Coys
Member
I have a 240 liter aquarium populated with tetras (Congo, Emperor and Cardinal). I replace 50 litres per week with RO (my local water supply is horribly alkaline) and supplement with Seachem Equilibrium, Alkaline Buffer and Acid Buffer. At present the pH is around 6.8, KH 3 and GH 7, Nitrate 20-30, Ammonia and Nitrite both 0, although I have to admit that I was negligent on the GH and KH for a while and let the KH slip to 0 probably for some weeks before I noticed (I know...) and began buffering with the Seachem products. I also dose every 1-2 days with 5ml of Seachem Flourish Excel.
The set up has been running for 10 months or so and at first the plants were thriving, especially the Amazon Swords, which were constantly sending out new leaves bigger than the old ones, and the Vallis, which quickly reached the top of the wqater and sent out so many runners that I was pulling it up in handfulls.
However, over the last 6-8 weeks the Vallis has almost died off and the swords have developed stunted, yelowish and in some cases twisted/deformed new leaves with translucent patches (see photo).
I should also mention that I did supplement with root tabs around the swords about 6-8 months ago and added some new ones yesterday in case the roots were being starved of nutrients, which I doubt given the amount of stuff that comes out of the gravel if I stick the syphon in deep during the weekly clean up.
So, any ideas what could be causing (a) the Vallis die off (maybe the Flourish excel and/or lowish pH) and (b) the stunted, yellow, twisted, translucent Amazon Sword new leaves (possibly a lack of Calcium before I started buffering and/or other minerals such as iron, potassium)?
The set up has been running for 10 months or so and at first the plants were thriving, especially the Amazon Swords, which were constantly sending out new leaves bigger than the old ones, and the Vallis, which quickly reached the top of the wqater and sent out so many runners that I was pulling it up in handfulls.
However, over the last 6-8 weeks the Vallis has almost died off and the swords have developed stunted, yelowish and in some cases twisted/deformed new leaves with translucent patches (see photo).
I should also mention that I did supplement with root tabs around the swords about 6-8 months ago and added some new ones yesterday in case the roots were being starved of nutrients, which I doubt given the amount of stuff that comes out of the gravel if I stick the syphon in deep during the weekly clean up.
So, any ideas what could be causing (a) the Vallis die off (maybe the Flourish excel and/or lowish pH) and (b) the stunted, yellow, twisted, translucent Amazon Sword new leaves (possibly a lack of Calcium before I started buffering and/or other minerals such as iron, potassium)?