# transparent leaves definicency?



## BRUCE BOGMAN (Nov 9, 2006)

*transparent leaves, definicency?more info added.*

some of my lotous lilly leaves are transparent,and so are my cryps.what ame i missing or causes this.
thax
Some new info about my tank:
Dimensions: 20w x 18d x 30h, 47 gallons
XP2 canister filter, (2) quad 96w bulbs, 6700k, pressurized CO2 = 2bps, tanks is 2 months old.
Plants were pearling alot near the end of the light period, I have the lights on for 9 hours a day. Then I had a algae problem that turned the water green two weeks ago. I added a UV light and it got rid of the algae problem. Now plants don't pearl anymore and seems like growth slowed. I do a forty percent water change every week.
Phosphates 1.0
Nitrates 5.0
I add trace elements, iron, potassium, and nitrates.
Why would my plants stop pearling and leaves look transparent?
Thank you,
Bruce


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Hey Bruce,

Some more info about your setup would be nice and would probably lead to a lot more responses 

Generally, I have found that both Lotus and Crypts tend to melt a bit when introduced to a new tank. This may be what is happening in your tank. Have you had them long? It may also be a nitrate deficiency but it is really hard to guess without more info on your tank


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## BRUCE BOGMAN (Nov 9, 2006)

hey matt. thanks for reply
lotous is growing like crazy but some new leaves are almost transparent some are not.cryps are over a month old so is lotous.cryps are growing new leaves but almost transparent.
thax bruce


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## MrSanders (Mar 5, 2006)

Hey bruce, as Matt pointed out we are going to need more info on your tank and how you take care of it to help you out.

In the first post you mentioned that you are adding some ferts... how do you go about this? Info on the source... (ex. N from KNO3) amount you are adding per dose, and how many times per week you are adding. Information on the way you are measuring your CO2 concentration would be helpful also.

My first gut feeling is that you may be using test kits, as noted by the levels of N and P you have in your tank. Unless you have high quality kits and are using them correctly.... I would really stay away from testing to see what you should add to the tank. Also you mentioned adding N, K and traces... with that amount of light and CO2 added you would almost definantly have to be adding P also to get good growth. A High light tank like that will burn through nutrients quickly....


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## BRUCE BOGMAN (Nov 9, 2006)

hey mrsanders,
i dose the way the bottle tells me too.iam new at this,15ml2xweek Flourish trace, 2x/week 10ml Flourish potassium k20, 1x/week with water change 5ml of Flourish iron, 1x/week with water change 5ml Flourish nitrogen. A little worried for algae blooms. I do not run UV light unless algae bloom happens again. Calculate CO2 with KH & PH, KH 6 and PH 7.2.

Why is it that my plants are not pearling? They were before. I have spot algae on some plants.


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## MrSanders (Mar 5, 2006)

Alright, so you've got most of the flourish line and are using that to dose  gotcha...

My first suggestion would be to consider ordering bulk dry ferts from gregwatson.com and use those when you run out of the stuff your using now. You don't have a huge tank but its still going to get expensive over the long run to use all seachem products 

As far as what your adding.... Im not really sure what the actual water volume of your tank is... and im being lazy so I dont really know any PPM values of what your putting in per week. You also mentioned the PH KH table to find CO2 levels.... I have yet to hear of a tank that the table worked with. It is usually totally off. I wouldnt trust that and would probably slowly add a bit more CO2, generally my plants will not pearl unless there is a good amount of CO2 dissloved in the water. Then as far as your ferts go, I dont think there is really any sure fire way to figure out how much you need. You just need to start some where and tweak it as you go. I would probably be shooting for at least 20 ppm N per week, about the same amount of K, and probably around 3-5ppm P per week. As for traces.... I dont know about using flourish trace and iron only to dose. If your going that route the F. trace your adding might be enough, but you will surly need more iron... i would try around 5ml a DAY of flourish Iron.... see where that gets you.....


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## BRUCE BOGMAN (Nov 9, 2006)

.turned up co2 a little,will dose iron 5ml a day ,and keep up n and k. thank you .i have a high fish load will that help with P or do i have to add.i have 5 rainbow,4congo tetra,5 rosey barbs,2 cory, cat 2 Otto's,1 real sae and 1 neon. what is the best way to diffuse co2,will my canister work if so will it kill good bacteria.have a eheim diffuser and ladder.thanx


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## MrSanders (Mar 5, 2006)

Usually in a tank with a good amount of light, and CO2 there isnt enough P from the fish, feeding etc. to feed the plants. There are exceptions... there always are, but unless you have very high levels already in your tap water I doubt you have enough just from the fish alone..... As far as the CO2 don't get all hog wild with it, you just want to make sure you have enough to stastain good plant growth and keep algae at bay. But when it comes down to it in the long run you need to make sure you have your nutrients balanced, and the plants have enough of everything.... if not there will always be algae issues, and the plants won't ever be healthy.... no matter how much gas your crank into the tank....


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