# Transparent leaves nutrient deficiency



## NursePlaty (Mar 24, 2010)

Limno leaves becoming transparent. Anyone here have corrected this issue before? I have a 55g tank. My kH is at 4dkh, I dose 1/4 tsp KNO3, 1/8 KH2PO4, 1/8 K2SO4, 1/8 CSM-B. EI method. CO2 around 35ppm range. I drop my pH from 7.2 to 6.5-6.6. Photoperiod around 6hrs


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

If you're dosing EI, try 1/2 tsp KNO3.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

A pH drop of 0.7, as you have, means you have about 15 ppm of CO2 in the water, not 35 ppm. That may be plenty of CO2, but it depends on how much light you have. What light fixtures are you using?


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## NursePlaty (Mar 24, 2010)

Thanks for the input. My drop checker is slightly green-yellow and on the KH/PH chart I was assuming on a 4dkh tank I need 6.5-6.6 ph for adequate co2.

I should drop it by 1 ph minimum?



mistergreen said:


> If you're dosing EI, try 1/2 tsp KNO3.





mistergreen said:


> If you're dosing EI, try 1/2 tsp KNO3.





hoppycalif said:


> A pH drop of 0.7, as you have, means you have about 15 ppm of CO2 in the water, not 35 ppm. That may be plenty of CO2, but it depends on how much light you have. What light fixtures are you using?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

The CO2 chart you attached is only good if your water contains nothing that affects pH except carbonates and CO2. Our tank water is almost never like that. But, you don't need a lot of CO2 unless you have more than medium light intensity. That is why I asked about how you are lighting your tank.


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## NursePlaty (Mar 24, 2010)

hoppycalif said:


> The CO2 chart you attached is only good if your water contains nothing that affects pH except carbonates and CO2. Our tank water is almost never like that. But, you don't need a lot of CO2 unless you have more than medium light intensity. That is why I asked about how you are lighting your tank.


Understood, I consider mine a high light intensity tank. It is a home made fixture housing 7x 60w CFL pigtail 6500k bulbs over a 55g tank. I checked my ph again right before co2 comes on, the pH is actually 7.69, not sure where i got that 7.2 from, mightve gotten confused with another number. So my pH actually drops from 7.69 to 6.5-6.6.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

It looks like you do have at least 30 ppm of CO2, which is probably enough. And, that light fixture could be enough to have high light. You would have to use a PAR meter to be sure how much light you have. Have you tried mistergreen's suggestion - more KNO3 dosing? That would be my next suggestion, too.


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## NursePlaty (Mar 24, 2010)

hoppycalif said:


> It looks like you do have at least 30 ppm of CO2, which is probably enough. And, that light fixture could be enough to have high light. You would have to use a PAR meter to be sure how much light you have. Have you tried mistergreen's suggestion - more KNO3 dosing? That would be my next suggestion, too.


Thanks for the reply, I rechecked my information I actually am dosing 1/2tsp KNO3 not 1/4tsp. Not sure where I got the 1/4tsp from. I do remember now that I am using 50% RO water and 50% tap vs before I used 100% tap and my limnos didn't have this problem. I think I am running into a Ca/Mg deficiency? I will gradually do 100% tap from here on and see if it fixes the problem. The reason for RO was to make the water a tad more acidic and to drop the Kh by half for both my rummynoses and plants as I believe they prefer more softer and acidic water.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I think you are on the right track now! Many of us tend to forget about magnesium and calcium when thinking about nutrients.


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## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

Try to add a little more Micro too (1/4tsp). Mn & Mo help in the Nitrogen process. Even though you're adding N, it looks like you have an N deficiency. Your tap water probably had sufficient Mn & Mo before you switched to RO. Adding Mg & Ca is a good idea too.


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## NursePlaty (Mar 24, 2010)

hoppycalif said:


> I think you are on the right track now! Many of us tend to forget about magnesium and calcium when thinking about nutrients.





mistergreen said:


> Try to add a little more Micro too (1/4tsp). Mn & Mo help in the Nitrogen process. Even though you're adding N, it looks like you have an N deficiency. Your tap water probably had sufficient Mn & Mo before you switched to RO. Adding Mg & Ca is a good idea too.


Thanks all for the help, going to revert back to tap and see if it fixes the issue. If it doesn't ill start adding micros/Mg/Ca, don't want to do everything at once yet so I can single out the cause of this. Will update the thread once the issue is fixed so others will know what the deficiency was.


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