Easternlethal
Member
P helferis need strong co2 flow. I haven't found them to do well in lily pipe tanks.
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The pursuit of perfect lighting
- Thread starter Camelia
- Start date
Easternlethal
Member
If you have two dropcheckers and one is next to the helferi and the other is near the surface of the tank and you see a difference in color, that will tell you is there is more co2 in one spot vs the other and that's about the most information you will get out of them. They are inadequate for calculating ppm with any real precision and certainly won't tell you whether a plant is getting enough.
Are these potted plants or tissue culture (such as Tropica 1-2-Grow)
If you look at Pedro Rosa's Going Dutch journal, he's done an excellent series of photographs/comments showing the early growth stages of several plants (tank supported by Tropica) from pots & 1-2-Grow cups.
You can use this as a "benchmark" for expected initial growth rates - some plants do take a week or three to establish (you'll often see root growth) before much leaf/stem growth begins.
(also subtract at least 20% expectations if your name is not "Pedro Rosa"
)I don't know this plant but Flowgrow considers it a "fast" "easy" plant so I'd be surprised if you're seeing no growth on this (note that tissue culture plants often "sit" a bit longer than their potted versions)
I'd add an hour "burst" at midday to test light effect (ie all 4 lamps for an hour) - you should begin to see improved growth in a few days.
Also I'm of the opinion that one can add too much fertilizer using the EI approach (which seems to go with the "excess" theory without listing/mentioning toxicity levels that are associated with some trace & inhibitory levels that are observed with some macros ...) so also consider this aspect - especially if soft water (in harder water there is often significant precipitation of "excess" nutrients)
What's your water change schedule?
Was tank set up with an established filter/media from another tank?
Have you added any algae-eating shrimps? Amano, Cherry, Tiger will all help remove any melting plant material & limit "spread" to adjacent leafs.
none of these are unprecedented observations ... I've not observed much P helferi melt (water here is very soft pH ~6) but it's often commented upon on forums ...
I would like to thank you Alto for your reply. I grew these plants in a small aquarium. The cycle of nitrogen was done and the filter were transfer from another tank. I suppose it was not a typical start, but also not a balanced tank yet. Anyway a consider it was a good start. WC is 50% Sunday and 10% one time during the week only for a soft cleaning of the substrate. During the night the lily pipe is up for aeration. GH and KH is 2 german degrees, so it's a very soft water. The ph is going for 7 (in the night) to 6.3 (at the start and during the photoperiod). Right now I' using 2x54W at 40 cm above the water level for 5 hours and starting tomorow I will use a 1 hour burst with 4x54W.
I will follow your advice, untill now it worked very well. Thank you again.
Camelia
P.S. There is a light calculator here: http://rotalabutterfly.com/light-calculator.php
I will follow your advice, untill now it worked very well. Thank you again.
Camelia
P.S. There is a light calculator here: http://rotalabutterfly.com/light-calculator.php
Thanks for the link (it wasn't very accurate for my Kessils but it may do better with T5 etc lighting)
As tank is basically cycled, I'd not hesitate to add shrimps as you increase the light intensity (unless you're intending to remain shrimp-free
)
You might consider a midweek water change as well - eg, aim to change 50% every 3-4 days, if you notice any "melt" or algae, do a water change as soon as you can.
If you're only doing 10% during that mid-week change re $ for water, continue as you are, just be careful with your EI dosing ... err on the side of scant while there's little growth (consumption/loss of the added nutrients).
I think that you're saying that these plants were already submerse (as you'd had them in a smaller aquarium growing) so new growth can be less immediate/visible than with previously emerse culture plants.
As tank is basically cycled, I'd not hesitate to add shrimps as you increase the light intensity (unless you're intending to remain shrimp-free
)You might consider a midweek water change as well - eg, aim to change 50% every 3-4 days, if you notice any "melt" or algae, do a water change as soon as you can.
If you're only doing 10% during that mid-week change re $ for water, continue as you are, just be careful with your EI dosing ... err on the side of scant while there's little growth (consumption/loss of the added nutrients).
I think that you're saying that these plants were already submerse (as you'd had them in a smaller aquarium growing) so new growth can be less immediate/visible than with previously emerse culture plants.
Fe = 0.2 - 0.3 ppm
NO3 = 20 ppm
PO4 = 2 ppm
NH4 < 0.05 ppm
NO2 < 0.01 ppm
KH = 2
GH = 2
pH = 6.3 - 7 (photoperiod-night)
I think the tank is cycled, the shrimps are there from the very begining, aprox 25-20 red cherry shrimps. 10 otocinclus afinis were added 10 days later. The plants that melted were submerse and grown int he same water parameters. Now the melting stopped, but some HC is becoming fragile and pale. But all of this are small problems, generally speaking the tank is going well. There are a lot of new small leaf for the majority of species and the tanks is algae free.
NO3 = 20 ppm
PO4 = 2 ppm
NH4 < 0.05 ppm
NO2 < 0.01 ppm
KH = 2
GH = 2
pH = 6.3 - 7 (photoperiod-night)
I think the tank is cycled, the shrimps are there from the very begining, aprox 25-20 red cherry shrimps. 10 otocinclus afinis were added 10 days later. The plants that melted were submerse and grown int he same water parameters. Now the melting stopped, but some HC is becoming fragile and pale. But all of this are small problems, generally speaking the tank is going well. There are a lot of new small leaf for the majority of species and the tanks is algae free.
