Vonz1 Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 (edited) I just ordered Easy Iron from Aquarium Co-Op. my tank is a bit low Fe at .25 mg/l and a plant is melting in the left corner. All plants have the Aquarium co-op Easy Root tabs planted. And I douse the new 16gal tank with 2 squirts of Easy Green each week. I am also running CO2 for 7 hrs a day. Can't wait to get Easy Iron!! Edited July 23 by Vonz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 Is this a fairly new tank? Are the plants new? If so the plants could be adjusting and melting back some which isn’t uncommon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonz1 Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 (edited) Hello Root! Yes, new tank. I cycled it for 2 weeks first with the plant in the back left corner and then added the remaining plants this past Saturday night. My new red centerpiece plant did not arrive yet that goes in the center of the tank. All the plants are from my prior tank except the small red ones in the middle and the smallest green ones located in the forefront right, those are new. Edited July 23 by Vonz1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricksonAquatics Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 I wouldn’t necessarily believe that iron deficiency is the issue here. (Although since you are running CO2 you’ll likely have better success with it). If the plants are new they’re going to melt back as they convert to living underwater and their new tank. An excess of iron can lead to a lot of algae (especially hair algae which is an absolute pain to get rid of). So I would just be careful to not dose more than you need and watch for algae. Tank looks great though! 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 It looks nice. Someone may have more insight, but they might need some time to adjust to the new tank. Please share pictures in the coming weeks/months. 🙂 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonz1 Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 On 7/23/2024 at 1:59 PM, EricksonAquatics said: I wouldn’t necessarily believe that iron deficiency is the issue here. (Although since you are running CO2 you’ll likely have better success with it). If the plants are new they’re going to melt back as they convert to living underwater and their new tank. An excess of iron can lead to a lot of algae (especially hair algae which is an absolute pain to get rid of). So I would just be careful to not dose more than you need and watch for algae. Tank looks great though! 🙂 Hi EricksonAquatics! Ya, I think you are correct. Excess Iron is not good. Given the tank water tested yesterday on the low side for Iron I am going to try a small boost. Test and measure, that has been my standard operating procedure. On 7/23/2024 at 1:59 PM, Root said: It looks nice. Someone may have more insight, but they might need some time to adjust to the new tank. Please share pictures in the coming weeks/months. 🙂 Thank you! I will post updated pics in 30 ish days and after. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricksonAquatics Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 Good plan! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 (edited) With co2 plants are able to utilize more light and more nutrients. 2 squirts of Easy Green in a 16 gallon tank very well might not cut it. what are your nitrates looking like in the tank? Is that a crypt in the left corner? Edited July 23 by Pepere 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonz1 Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 (edited) On 7/23/2024 at 2:25 PM, Pepere said: With co2 plants are able to utilize more light and more nutrients. 2 squirts of Easy Green in a 16 gallon tank very well might not cut it. what are your nitrates looking like in the tank? Is that a crypt in the left corner? Hi Pepere! that is what I am thinking too. 2 pumps of Easy Green may not be enough. And it looks like my Fluval 3.0 llight is no longer adequate for the 16 gal tank especially given the red plants I chose. Had to drop the light down and set at 100% power to get my red plants to perk up and stop from dying. Still no pearling either even for the front left green plant which always used to pearl in the 10 gal old tank. So, I ordered a Twinstar IV 600s that is coming this week to replace it. I thinks it's a Bacopa Caroliniana in the left front but not 100% sure. Possibly a Moneywort but it is definitely one of them. ammonia, nitrite and nitrates are all zero ppm. Edited July 23 by Vonz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 Zero nitrates is a problem. The plants are starving.. I am betting the co op light is not the problem. The plants are nutrient limited at zero nitrates. I dose my CO2 tanks to 30 ppm nitrates. I have been doing this with Easy Green till now, but I just bit the bullet and ordered dry salts for ferts… Each pump of Easy Green gives 3 ppm nitrates per 10 gallons of water.. yes, I have been adding 25 pumps of Easy Green to my 29 gallon aquarium after doing a water change on Saturday mornings. I am likely giving a lot more trace elements than the plants can ever use, and it is pretty pricey this way. A bottle doesnt last long when dosing 4 tanks this way. Without question the Twinstar will give you far superior color rendering and contrast and dramatically improve tank aesthetics. I just ordered a Chihiros WRGB2 pro for this tank to replace the two Finnex planted plus ALCs I have been running. I tried a Chihiros on it and was sold so I ordered one.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonz1 Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 (edited) Wow! Thats new info to me regarding nitrates. I was aware the Nitrates were in the Easy Green but thought it would amount to a trace amount concentration in my tank. They were running 10 mg/l but they measured zero Saturday. I will retest Nitrates tonight since I dosed Easy-green after the last test. Such a small pain with the Sera test kit. 