH 6.4-6.5, Gh 9, unknown Ca:Mg ratio. 
Doseing: 10ppm NO3, .4ppm PO4 -4xweek. 4ml CSM+B(stock solution 2tablsespoon in 500ml H2O) 3xweek.

The nearest thing I can attribute this to is switching from Flourish to CSM+B. I assume I am missing a trace element, but which one? This is happening to both my Anubias nana and Petite, plants I have had for a long time. Others of these exact plants (same mother plants) in lower light aquariums are not exhibiting this.

Any ideas?


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I dont know but I am seeing something similar on one of my anubias. I have just increased trace element dosage (flourish) to see what happens.


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I checked again (the tank is at my gf mothers house) and my anubias are looking exactly the same as yours on the new growth. Is it just the new growth that you are seeing this on?


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Yes, only on new growth and it does not seem to go away as the leaf ages or matures. The new Maybe i need to compare flourish to CSM+B an dsee what is missing. Th efact that new growth only is affected leads me to believe the nutrient responsible is an immobile one, meaning that the plant cannot move it from old growth to new growth inan attempt to sustain itself. Moblie nutrients are NO3, K, Mg and show up as deficiencies in old growht because the plant is taking the nutrients it needs to grow from the old leaves....


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Let me know if you figure anything out. Im hoping just an increase in trace will cure it, but its still to early to tell.


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

I had that too...eventually, it went away and was replaced by holes. I THINK it is related to Ca/Mg/K


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

I've been hesitant to bring this up but I was having the same problem with Anubias and then the light colored/translucent areas turned into holes.

A new Anubia leaf would come out nice and green and then suddenly it would get this lighter patch which seemed to just get thinner and thinner and turned into holes. Not pinholes but large holes.

Tom Barr has always been recommending TMG or Flourish over CSM+B, I think more as a personal preference and he says he found CSM+B messy in solution.

Well, I switched to Flourish (auto dosing) about a month ago and the problem mentioned above has completely disappeared.

Very difficult to say with certainty that CSM+B was the cause as it seems so many people use it successfully. I also made another change at the same time... a deep vacuum of my substrate to reduce built up organics. So I don't know which action fixed it. Should have followed my own advice to only change one thing at a time!


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

My guess is Calcium. It's immobile and is important to the formation of cell walls and the membrane between the cells. Marginal necrosis and tip hooking are sure signs of Calcium deficiency. Since Anubias are so slow growing I would hazard a guess that the spot necrosis is occurring because the plant is able to remove some Ca fast enough to sustain some growth. Being in the higher light environment is probably pushing them just past the point of equilibrium that your other plants in the low light tank are at.

Magnesium excess can cause Ca deficiency too. How much Ca and Mg do you dose?

Can I move this to Phys with a re-direct here later on? This could turn into a great opportuity to discuss physiological effects of nutrients.


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## mlfishman (Apr 4, 2005)

*similar problem*

I am having a similar problem with my anubias. Some of the dead spots are along the veins and developing into holes or slices. Im suspectng calcium as well. But I do have a 2 + year old substrate that I have starting deep cleaning. I have done about 60 % of it so far. IT is tough for me to get to the rest since it is heavily planted in that section but I may bite the bullet and just do it. Not sure if that is it though...


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

Well, according to gpodio's website CSM+B is 1.4% Mg compared to Flourish's .1154%. CSM+B contains no Ca while Flourish contains .1736% My tap water has a Gh of around 9 but I don't know its Ca/Mg ratio.

Think adding some Ca would improve matters? If so, how much? I have some Kent Marine concentrated liquid calcium, (CaCl2 10%)


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

I would dose 1/4 of the recommended SW dose and see how things work. Really tough plants like Echinodorus and Anubias need a good amount of calcium to maintain their toughness. If it's not Calcium, it could be Sulphur deficiency. Spot necrosis and general chlorosis... The badly hooking leaf tip makes me thing Ca even so.


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## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

The recommended dosage for that product is 1ml per 10 gallons so I added 1/4ml by drawing up 1ml of the calcium suppliment and then drawing 3ml of tank water into a syringe. Then I shook it well, squirted out the air and added 1ml of that solution. I will wait and see if there is any improvment in the plants before I do more.

As an aside, CSM+B also contains no Sulfer compared to Flourish's .277% TMG contains ,395Mg, 1.01% S and no Ca


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I had been using Flourish and then cut back on it. Now I have started dosing 1.5 caps every other day (29 gallon.) Here is my water quality report. The only thing I have been dosing is KNO3, Fleet enema, and Flourish.


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

I would say that this was most likely caused by a sudden condition change. 

Edward


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