# Nutrient Deficiency problem (pics attached)



## sllo (Sep 29, 2004)

Beginners Info Sheet 
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Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 
Tank Volume (litres or gallons): *30G*
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : *4x30W*
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : *FL*
No. of Hours your light is on : *10-12*
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : 
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : *DIY*
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): *DIY power reactor*
Substrate Used : *sera substrate*
How Thick is your base fert : 
How thick is your gravel : 
Liquid Fertilizers Used : 
Frequency of fertilization : *every water change ( 1xweek)*
Tank Temperature : *30C*
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : *Fluval 304*
Filter media used : 
How long has your tank been set up : *3 months*
Other equipment :

Chemical Properties (Fill what you can) 
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Carbonate Hardness (KH): *3*
Total Hardness (gH): *7*
pH : *6.5*
NH4 (ppm): *0* 
NO2 (ppm): *0*
NO3 (ppm): *10*
PO4 (ppm): *0.7*
Fe (ppm):

Bioload (Your Fish and Plants) 
*3 young discus, 4 Blue Ram, 8 Neon tetras, 4 coridors*

I do 1 water change per week, by that time the NO3 reaches 20ppm so I do not need to add any NO3.
I started adding K2SO4 a week ago, the amount I add is to reach 20ppm in the water volume I change.
Started dosing PO4 using fleet enema 2 days ago, before adding this my PO4 levels were 0.1ppm
As far as micronutrients the only thing I can get is JBL ferrotabs, Sera frourite, Tetra florapride, and I recently bought a dry compound of micronutrients from a flower garden that has 
0.33%	Boron (B)
0.02%	Cobalt (Co)
0.08%	Copper (Cu)
5%	Iron (Fe)
0.77%	Manganese (Mn)
0.03%	Molybdenum (Mo)
0.33%	Zinc (Zn)
but the liquid solution is VERY dark and I am afraid to add it to the aquarium because it my make the water very dark.

There is green algae on the glass and also some black hair on the grass and java moss.

I noticed recently that some of my plants are not doing well.
Look at the pics bellow.
































































could you tell me what deficiency and how to proceed.

Thanks


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## IUnknown (Feb 24, 2004)

I think that 4wpg is a lot of light for that tank?



> I do 1 water change per week, by that time the NO3 reaches 20ppm so


This doesn't seem right, with that much light you should be dosing No3. Could you give us a full tank shot, maybe your planting is not dense enough. I would worry about Co2 not being sufficient with that much light. How sure are you that you are getting consistent 30ppm Co2?


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## sllo (Sep 29, 2004)

I used to have 3 30W FL, the thing is that there is a glass between the aquarium surface and the 2 of the 30W FL and it gets stained by humidity and suff so it distracts some of the light of the 2 FL. My guess is that the light output of those two 30W are not 60W, but dont know exactly how much less.

As far as the CO2, as I said it is a DIY, I do not monitor the PH and KH very often but I can see from the reactor that none CO2 is escaping, I am using 2 2L DIY yeast bottles.

The strange thing is that before I did the last water change ( last sunday ) there was perling everywhere in the aquarium, and my I understanding is that if there is not an equlibrium of fertilizers, CO2 etc this shouldnt occur, am i right?

The test kit I am using for NO3 is sera, I made a solution using fertilator and checked it and it seems ok. I also tried a JBL but I guess that one went bad.

I dont think not dosing NO3 is strange because on my understanding the tank is a littli bit overloaded with fish and I also feed them heartbeef recipe. These two factors should backup the NO3.

I will post a full tank shot later this afternoon


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

This link will help ID nutrient deficiancy... http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm


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## HeyPK (Jan 23, 2004)

The symptoms, older leaves turning brown and dying, do not look like any known deficiency. If your potassium and magnesium is not down to zero, it is even less likely that you have an actual deficiency. 

You may have some kind of toxicity problem. Any plastic in contact with your water? Plastics can give off compounds that can damage plants and cause symptoms that look like deficiency symptoms. These compounds can even cause deficiency symptoms by interfering with nutrient uptake. 

There can be other sources of toxicity besides plastics: Overdosing of one or more nutrients, especially some of the micronutrients, Heavy metals in the tap water, especially copper, A very heavy fish load can build up various organic waste products.


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

sllo said:


> I started adding K2SO4 a week ago, the amount I add is to reach 20ppm in the water volume I change.


This is very good but little too late. It will take 3 weeks to see the improvement.

The trace elements from the flower garden looks good. Doesn't look like you need more traces from the pictures. Dose only one product, no mixing and only very little when needed. It's a matter of few drops of very diluted solution.

You don't say how much Ca and Mg you have.


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## sllo (Sep 29, 2004)

> This is very good but little too late. It will take 3 weeks to see the improvement.


I know, but I went through hell to find K2SO4 here in my country.



> You don't say how much Ca and Mg you have


I do not have a test kit for Ca or Mg. Do I have to buy both test kits or shall I go ahead and by a Ca and calculate Mg from Ca and GH?

here are some full tank pics.

Full tank









right side









the two red plants in the middle as well as the ones on their right and left were added yesterday.

Left side


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## Edward (May 25, 2004)

You can either call your city water company for analysis or get a Ca kit and calculate Mg, http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2544 .


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