# I'm Killing Water Sprite?



## felixm (Jan 20, 2007)

Hello all,
Well if any one can kill an easy plant to grow it is me. I have a 30gal. long with a 96w dual 10,000k and 6,700k light it is on about 5.5 hours a day. I'm dosing 7.5 mil of Flourish Iron and Flourish Trace and 3mil Flourish twice a week. I also have Co2 injection. I noticed that my water sprite, some planted and some floating are starting to brown around the edges. Any ideas would be very helpful.

Tanks
here is a pic from dec.


----------



## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

My guess is that you are "starving" your plants. This is showing up first in the Water Sprite because it is the fastest growing plant in your tank. You are adding a good amount of iron and traces but for some reason are not adding any nitrates or phosphates for your plants. Plants need these two items, along with potassium, in much greater amounts than they need iron and traces.


----------



## felixm (Jan 20, 2007)

I test my nitrates every week they are at about 10ppm, should they be higher?


----------



## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

10ppm should be plenty as long as you are 100% certain your kit is accurate. Have you calibrated your test kit against a know 10ppm solution? You never know how accurate a kit is without calibrating it. 

Also, do you have any phosphates in the tank? Both are necessary for the plants. Nitrates will not be taken up very fast, if at all, if you don't have some PO4 in the tank.


----------



## felixm (Jan 20, 2007)

Mat, 
What is the best way to test a test kit? I use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kits.


----------



## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

You would need to make a calibration solution to check your test kit. Here is a good thread on making a calibration solution. Read the whole thing as there are more simplified instructions towards the end.


----------



## frozenbarb (Feb 8, 2007)

Is 5.5 hours enough?


----------



## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

frozenbarb said:


> Is 5.5 hours enough?


It appears to be too much light based on his fertilization routine  With the addition of some nitrates and phosphates, the photoperiod could be increased.


----------

