# Calcium Deficiency, or ...???



## Milan (Jul 6, 2005)

Hi All,
I need help with my plants. In the last few days leaves on some plants (ie. Hygr. Polysperma, Bacopa Car.) became shrunken, cupped or curled if you wish (see the pictures below), so I suspected the Calcium deficiency, according to what I read about it on the net (including this site). Today I went to a LFS and bought a Calcium test, and measured 60 mg/l Ca++. Now I'm completely confused ... This should be enough!


















Here are the complete (available) water parameters:
NO3 = 5 ppm
PO4 = 0.5 ppm
GH = 10.8 dGH
KH = 5.6 dGH
pH = 7.1
CA++ = 60 ppm

Other Info:
Tank - 29 g (click to see the picture)
Light - 65W 6700K
DIY CO2

So far I've been fertilizing with K2SO4 only + TE, since NO3 and PO4 have been always on targets. Actually I increased the dosing of K since couple weeks ago when I had potassium deficiency. Current dosing is @ 2 ppm/day. Now, I'm wondering if too much K can do this? According to any reference I have come across, there is no harm in K overdosing. And by the look of it, ... Is the test I bought fooling me, or I'm badly missing something?

Please people, help !!


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

I don't think its a Ca issue.

The first thing I would do would be to increase your CO2 concentration. You are currently at 13mg/l. Try to get your pH down to around 6.8 to have at least 28mg/l of CO2... maybe add another DIY CO2 bottle?

After fixing the CO2 level, bring your NO3 up to between 10 and 20mg/l and your PO4 up to 1.5mg/l.

What kind of TE are you adding?


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## Milan (Jul 6, 2005)

Thanks for the answer.
Than what do you think it is? I was going to increase the CO2, but this thing derailed me. BTW wouldn't it be easier to boost the KH with baking soda rather than play with pH? And aren't those levels you are suggesting for NO3 and PO4 more than double the targets?

TE's are "Chelated Trace Element Mix" (7% Fe, 1.3% B, 2% Mn, 0.06% Mo, 0.4% Zn, 0.1% Cu)


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## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

Milan said:


> Thanks for the answer.
> Than what do you think it is? I was going to increase the CO2, but this thing derailed me. BTW wouldn't it be easier to boost the KH with baking soda rather than play with pH? And aren't those levels you are suggesting for NO3 and PO4 more than double the targets?
> 
> TE's are "Chelated Trace Element Mix" (7% Fe, 1.3% B, 2% Mn, 0.06% Mo, 0.4% Zn, 0.1% Cu)


I'm not sure whats happening with your plants but I can answer your other questions. You might also want to check Chuck Gadd's website http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm. He has an article on plant symptoms.

Your pH is going to drop as you add CO2. Laith is giving you a target number to know when you've added enough. Adding baking soda isn't going to do anything for CO2 levels.

Different folks use different target levels but if you look at the Fertilator here on this site you'll see it's OK to double your levels. Lots of folks using EI (see the barrreport.com) shoot for even higher levels.

Be cautious about trusting your test kits. I just tested my Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Nitrate kit against a fixed solution and it read twice what it should have. There is a recent thread by someone who just got a bunch of expensive LaMotte test kits and did comparisons and the results were all over the place. You may think you have 5ppm nitrates and actually have closer to zero.

Good luck, Bill


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## Milan (Jul 6, 2005)

Thanks Bill,
The site you are suggesting with it's description of the symptoms is actually the one that makes me think of Ca as a culprit the most. But hey, ... the test says NO! And further, if my Ca test is fooling me, could the GH test be false too, at the same time ?? Highly unlikely, I would say ...

Well, there are some other observations as well, which may point my thoughts in some direction(s) ... Let me share them with you:

1. Lately, since ~ 2 months ago, there are snails in the tank (taking Ca for their shells, perhaps?). I think they are ramshorns, but they don't get bigger than 1/8" (lack of Ca again?)

2. Look at the stem of the Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides). It's rotting. It happens on another one in the tank too. New growth is OK. Could this be related?










I will try to add another CO2 bottle and up the NO3 and PO4, as suggested and see what happens, but this really puzzles me ...


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