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Slow growth old soil?

Sprayman60

Member
Joined
17 Jan 2022
Messages
164
Location
East midlands
Hello

Looking for some advise please on my 70L aquascape

I have noticed my plant growth has slowed down and the health of the plants has got a lot worse. I might of had the tropica soil for almost 18 months and was wondering if its the lack of nutrients in the soil? I have added some tropica root tabs and has improved growth in some areas.

The soil itself looks fine and will be adding more root tabs. Another thing I've noticed is an increase in BBA aswell

This was november and all was growing well apart from the left side rotala in the background. One big change was going from tropica specialized to TNC complete fertiliser and it started losing colour and going downhill
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The ludwigia white (front right was cut) looks worse now than then when previously it was thriving
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This is today almost 2 weeks after a trim on the background
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Rotala green
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I notice your mosses receding through the images, maybe it isn't an issue with the substrate? Or did you intentionally remove most of it?

More information would help people pinpoint what is going on, including your fertilization routine.
 
I notice your mosses receding through the images, maybe it isn't an issue with the substrate? Or did you intentionally remove most of it?

More information would help people pinpoint what is going on, including your fertilization routine.
I removed most of the moss and have left just a few bits of fissidens moss in there

I fertilise 8ml of TNC per day and have recently put in tropica root tabs.
 
Did you make sure you've gone and done a thorough clean-up around the nooks/crannies/base of the hardscape and around the base of the plants? I'm thinking the increase in BBA in one of my tanks might relate in part to a gradual build-up of organic debris in hard-to-clean areas of the setup.
Yes I think this is the case with the BBA and I'm working on cleaning up these areas. My problem now after a trim is that i don't think it's growing back well at all or since swapping to TNC in November.

My guess is if I clear up a bit more with the water changes and the plant growth was better it might solve the problem

The rotala green tops also looks yellow but has been rapid growth
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How old is the substrate?
Roughly 13-14 months but I think I added more somewhere down the line but have rescaped it

I am getting new growth now but I am noticing deficiencies and I've not had this problem so far and growth is much slower
 
Roughly 13-14 months but I think I added more somewhere down the line but have rescaped it

I am getting new growth now but I am noticing deficiencies and I've not had this problem so far and growth is much slower
some loss down the line with the Co2, have you changed anything recently?
 
some loss down the line with the Co2, have you changed anything recently?
I did a big trim on all plants and It's struggled since but I changed to TNC fertiliser in Nov and it got worse since the change.

I have also changed the C02 a few times also for being too high
 
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I wouldn't consider the change to TÑC Complete the reason, both will have all essential nutrients ,as long as the dosing is on a level with the specialised . Maybe the soil lacking nutrients affected plants. You say some are doing ok. The root tablets will be effective in time
 
I wouldn't consider the change to TÑC Complete the reason, both will have all essential nutrients ,as long as the dosing is on a level with the specialised . Maybe the soil lacking nutrients affected plants. You say some are doing ok. The root tablets will be effective in time
Thanks! I'm keeping on top of water changes and the soil has plenty of root tabs now. I've trimmed all bad leaves with BBA aswell so will see over the next few weeks if the growth is better
 
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