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P. Helferi Albino

jonny_ftm

Member
Joined
21 Jan 2009
Messages
137
Location
Switzerland
Hi,

On my Nano that I dry started (see signature), the new leaves of P. Helferi were white. They looked healthy though and didn't bother at first. Now, I notice that those white leaves tend to show on the long term signs of weakness/transparency

Not all plants are affected, but mainly those exposed the most to light. Increasing my TPN dosing and decreasing lights reduced the problem but is still here:

Things started this way, end November, all new leaves once immersed were white, with green nerves:





Now, some are still looking this way:



I dose 1.5ml TPN 3x/week on my 12gal/45L (7gal/26L real volume)
Also, just discovered that I have probably some stones adding GH and Kh to my water as I ended up with GH 8 and KH 5 (source water is GH 5 an KH 2)

Do you think with my EI dosing that it could be iron deficiency? It would be strange as I'm really low light (0.9W/gal or 1.5W/gal if real volume is considered).

CO2 is really constant, mist, nice color on drop checker, no algae and good flow on all parts including the bottom (P. Helferi leaves moving). Measuring Fe with two kits gives me a 0 ppm concentration (wehere my 60gal shows 0.1ppm with same kits)

Also, I had a BGA bloom on start, so could it be Nitrate deficiency on start?

Now, many leaves are getting back to a green color progressively

Many thanks for your help
 
are you dosing tpn or tpn+? tpn does not contain nitrate or phosphate.

calcium deficiency can lead to new growth being white... maybe try adding a little calcium, you could try caco3 or dolomite, but will raise your gh too...
 
GH is 8, I dose EI, that is TPN, NO3, PO4, MgSO4, CaSO4 and K2SO4

Tank was dry started with Flourite Black sand. No deficiencies during dry start, so plants are enough covered from soil (bottom soil is earthworm castings, so enough organic N and P)

Once submerged, all new leaves from P. Helferi came out white. Maybe finally it is just an adaptation phase to submersion and change in CO2/O2 concentrations between air and water

Now, leaves are getting back green from bottom and center to top and edges
 
This is a common problem with downoi first noticed I think by TDI line, if you search for white pogostaemon helfri or something like that you'll find the original thread with the solution to the problem :).
 
Thank you for the advices,

Sorry to confuse you. The problem appeared 4 weeks ago, but I didn't care at first. The aspect you see is a week ago
Now, plants are turning back green and in these few days I noticed an impressive change since my pic. None of the affected leaves did melt, they're just getting back their normal color. I'll try to post a new photo later when I'm home

But, again, I doubt it is a trace problem. Plant grew without dosing for 4 months during dry start period, so by nutrients from their roots only. So why, once submerged, it should lack nutrients? Soil is the same. The only thing that changed agressively are CO2 and O2 compaired to ambiant air. I also read in another post on someone having expierienced same issue when moving from dry start to immersion with P. helferi

Sadely, I lowered lights by 50% two weeks ago. So, it will be hard to completely exclude a nutrient deficiency in water column despite I didn't increase my TPN dosing and plants are getting better

I'll keep you informed on how they turn
 
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