James, Isn't that GSA on photos 10 and 6? If so then PO4 is also suspect no? PO4 and NO3 are coupled such that low PO4 causes a decline in NO3 uptake. I'd add both. I'd agree about CO2 and Mg.
Cheers,
Cheers,
JamesC said:That's stunting you have there. Caused by a shortage of one or more of the macro's - Carbon, Nitrogen, Calcium, Magnesium or Phosphorus. Looks unlikely to be phosphorus or calcium unless your water is very soft. This leaves carbon, nitrogen and magnesium to look at.
Suspect one is CO2. Do you have good water and surface movement along with a nice lime green colour drop checker?
Suspect two is NO3. Try adding a tad more and see if there is any improvement. A good sign of NO3 limitation is when some green plants start to get a red tinge as they near the surface.
Suspect three is magnesium. Do you add any or do you know if you have Mg in your tap water. Adding about 8-10ppm weekly should be fine to rule this out.
James
plantbrain said:Generally problems with plants if the person follows ADA, PPS, EI etc, is not the method's fault.
CO2 and light are the main drivers when you use CO2 and higher light.
The method cannot do it's job unless you have good CO2 and reasonable light intensity.
So you should always start there.
All these methods add plenty of ferts, one way or another.
And folks have troubles with algae pretty much the same frequencies.
CO2 is quite the issue for 95% or more of all algae related issues I've fielded over the past decade.
Folks kill their fish with it, not nutrients.
Folks mess it up, cannot measure it for the life of them accurately.
Yet some carry on about testing things like PO4 or K+, etc.
I've seen nasty rash of BBA in ADA tanks, in PPS tanks, in EI tanks and in non CO2 tanks as well when things like CO2 where not considered correctly.
Focus 95% of your efforts there.
Clean, water changes, dose Excel and prune.
If you add the right amount of CO2, plants grow like weeds, so you can prune/clean your way out most any algae issue.
Regards,
Tom Barr
beeky said:If increasing/lowering CO2 causes a corresponding drop/increase in pH, then wouldn't maintaining a stable pH maintain a stable CO2? I thought this was the reasoning behind pH controllers?
Could be - if you think the CO2 and dosing is up to scratch as discussed in this thread then you now you need to be patient - improvement often only shows in new growth and it can take 2 or 3 weeks to see the benefits...!Aeropars said:Incidentally, i'm wondering if my fortunes are turning. The Blyxia is starting to show new growth with a more vibrant green on it. Perhaps i'm turning a corner!