Are my plants okay??

[siniardem]

I know not the best photos but any helpful hints on these plants?? They will look great then stop. Aquenon LED light is on 12hours. Zero algae and some plants are two weeks old so they are trying to get established. I’m not good with plant names. I know the potted plants are not new and the bananas aren’t either. I have eco complete substrate, use easy green maybe once every few weeks, and have iron rich well water. I can never tell what I am missing, even though I heavily research it. Seems like I am missing something or maybe I am just impatient?? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DaveSamsell]

@siniardem, Here is a great presentation by @Cory, that I like to reference from time to time.  Lots of wonderful information, in a short video.    

 

 

[siniardem]

Thank you! Definitely helped. I think it’s a phosphate and potassium deficiency. More easy green?

[DaveSamsell]

16 minutes ago, siniardem said:

Thank you! Definitely helped. I think it’s a phosphate and potassium deficiency. More easy green?

@siniardem, Nitrogen, Potassium & Phosphorus are the Macro nutrients for plants.  Do you know your aquarium Nitrate & Phosphate levels?

 

 

 

 

[siniardem]

On 9/28/2020 at 8:20 PM, DaveSamsell said:

@siniardem, Nitrogen, Potassium & Phosphorus are the Macro nutrients for plants.  Do you know your aquarium Nitrate & Phosphate levels?

 

 

 

 

Nitrate is 30-40ppm. I don't know phosphate. I was considering buying the test kit if needed.

[DaveSamsell]

9 minutes ago, siniardem said:

Nitrate is 30-40ppm. I don't know phosphate. I was considering buying the test kit if needed.

@siniardem,  If it was my aquarium, I personally would dose again with Easy Green , add a few root tabs & give it some more time.  The plants may stabilize & hopefully flourish.  

In some of my planted tanks, my phosphate levels were low & my plants were being affected, since I don't feed my fish, heavily.  

Hopefully others will chime in with more input.

All the best....

[siniardem]

Thank you! I have started dosing easy green on a schedule! 

[Irene]

I purchased both potassium and phosphate kits and found out my potassium was basically 0 ppm. However, my nitrate was already at 20 ppm, and you're supposed to dose Easy Green up to 20 ppm. Since I didn't want to go overboard with nitrate, I ended up getting Flourish Advance, which primarily adds more potassium (and a few other nutrients).

I also have soft water, so I found out via another test kit that my GH (water hardness) was too low. Easy Green is designed to be used by people who have soft or hard water, so it doesn't do much to impact GH. I ended up having to dose Seachem Equilibrium to increase my mineral levels. I'm so glad I made the leap to buy those extra test kits for my plants! 🙂

Before testing (too much light + not enough potassium and GH = dying plants and algae):

After testing (less light + correct balance of plant nutrients = thriving plants and minimal algae):

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by Irene

[siniardem]

Yes!! I don't have algae, but I wonder about the dark spots on the plants. I know I have hard water, but my GH and KH is on the middle of the chart, but I really need to retest to get this straight. What is the Seachem Equilibrium for?? Okay I am doing the extra kits today!

[siniardem]

Where did you find the Potassium test kit?

[Irene]

If you have hard water with decent GH/KH, you probably don't need Seachem Equilibrium. Equilibrium contains a bunch of minerals for raising GH and is a godsend for people like me who have soft water. Here are some recommended plant nutrient values that I found when I was researching online:

• CO2 content: 20-30 ppm
• Nitrate (NO3): 10-25 ppm OR 10-20 ppm
• Potassium (K): 5-10 ppm OR 10-20 ppm
• Phosphate (PO4): 0.1-1 ppm (dose to 0.5 and let it drop to 0) OR 0.5-2.0 ppm
• Magnesium (Mg): >10 ppm OR 2-5 ppm
• Calcium (Ca): 10-30 ppm 
  • Calcium-magnesium-potassium ratio = 2:1:0.5
• Iron (Fe): 0.05-0.1 ppm OR 0.1-0.5 ppm
  • Free non-chelated iron (toxic) ≤ 0.1 and chelated iron (nontoxic) = 0.25-0.5 ppm
• General Hardness (GH): 4-8 degrees 
• Carbonate Hardness (KH): 4-8 degrees 

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by Irene
corrected the chelated iron value

[siniardem]

Thank you!! Screenshotting this and keeping it!

I have found the Phosphate test kit and I know I need to test for calcium for my snails. I have iron in my well water, so there is plenty there. However, I cannot seem to find the Potassium test kit. I am probably missing something. 

[Irene]

2 minutes ago, siniardem said:

Where did you find the Potassium test kit?

Yeah, it was hard to find the freshwater versions for some of these test kits, but this is the one I got for potassium: https://www.fishtanksdirect.com/salifert-freshwater-potassium-test-kit.aspx

[siniardem]

This might be a stupid question, but a reef test can't be used on freshwater correct? I was hoping to cash in my amazon prime on this one.

[Irene]

Some tests are for both freshwater and saltwater, so I just make sure to double check it can definitely test freshwater. For example, I have never been able to find a freshwater-compatible magnesium test, so let me know if you ever see one.

Edited October 2, 2020 by Irene

[siniardem]

Irene,

I have received my kits and finally got to test my tanks. I have four and they are all different exact numbers but basically calcium is 960-980ppm, Potassium is 0ppm, and Phosphate is over 10ppm because it couldn't get any higher on the test. I am honestly not sure where to go from here.