• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Potassium deficiency??

Joined
21 Feb 2009
Messages
333
Location
stroud, glos
hi all,
i have signs of a potassium deficiency in my fast growing stems, rotala, hygro difformis and ludwiga reopens. (old leaves have pin holes and small amount of green spot algae)
however i refuse to believe it can actually be a K deficiency, i use EI and add extra K as well as whats present in the KNO3.

as for flow, i'm also pretty certain this isn't a cause, as the plants affected are spread throughout the tank and i have at least 10x flow in my 240l (ehiem 2028, 2126 and korolia 2 along the back wall all circulating in the same direction)

so..... co2??
could having low co2 cause the symptoms of K deficiency?
i however have no other low/fluctuating co2 symptoms!

or is there anything that is in excess could "block" the uptake of K?

or is there something else i should maybe be looking for??

thanks guys!
 
I like the tank just want to see it fully matured with the plants taking advantage of the space and begin to fully colour up.

Do you have a CO2 checker for you tank by the way? If so what's it indicating?
 
thanks,
yeah, have drop checker, its lime green at lights on and very yellow at lights out!

altho i have upped co2 in the last week as i felt it may not have been as "maxed" out as it could have been!
 
Those plant deficiency guides are usually aimed at terrestial plants and not aquatic ones so aren't always very accurate. People often report pinholes when they have plenty of potassium present. I would say in your case it is CO2 related. As it's the old leaves it's most likely the lower leaves where the CO2 is getting to. As the leaves start dying the algae starts to grow on them, which for you is GSA which can be CO2 related as well. Try and get some more flow down to the areas at the bottom of the tank if you can.

I see you have quite a jungle of plants. I also used to do the same and sometimes had problems as well with nutrient distribution in my 200 litre tank. Having large tanks crammed full of plants makes it that much more harder to get decent nutrient distribution. Those with small tanks often wonder what all the fuss is about with having so much flow.

HTH
James
 
thanks for the input!
just looking at your tank from the link in your sig. very nice! :0)
looks very similar in regards to plant mass, you achieved that with just the 2028??

i cant fault your reasoning , however, i have movement in pretty much all my plants including the "problem" areas, the hygo difformis is fairly unobstructed (just to the right of the "tree") and the rotala on the left is literally swaying in the flow!
its pretty much only the blyxa on the bottom left that doesn`t sway, yet no signs at all of deficiency and if i'm not mistaken is quite demanding on the co2??

maybe i should get the other korolia 2 back in there also!! :wideyed:
 
It could be that you have good flow but that flow is low in CO2. Say, if you have a powerhead near the surface which is just pumping water down to the bottom then it may be that the water that it's pumping is low in CO2. Just a thought.

James
 
good point! ;)

i do believe it to be co2 related.

in the recent past i have had lowering co2 levels as the week goes on, due to evaporation (increased water agitation) and also rapid plant growth interfering with flow, however both those have hopefully been addressed!

i dont know why i haven't had any co2 related algae outbreaks (apart form very minor GSA), guess i've just been lucky in that respect!

i suppose the obvious and easy answer would be to drop the lighting, but i've never been one to take the path of least resistance! :?
 
Back
Top