Cinnebuns Posted February 10, 2022 Share Posted February 10, 2022 I regularly dose easy green and have even slightly increased the dose the past week yet my water lettuce is looking like this. I'm not good with plants but I'm learning. Is it potassium deficiency? If so, which product would you suggest I get? If not what's your diagnosis and treatment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 What's the pH of the tank and what's the KH and GH? How many gallons is the tank and how many pumps are you using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 PH is 8.2. I honestly don't know KH and GH. I have test kits on the way right now. 29 gallons and using 3 pumps. Stocked with 4 guppies and 7 panda cories. I'm gonna assume my KH is fine because my PH hasn't moved at all in the entire 4.months the tank has been up but that's purely an assumption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 (edited) Okay, at a 8.2pH, you are not getting enough Iron and you are under dosing in general as well. I would double your dosing, as a start, and you may need to use even more. I would also look for Fe in a form called Ferrous Gluconate. EG is EDTA chelated. This graph shows different availability at various pH. Edited February 11, 2022 by Mmiller2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 When you say look for FE you mean an iron supplement to put in the water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 On 2/10/2022 at 6:27 PM, Cinnebuns said: When you say look for FE you mean an iron supplement to put in the water? Yes, that is Ferrous Gluconate. I believe Seachem Iron is. You can also buy Ferrous Gluconate Fe in a dry powder. You could use DPTA, but only about half the iron will be available. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 Ok that's a huge help. Ty so much 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirTeeCup Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 (edited) such high PH isn't great for most plants, but as mentioned if you're looking for iron supplaments look for DPTA as that would be the cheapest option you have that still somewhat works at that PH. Quote EDTA strongly holds iron in solution up to pH 6.0, but by pH 6.5, almost one-half the iron is precipitated, and by pH 7.0, almost none of the iron is available to plants.DTPA is an excellent iron source up to media pH 7.0; however, 60 percent of the iron is precipitated and unavailable by pH 8.0. EDDHA is the strongest chelate of any of the commonly used materials and maintains iron availability to plants past pH 9.0. EDDHA is the best option for your PH but is very expensive so that probably isn't something you want to use. Edited February 11, 2022 by SirTeeCup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 @SirTeeCup that makes me reconsider doing things to lower my ph. 8.2 is what comes out if my tap. I have been keeping stable rather than chasing ph but idk. Probably still best. Just sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 On 2/10/2022 at 8:42 PM, Cinnebuns said: @SirTeeCup that makes me reconsider doing things to lower my ph. 8.2 is what comes out if my tap. I have been keeping stable rather than chasing ph but idk. Probably still best. Just sucks. My out of the tap ranges between 7.8 and 8.2 pH. Now that I read Roy's explanation for how calcium inhibits iron absorption in plants like it does in people, I am re-evaluating my bare bottom tank, and I think I'm going to buy some small terra cotta pots for soil, cap with gravel, and allow my plants to create a lower pH around their root zone to improve iron (Fe+++) absorption and change to (Fe++). Because I am too old to be chasing water parameters. Much better to work with what I have. I need to get a newer picture on my phone. This tank is 8.2 pH, and I have removed over half the plants 3x since this picture was taken. The left third is currently overgrown jungle, which my spouse adores. It's 68° F and hard water (plus hundreds of endlers) fueling the growth of frogbit, pothos, anachris, java fern, Amazon sword, wendelov, 2 different crypts, an El Niño fern, anubias, crinum, and a pogo.... Moss on the logs. Based on what was said on another thread, I am pretty sure that having a deep substrate is benefiting the plants as my stems are healthier here than any other tank. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonske Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 On 2/11/2022 at 7:40 AM, Cinnebuns said: If not what's your diagnosis and treatment? Is there a lid on the tank? If not, you might want to check your air humidity. I couldn't grow water lettuce no matter what and learned from an old fish-keeping book that the reason was my very low air humidity (below 30% RH at times). Water lettuce apparently hates that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 On 2/12/2022 at 1:21 AM, Fonske said: Is there a lid on the tank? If not, you might want to check your air humidity. I couldn't grow water lettuce no matter what and learned from an old fish-keeping book that the reason was my very low air humidity (below 30% RH at times). Water lettuce apparently hates that. That explains why it only does well in one tank. Thank you! On 2/10/2022 at 6:27 PM, Cinnebuns said: When you say look for FE you mean an iron supplement to put in the water? According to Roy, the @Seattle_Aquarist on another thread, the iron in the SeaChem iron is absorbed by the leaves directly from the water column, and is appropriate to use in a high pH tank. Since I don't want to chase water parameters, I just ordered the SeaChem Iron. