# Stunted hygrophila difformis



## TWood (Dec 9, 2004)

I had this plant doing well at one point but haven't been able to get it back. The new growth is very small and stunted. I was using our tapwater (420ppm TDS, GH=24) mixed with RO water to get to about 200ppm TDS and GH=8, but when that didn't work I tried all RO reconstituted with Barr's equivalent to Seachem's Equilibrium. Right now it's at 300ppm and GH=8, NO3=10-20ppm, 3WPG, PO4=2-5ppm, dosing Flourish at double rate, and CO2 is high. Suggestions as to what to try next appreciated.


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

What is your Mg and Ca?

Edward


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## TWood (Dec 9, 2004)

I don't know each individually. The GH is 8 degrees and I'm assuming TBarr has the right ratio of Ca and Mg, derived from calcium sulfate and magnesium sulfate, same as Seachem.

TW


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## TWood (Dec 9, 2004)

I dumped the water treated with the TBarr/Equilibrium GH and started again using the design mix pictured below for the water. The plants responded well and are on their way back to recovery. I've suspected in the past that h. difformis is susceptible to K+ overdose, but I can't really prove it. Both Equilibrium and the TBarr GH Builder have a lot of K+.

But I'd really like to use my tapwater to reconstitute RO water anyway. I used a Hagen Ca test kit to determine that the tapwater here has 100 mg/L Ca and 44 mg/L Mg. I'm awaiting a detailed test report from the water company to confirm. 

Assuming that the test kit is correct, that's about a 2:1 ratio of Ca:Mg. It's my understanding that a ratio closer to 3:1 or 4:1 is preferred. That would mean adding more Ca to get the ratio to work out. I'd save some on the RO water, but it seems a long way to go to get there.

TW


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

Hi
Filling 75 gallon aquarium with RO takes a long time. How do you deal with that? Secondly, what is your tap dKH? 

Edward


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## TWood (Dec 9, 2004)

I moved the fish & plants to a holding container and dribbled the RO directly into the tank. Not something to do regularly. I'll get a large mixing container for water changes. The tapwater KH is 16 dKH. 

TW

EDIT: It's actually a nominal 90 gallon tank, 75 is my estimate of the actual water volume. I'm assuming that the fertilator makes no adjustments to the water volume entered.

EDIT 2: The water report pretty much confirmed my tests. Ca is 82.5 mg/L and Mg is 49.6 mg/L. Since the Hagen test kit is a titration where you multiply the number of drops by 20, and it took five drops, there is where the difference came in. But this is an even worse ratio of Ca:Mg. The report also shows bicarbonate as 368 mg/L which when divided by 17.9 would indicate 20 dKH, higher than my measure of 16 dKH. However, the test date is back in July, so there might be seasonal differences at work too.


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

Hi
If I had your tap water I would use 100% RO.

If you planning to do some water changes then CaCl2 will work very well. You also may use the PPS Discus Mix made of CaCl2, CaSO4, MgSO4 and baking soda that allows you running the aquarium without water changes.

I run some aquariums at zero KH and the fish and plants love it. My recommendation is to add as much baking soda as it takes to keep 6 pH. That way you can measure it without an electronic pH tester. (1 dKH and 6 pH => 30 ppm CO2). Many sensitive plants don't like KH and in reality most plants do not need KH to grow healthy.

With PPS Daily Dosing you know you have all the necessary elements in proper balance. No guess work.










Edward


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