🥲 There are 4 reagents to mix. Thanks for the info!! Chihiros is a great light too!!! Your tank looks superb!! 👍👍 Edited July 23 by Vonz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 A heavily planted tank with CO2 injection can benefit from nitrates at 30 ppm. You will want to see at what rate the nitrates are dropping and dose accordingly. When you first dose, the plants may well soak up above and beyond what they are capable of utilizing daily. You may wish to frontload nitrates to get levels up and then dose a few pumps every day or every other day or so depending on how levels drop. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonz1 Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 (edited) Ok, will bring up the nitrates then. Thank you!! My CO2 is set at 2 BPS and is on 1.5 hours before the light comes on and turns off 1.5 hours before the light turns off. Lighting on for 8 hrs. I also have a Milwaukee 122 PH controller that controls my pH in the tank as CO2 is being diffused in. The PH controller will shut down the CO2 solenoid when pH reaches 6.9 in the tank. PH is usually static at 7.5 when CO2 solenoid is not scheduled to run. Blue checker as a backup co2 reading although 2 hr delay. Pretty hands off co2 process to date. 😊 Edited July 23 by Vonz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonz1 Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 (edited) On 7/23/2024 at 4:18 PM, Pepere said: A heavily planted tank with CO2 injection can benefit from nitrates at 30 ppm. You will want to see at what rate the nitrates are dropping and dose accordingly. When you first dose, the plants may well soak up above and beyond what they are capable of utilizing daily. You may wish to frontload nitrates to get levels up and then dose a few pumps every day or every other day or so depending on how levels drop. Big ut oh!!! So glad you drew attention to my nitrates. So, I just ran a test just now and it's showing 50 mg/l. Planning to do a 40% water change tonight!! Edited July 23 by Vonz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 Well it is not a lack of nitrates then that is slowing plant growth… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonz1 Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 (edited) Tested zero Fri evening. Now Ammonia .5 mg/l and Nitrites a whopping 5.0 mg/L. Crazy. Not sure what caused that. I cycled the tank for 2 weeks and ammonia nitrite nitrates were zero before I added the additional plants in my one beta fish. I did add a bunch of root tabs, but I don't think that would cause it. thanks again if it wasn't for this conversation, we might've had a dead betta!!! Edited July 24 by Vonz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 It looks like the tank is not cycled yet. unless you seed the tank with filter squeezings from a well cycled tank or media from a well cycled tank it typically takes 6-8 weeks for a fishless cycle to establish itself. At this point I would not worry about the plants by and large and focus on getting through a fish in cycle. This will involve daily water testing for ammonia and nitrites and conducting water changes to try to keep levels of both below 1 ppm. It will likely take a few back to back water changes to initially get below those levels. Is the prior tank still up and running? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonz1 Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 (edited) On 7/23/2024 at 6:38 PM, Pepere said: It looks like the tank is not cycled yet. unless you seed the tank with filter squeezings from a well cycled tank or media from a well cycled tank it typically takes 6-8 weeks for a fishless cycle to establish itself. At this point I would not worry about the plants by and large and focus on getting through a fish in cycle. This will involve daily water testing for ammonia and nitrites and conducting water changes to try to keep levels of both below 1 ppm. It will likely take a few back to back water changes to initially get below those levels. Is the prior tank still up and running? You are correct. Tank is not cycled. Such a bummer. Well, I chose to start fresh without using the prior filter sponge to seed the new tank because of the history the old tank recently had: Ich, persistent fin rot (still ongoing), hitchhiker snails and snail eggs. I added a similar Stress Zyme to the new tank to help cycle faster with beneficial bacteria. That said, I tossed the old media in the trash along with all the substrate. Ugh! I think I have made every possible mistake with this hobby. Just when I think I am making headway and building good processes to maximize my time enjoying the fish, I get humbled again. Like you said, I will monitor everyday with my test kit and plan on doing water changes for the next few days just like when I added Maracyn2 to the tank and Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates skyrocketed and did multiple water changes to get the parameters in line in the old tank. Plants will have to take a back seat too like you said. Thank you for your help again, Pepere. On behalf of Oscar, he thanks you too. 🙂 I had no Idea there was a critical problem afoot. Edited July 23 by Vonz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 On 7/23/2024 at 7:27 PM, Vonz1 said: I get humbled again. This hobby has an amazing capacity to humble me when I start to think I am getting a handle on things… 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonz1 Posted July 24 Author Share Posted July 24 Wow, I guess I'll have to get used to that then. 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vonz1 Posted July 24 Author Share Posted July 24 Just to be clear too, I did relocate the hitchhiker snails into my outdoor pond and did not throw them away with the old substrate and filter media. 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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