Phosphate Deficiency and Solution

[Patrick_G]

Over the last few weeks noticed some brown Java fern leaves. I plucked them and didn’t pay much attention but over the last week or so more and more leaves started getting brown from the base up and dying. I’m pretty sure it matches the symptoms of a phosphate deficiency. I don’t have any phosphate on hand so I did a big water change to flush out any existing nutrients and then added 2ml of Easy Green. I’ll monitor over the next few days and add another 1ml of EG if I don’t see improvement. Is this a good plan? Did I make the correct diagnosis? Should I just buy a separate bottle of phosphate? 
11.3 gallon tank

Edited October 27, 2021 by Patrick_G

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Patrick_Gremind me again how long this setup has been up? Was this a Java fern from another of your tanks or new to you? Are you having more spot algae? 

I tend to think of phosphate issues affecting every older leaf not sparing any older leaves with significant spot algae issues. 

If the tank is still under a year it may just be hitting its stride and the plants are getting hungrier and that could be the source of the deficiencies. Your stems and water wisteria will churn through nutrients quickly and this may be starving the rhizome plants a bit. Within 2 -3 weeks you should have your answer with that dosing schedule. 

[Patrick_G]

On 10/27/2021 at 7:52 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

@Patrick_Gremind me again how long this setup has been up? Was this a Java fern from another of your tanks or new to you? Are you having more spot algae? 

I tend to think of phosphate issues affecting every older leaf not sparing any older leaves with significant spot algae issues. 

If the tank is still under a year it may just be hitting its stride and the plants are getting hungrier and that could be the source of the deficiencies. Your stems and water wisteria will churn through nutrients quickly and this may be starving the rhizome plants a bit. Within 2 -3 weeks you should have your answer with that dosing schedule. 

The tank has been set up for about 13 months. It’s grown out a few times and been trimmed back. I honestly can’t remember how long the Java fern have been in the tank, but long enough to be beyond the conversion stage. The tank usually has a Nitrate level around 30-40 so I’m not worried about Nitrogen. At the rate I’m losing leaves I’m not going to have any in two weeks so this better work. 

[Mmiller2001]

How much P are you dosing?

[Guppysnail]

On 10/27/2021 at 10:52 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

significant spot algae issues. 

I tend to agree here but I am by no stretch of the imagination a plant guru. My water company this summer did a revamp on the treatment plant and many lines. Last month over about a week I got a light coating on almost every leaf of every plant and on glass of green spot. I got a phosphate test from api and it was zero from the tap and zero in my tank from plants using what little is in food.   By the time the seachem phos arrived in the mail my source water was back to showing phos. So now I am slowly pruning spot covered leaves. 

[Patrick_G]

On 10/28/2021 at 10:30 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

How much P are you dosing?

I was hoping you would weigh in. I’m just dosing the two pumps of EG each week. Until now P was sort of an afterthought. I’m totally comfortable adding more doubling the EG but I’m kinda thinking it can’t hurt to have some P on hand for this problem and any that might pop up in the future.

[Mmiller2001]

On 10/28/2021 at 2:04 PM, Patrick_G said:

I was hoping you would weigh in. I’m just dosing the two pumps of EG each week. Until now P was sort of an afterthought. I’m totally comfortable adding more doubling the EG but I’m kinda thinking it can’t hurt to have some P on hand for this problem and any that might pop up in the future.

You have a lot of room there to dose more. You just have to decide how you want to dose it. Use more easy green, or dose just P. Via Easy Green, assuming 10 gallons in the tank, at 2 pumps, is only .32ppm of PO4. I would shoot for 1ppm per week and see how the tank responds.

[CT_]

On 10/27/2021 at 10:00 PM, Patrick_G said:

long enough to be beyond the conversion stage

just an anecdotal data point here:  My first plant was a java fern from a tube at the big box store.  It just this month lost its last emersed leaves (I bought it in January).  

[Patrick_G]

On 10/29/2021 at 11:59 AM, CT_ said:

just an anecdotal data point here:  My first plant was a java fern from a tube at the big box store.  It just this month lost its last emersed leaves (I bought it in January).  

Interesting. I don’t usually loose many leaves on regular variety Java Fern but some  show deficiencies of one sort or the other. I struggled with lots of black spots and holes, plus some yellowing and I did remove those leaves. A bit of extra EG plus some extra K seemed to correct that. In general my ferns are far from perfect but look decent, a night and day difference from my early struggles. That’s why this new problem is so puzzling. I’m open to the possibility that they’re still just converting.