Matt's hole in the wall (Plant Killer)

[jaypeecee]

Hi Again!

I just remembered the following:

Aquarium

www.golias.net

JPC

 

[MrBritz]

Quick update, and some pics.

Parameters

Lowering my KH by using RO for top-ups and water changes has meant that I can lower my CO2 bubble rate. I have had to keep a close eye and fine tune it to avoid the drop checker going yellow.

Started dosing 3ml of TNC complete daily.

Added 10x tropica nutrition capsules placed evenly spaced in the gravel.

Water temp is now between 22-24C (cyano growth has slowed slightly but still present.)

Plants showing first signs of new growth for the first time in a couple of months.

 

[Hufsa]

Eeey! Look at them go! 😍
Thanks for checking in Matt, your update has brightened my day 😊

 

[MrBritz]

Hi, Quick update and some pics after weekly water change. Approx 1.5 weeks after starting dosing TNC Complete @ 3ml daily.

Cyanobacteria has become rampant since starting the dosing but the plant growth has really picked up too.

The pics don’t show anywhere near the true amount of cyano as I syphoned out most of it yesterday during the weekly water change.

I have also added an AI hydra LED light from a friends reef tank that he has just broken down and given to me.

I need to get the cyano under control, can anyone advise whether the additional light or the additional ferts would be the main cyano culprit or is it a combination of both or something else altogether?

I’m considering a 4 day blackout but I’m worried about the plants as it seems that they’re only just starting to recover.

Any advice on a good method for carrying out the blackout?

Thanks

 

[MrBritz]

Weekly update:
I have been dosing slightly less ferts (1.5ml) daily and the tank seems to have stablilised this week, cyano hardly made a comeback at all compared to the week before. Plant growth seem to be taking off now.
Also added another 3 Otos and 4 Amano shrimp

 

[Hufsa]

Weekly update:
I have been dosing slightly less ferts (1.5ml) daily and the tank seems to have stablilised this week, cyano hardly made a comeback at all compared to the week before. Plant growth seem to be taking off now.
Also added another 3 Otos and 4 Amano shrimp

My apologies, I must have missed your previous update @MrBritz
Your plants are looking much better, im glad to hear the tank has stabilized a bit and the cyano is not as bad 😊
Keep an eye on the tops of your stargrass especially (Heteranthera zosterifolia), if the tops of the plants continue being pale green to white, you may be having an Iron (Fe) or Manganese (Mn) issue (not to be confused with Magnesium (Mg)).
This is more common in hard water tanks because the iron and some traces have difficulty with staying dissolved.
There are extra strong chelated variants of these nutrients available that one can supplement for hard water. However, iron and manganese compete with each other for uptake, and look very similar symptom wise, so it might be a little bit fiddly to get it just right.
Check in with us later if you think this might be an issue, ill turn on email notifications so I dont miss the post this time 🙂

 

[MrBritz]

There are extra strong chelated variants of these nutrients available that one can supplement for hard water.

Hi Hufsa, thanks for your feedback. I want to make sure I understand the fundamentals of your response. Presumably this is to do with the Buffering effect of KH on PH and the effect of PH on nutrient absorption?

Therefor where KH is higher than usual, PH will be subsequently higher, as a result the nutrient uptake of iron and manganese would be inhibited. Is that correct?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Keep an eye on the tops of your stargrass especially (Heteranthera zosterifolia), if the tops of the plants continue being pale green to white, you may be having an Iron (Fe) or Manganese (Mn) issue (not to be confused with Magnesium (Mg)).

That looks <"pretty likely"> from the photo.

Presumably this is to do with the Buffering effect of KH on PH and the effect of PH on nutrient absorption?

Therefor where KH is higher than usual, PH will be subsequently higher, as a result the nutrient uptake of iron and manganese would be inhibited. Is that correct?

Yes, that is it. The issue is that iron (Fe) froms all sorts of insoluble compounds (<"oxide, hydroxides, carbonate, phosphate etc">) in alkaline conditions. Have a look at @Craig Matthews <"pink tint thread">.

You could try <"Chempak sequestered iron">for starters.

cheers Darrel

 

[MrBritz]

Just finished a 4-day blackout to combat the Cyanobacteria. Not sure why I put this off for so long, it seems to have worked really well. There is little to no cyano left in the tank. The plants have lost a bit of colour but otherwise look healthy.