Help required in Identifying Deficiency(S.repens/E.parvula)

[Saurav215260]

Hi,

Started this tank about 3 weeks ago & have been constantly pestered by Eleocharis parvula first & then staurogyne follows suit.
For tank parameters please read thru my Journal <FRODO Iwagumi>.
current tank parameters are
Ammonia--0
Nitrite---0
Nitrate----10~20 ppm (API test kit)
E.parvula looked OK for the first week then started turning yellow one by one, finally withering & fading away.
S.repens pictures are attached for your reference.

I have scratched my head all I could but no answers at my end.
Other plants namely pearlweed, Rotala orange juice,blood red (both emersed grown pot plants) are doing OK & growing as we speak.
Alternanthera Reineckii rosanervig melted right down to the root so had to be removed.
COuld anyone please be kind enough to identify what seems to be the problem & suggest a way out of this.

Thanks

 

[keef321]

Others may be able to assist more, but this could be Co2 related and hitting the weakest plants first. The other possibility in relation to the S.repens is that it can be susceptible to melt in a new setup until things stabalise. I'm not sure if this is a controversial theory or not, but the melt I had with S.repens in my tank in its early days was triggered by co2; this then turned into a disease as such, that followed the description on 2Hraquarist website S.repens Melt

 

[Saurav215260]

I agree with your what you said @keef321 .
I have had that before in a 60p tank about 8 months agnly this time it did not wither away, it had these accentuated dead spots on the leaf & yes it does seem contagious, spreading from one to another.

CO2 & flow imo seems to suffice.Done a PH profile
12:30 p.m co2 ON 7.4 pH
2:00 p.m Lights ON 6.6 PH
3:00 p.m 6.4 PH
7:00 p.m CO2 off 6.4 PH
8:00 P.m Lights off 6.4 PH
Everyone usually puts Hairgrass as easy category, but for me Naahh.
I have grown glosssostigma twice with ease but NO success with hairgrass, even this tank seems to be doing the same to me.I wonder what am I doing wrong

 

[G H Nelson]

New growth looks okay on the repens!
I suspect the deteriorating leaves are old emersed leaves.

 

[keef321]

I agree with your what you said @keef321 .
I have had that before in a 60p tank about 8 months agnly this time it did not wither away, it had these accentuated dead spots on the leaf & yes it does seem contagious, spreading from one to another.

CO2 & flow imo seems to suffice.Done a PH profile
12:30 p.m co2 ON 7.4 pH
2:00 p.m Lights ON 6.6 PH
3:00 p.m 6.4 PH
7:00 p.m CO2 off 6.4 PH
8:00 P.m Lights off 6.4 PH
Everyone usually puts Hairgrass as easy category, but for me Naahh.
I have grown glosssostigma twice with ease but NO success with hairgrass, even this tank seems to be doing the same to me.I wonder what am I doing wrong

Yes that’s what happened to me, it appeared contagious and you could literally guess which one would get the melt next. I still have s.repens in my mature 60p and it is now very hardy. If I have it in a newly set-up tank I would be tempted to wait until the tank is more mature before planting it.

In regards to dwarf hair grass, I find in my tank it does better when it has co2 mist going directly over the carpet.

 

[Saurav215260]

Any member with "been there done that" experience with E.parvula?
Could you suggest what is to be done to get a desired carpet?
it has been 3 weeks ,all it has done in the meanwhile is a "coming soon" moment but really not getting anywhere.

In regards to dwarf hair grass, I find in my tank it does better when it has co2 mist going directly over the carpet.

Since i have a inline diffuser with good flow from canister(roughly 400 l/h) i could very well see the mist hitting the carpet at the far end and slowly making it's way to the other side.
I will make sure to upload a clipped video of the same tmrw for your ready reference.

Thanks

 

[Saurav215260]

I have read so many wonderful discussions on this forum that concerns Plant nutrient deficiencies.
It made me think about K:Mg:Ca ratio that I am dosing.
I was dosing 20ppm K-----mostly equilibrium+ APT 3
3~3.5ppm M------equilibrium+EPSOM
6ppm Ca----------equilibrium
Do these ratios seem OK or high K is causing uptake issues for the other two??
~

 

[_Maq_]

Do these ratios seem OK or high K is causing uptake issues for the other two??

Your problems are not related to any nutrient deficiency/imbalance.
But yes, in a stabilized tank, I'd recommend very different K:Mg:Ca ratio. Without going into much detail, K < Mg < Ca.

you could literally guess which one would get the melt next

This is my hypothesis which is not shared by many, but I think we underestimate fungal and bacterial infections. These seem more likely while increased organic content. Good oxygenation (rather than CO2) is likely to help it; unfortunately only with some delay and plants already in trouble may not recover. And of course, regular and large water changes are recommended, in particular when such an issue occurs.
I do not inject CO2 (and do not use aquasoil) and not long ago I took pain to get rid of all Eleocharis species from my tanks. They proliferated literally like a weed. Everywhere, incl. poorly illuminated areas.