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Rotala Rotundifolia - Growth Issues

Can anyone confirm that the transparent leaves highlighted in the picture attached is Iron deficiency ? Or something else ?
 

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Another 3 weeks gone and it looks like (at least for now) they eventually get to the shape I was expecting from them. They lost some colour but I'm not to bothered about that just yet. Only a poor photo taken with my phone but hopefully you can see the difference.
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Not to get too excited, my rotala orange juice looks just like my rotundifolia a couple of months ago so will be working on that now.
 
I'm curious how much iron do you have in your tank , not how much i have :)
Maybe that's the answer to your last post then. If you're not interested what you have in your own tank transparent/pale leaves won't sort themselves out without correcting things ;) If you want to sort the problem out just start making changes and it will go away quicker than you think.
 
Ok.. i seemed to have solve my rotala issues, you guys have a look and tell me if there is anything wrong.. the walichii and rotundifolia which were a mess are now looking great.. so is najenshan..

Quick snaps from iphone so bad quality pics..

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Is your water very hard? Often micro-element deficiencies are caused by the ratio of elements, rather than an actual lack of an element. For example very high calcium levels can stop iron uptake.

cheers Darrel

What a great thread. Found so much useful info here. I'm gonna have to revive it :D

Darrel - I live in a very hard area. My Mg is low so the hardness must be coming from Ca? I've started adding Mg recently. Do you think this should help reduce calcium's negative effect on iron uptake?
Or do I really need to reduce the Ca level somehow? If yes, is there a way to do that?
 
Hi all,
Darrel - I live in a very hard area. My Mg is low so the hardness must be coming from Ca? I've started adding Mg recently.
That is right, most of the aquifers in the S UK are fairly pure limestones (CaCO3), like chalk.

We nearly always need to add magnesium in the UK, some of the American fertiliser recipes leave it out because their hard water usually contains Mg for <"geological reasons">.
Do you think this should help reduce calcium's negative effect on iron uptake?
Probably not, with the calcium (Ca++) and magnesium (Mg++) ions it is just a numbers game, adding more Mg++ ions to the tank water just increases the chance of a cell picking up a magnesium ion, rather than a calcium one. Plants don't need a huge amount of magnesium (it is the central atom in the chlorophyll molecule), they just need some.

The issue with iron Fe+++ is a bit different, again plants need relatively little of it, the problem comes because most iron compounds are insoluble, and in harder water any free iron ions almost immediately go out of solution as iron oxides, hydroxides and carbonates.

Because of these solubility issues we need to supply iron as a chelate, in harder water FeEDTA isn't very effective, so we need a chelator that is more stable at <"higher pH values">.

The <"Chempak Sequestered Iron"> from the link should do, or <"Solufeed"> etc.

cheers Darrel
 
Thanks Darrel. Really useful. A few more questions :crazy::

- Are those ferts in your links safe to use with fish in tank?
- What about Fe DTPA 7%? I've started dry dosing it from this week. Is it also relatively useless then in hard water?
- Also, will adding more of these more effectively chelated irons be more likely to resolve iron deficiency in very hard water, or will the high calcium still be interfering in its uptake?

many thanks
 
Hi all,
Are those ferts in your links safe to use with fish in tank?
They should be.

The only real issues with horticultural fertilisers are the nitrogen sources, they usually use ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3 ~ 35%N), or urea (CO(NH2)2) ~46%N), both of which are toxic to fish.
What about Fe DTPA 7%? I've started dry dosing it from this week. Is it also relatively useless then in hard water?
No it should be fine, it is more efficient than EDTA at higher pH levels.
Also, will adding more of these more effectively chelated irons be more likely to resolve iron deficiency in very hard water, or will the high calcium still be interfering in its uptake?
You don't need the chelator to supply a huge amount of available iron ions, you just need "some".

A few plants, like Tonina etc. aren't probably going to enjoy life in hard water whatever happens, but most will be absolutely fine.

cheers Darrel
 
thanks Darrel
 
Old thread I know, but what would be the dosage for the Chempak sequestered iron in a high tech setup?
 
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