face Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 (edited) the light I have is a unknown model that came with a PetSmart tank I know nothing about it literally 0 information on the box it was a plain white box I used one of those phone par meter (no idea how accurate it is) but it says 8 to 10 par on the substrate and it has a very yellow tinge to it anyways that’s a long way of saying I’m thinking of getting a new light What one would you recommend for low to medium light plants tank is 17 inches tall the first thing I thought of was a fluval 3.0 but it seems strange to us a light at probably Less then half power I also thought about a hygger lights bit I’m not sure about there build quality But any recommendations are welcome and the second thing is this sword it’s just a bit strange it hasn’t done anything but slowly get uglier lol the one leaf has completely died and the other are curled a bit some were like that when I got it but some are starting to curl I have two root tabs under it I’m not familiar enough with the plant to know what’s going on with it Edited January 20 by face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 amazon sword. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 (edited) On 1/19/2024 at 6:19 PM, face said: tank is 17 inches tall Pretty much anything is fine. A lot of people use the nicrew planted 24/7 lights, Co-op light is also a good choice if you prefer those features and warranty. On 1/19/2024 at 6:19 PM, face said: and the second thing is this sword it’s just a bit strange it hasn’t done anything but slowly get uglier lol the one leaf has completely died and the other are curled a bit some were like that when I got it but some are starting to curl I have two root tabs under it I’m not familiar enough with the plant to know what’s going on with it Curling leaves is a part of a deficiency showing, I believe it would be calcium based on my references. I would just recommend tabbing this plant and not changing anything else to see if that helps. You mentioned 2 tabs, try doing 3-4 because of the size of the plant. (There's also yellowing, so it's just a nutrient issue basically) What is your fert of choice, tab of choice, and maintenance routine? I would also check your GH and KH levels. Edited January 20 by nabokovfan87 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
face Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 On 1/19/2024 at 11:28 PM, nabokovfan87 said: Curling leaves is a part of a deficiency showing, I believe it would be calcium based on my references. I would just recommend tabbing this plant and not changing anything else to see if that helps. You mentioned 2 tabs, try doing 3-4 because of the size of the plant. (There's also yellowing, so it's just a nutrient issue basically) What is your fert of choice, tab of choice, and maintenance routine? I would also check your GH and KH levels. Water levels are 0kh gh 50 ppm nitrate 10 or 20 fertilizer is seachem flourish and the tabs are seachem to as for maintenance I don’t really have a schedule yet tank just finished cycling probably end up doing once a week water change might start with 30% and see where that gets me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 (edited) On 1/20/2024 at 1:48 AM, face said: Water levels are 0kh gh 50 ppm nitrate 10 or 20 fertilizer is seachem flourish and the tabs are seachem to What are the GH and KH levels in the tap? I would expect KH to be minimum 40-60 and GH to be around 80-120 as a minimum for the sake of stability. On 1/20/2024 at 1:48 AM, face said: as for maintenance I don’t really have a schedule yet tank just finished cycling probably end up doing once a week water change might start with 30% and see where that gets me For future ref, basically whenever you're cycling you can do water changes. If you're adding bacteria or ammonia you would just do so after those water changes and wait 24 hours. Edited January 20 by nabokovfan87 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
face Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 On 1/20/2024 at 10:12 AM, nabokovfan87 said: What are the GH and KH levels in the tap? I would expect KH to be minimum 40-60 and GH to be around 80-120 as a minimum for the sakemor stability. For future ref, basically whenever you're cycling you can do water changes. If you're adding bacteria or ammonia you would just do so after those water changes and wait 24 hours. My tap is the same with the exception that my ph before off gassing is 8 or so but after that it sits at 6.5 to 6 or so I’m already using a very small amount of crushed coral to buffer it because I’m doing smaller water changes then I use to ph has never been particularly unstable for me it slowly declines over a few weeks but nothing crazy I did do something water change during the cycle but not really anything consistent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 Yeah, so the low GH and KH levels are in play here regarding plant overall health. Certain nutrients the plants needs are minerals, like magnesium and calcium (GH). If they are showing certain deficiencies, it would just mean that it's probably a good idea to check them from time to time. This is also where using a buffer like crushed coral, doing large water changes, would counter the buffer that you're trying to proceed forward with. If you're doing weekly 50% water changes, consider doing them bi-weekly or reducing them to 30% volume as opposed to 50%. It's all relative here to your water and your situation. In my case I use KH buffers, GH buffers, and things like Seiryu stone as needed to keep the tank from crashing. I'll go ahead and do my filter cleaning this week, verify GH level, add in some buffer if need be. It is likely I don't need to add anything, but the weekly check or monthly check just to monitor things in that situation is highly advised. I use equilibrium as a plant nutrient buffer. I am sure there's something better out there, but the logic for my use is exactly what you're going through. There's two plant charts that would be good for you to have on hand to reference. First one is for macronutrient plant deficiencies. The other is for micronutrient plant deficiencies. I can send you the ones I have in DM if you need. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
face Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 I shaved a couple more root tabs under it hopefully that will help I’ll give it a couple weeks and see I also cut off the completely dead leaf I’m really trying to not mess with my water perimeters if it can get away with it if I need to so be it but I’ll try a couple more tabs first it’s funny out of all the plants I thought the sword would care the least about the water but here we are lol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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