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 On 2/12/2022 at 12:21 AM, Fonske said: Is there a lid on the tank? If not, you might want to check your air humidity. I couldn't grow water lettuce no matter what and learned from an old fish-keeping book that the reason was my very low air humidity (below 30% RH at times). Water lettuce apparently hates that. I discovered the same thing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirTeeCup Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 (edited) On 2/10/2022 at 7:42 PM, Cinnebuns said: @SirTeeCup that makes me reconsider doing things to lower my ph. 8.2 is what comes out if my tap. I have been keeping stable rather than chasing ph but idk. Probably still best. Just sucks. Chasing PH can be quite tiring, if you're not trying to use some sort of additive to your water when you do water changes or something similar to lower the PH, you can add some organic matter that will lower the PH slightly. Things like botanicals, wood, organic based substrate all lower your PH to some degree and if you don't do massive water changes frequently you could lower it a bit. On a side note, I'm not familiar with your tank and what its used for so you might not really need to change the PH. Edited February 13, 2022 by SirTeeCup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted February 13, 2022 Author Share Posted February 13, 2022 On 2/12/2022 at 2:21 AM, Fonske said: Is there a lid on the tank? Yes I do have a lid On 2/12/2022 at 8:08 PM, SirTeeCup said: I'm not familiar with your tank and what its used for so you might not really need to change the PH. A family emergency came up after I posted this so I haven't decided if I'm going to lower the PH yet. The tank is a 29g currently housing 7 panda cories and 4 guppies and growing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 On 2/13/2022 at 1:59 AM, Cinnebuns said: A family emergency came up after I posted this so I haven't decided if I'm going to lower the PH yet. The tank is a 29g currently housing 7 panda cories and 4 guppies and growing. If you want to lower pH, then ignore pH and lower KH. When your test kit arrives, let me know the dGH and dKH. Lowering KH is as simple as adding distilled water to tap water. Very easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1moretank Posted February 14, 2022 Share Posted February 14, 2022 @Cinnebuns floating plants that feel "fuzzy" to the touch do not appreciate having moisture on the top sides of their leaves. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 @Mmiller2001 so, assuming I did the test right which I think I did, both values are high. KH was on the top of the test. Took 12 drops which the chart says is 214.8 ppm. GH literally was off the chart. Took 19 drops and the chart only goes up to 12. I do have wonder shells in there which may be contributing. I plan to also test my tap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 (edited) What kind of fish are in the tank? Edited February 15, 2022 by Mmiller2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 7 panda cories and 3 guppies. Was 4 guppies until 2 days ago. 29 gallon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 What is the GH and KH of your tap water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 Tap is still high on both but not as high. KH was 11 drops, 196.9 ppm and GH was 16 drops which isn't on the chart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 15, 2022 Share Posted February 15, 2022 On 2/15/2022 at 2:49 PM, Cinnebuns said: Tap is still high on both but not as high. KH was 11 drops, 196.9 ppm and GH was 16 drops which isn't on the chart. I would mix half tap and half distilled water when you do water changes. I'd also remove the wonder shell. This will move you water parameters down and should help. This will drop the tank to 8dGH and 5.5dKH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnebuns Posted February 15, 2022 Author Share Posted February 15, 2022 Ok ty. Would it work to do RO water instead of distilled? I just got a system that I wasn't sure if I was gonna use or not. I got it super cheap on marketplace. Grabbed it just in case I ever decided I needed it lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mmiller2001 Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 (edited) That works too. Just go slow, say 25% a week. Eventually, the tank will match the source water you mix. Edited February 16, 2022 by Mmiller2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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