Why new leaves curls and wrap inwords from the sides

[bettapassion]

Hi,

Need some help here, I do not know what is wrong with my plants, stem plants now have new leaves that curls inwards from the sides like spring roll.

I changed water 30% weekly, used Tropica fert dose as per instruction, on top of that added Dr Mallick Lushgro-Micros for Fe 6 drops weekly and K2SO4 1/2 teaspoon and MgSO4 1/4 teaspoon for my 232 ltr 4 ft tank after water change. CO2 1 bps, using a reactor.

Thanks for any help

[Simon]

deform syptom?

[bclee]

Sounds like Ca deficiency.

Why not you give us more details using this worksheet?

BC

[vinz]

Sounds like calcium... either deficient or affected by Ca:Mg imbalance.

Stop Mg dosing. 50% water change then observe the new leaf growth for the next few days. I suggest dosing Seachem Equilibrium to keep you Mg:Ca ratio balanced. Alternatively, use another Ca source to match your MgSO4 dosage.

BUT before that, just stop dosing Mg and give us the details as requested by BCLee.

[bettapassion]

Hi BC,

Thanks for the help but the worksheet link is not working.....

[weileong]

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Sounds like calcium... either deficient or affected by Ca:Mg imbalance.
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Vinc,

How can I dose the Ca?

Now my plants the new leaves are small. The Leopard new leaves are small and distorted, old leaves are very dark green in color.

Lots of green algae.

Had big problems with BBA but solved after I changed to new FLs, dose KCL.

I am thinking my plants needs PO4.

[limsteel]

Read that Mg/Ca content in our water 4:1 (correct???). I only have MgS04, if I keep adding doesn't the balance get tipped over?

What other sources of Ca are available? CaCO3 would be nice, Increase the KH and at the same time Ca content in the water... Correct? Baking soda is Na compound... salt also Na. How I wish plant can drink HL milk (high in calcium)

Sheded Shrimp's shell are made of mainly Ca, does it help to increase Ca by leaving these abandon armour in the tank?

[bettapassion]

Will stop MgSO4 and see how it goes, can i still continue to use K2SO4?

[geoffrey]

Looks like alot people are getting this problem, including myself. WeiLeong, before you add Ca, may I know if you are fertilising with MgSO4 and what you use as CO2 buffer?

[vinz]

Several ways...

1) Seachem Equilibrium... can be expensive for large tanks, but measurable dosing and comes with Mg (K, Fe and MN too), so Ca:Mg ratio is maintained.

2) A bag of coral chips in the tank or filter (preferred). Juggler does this. Seems to have Mg too and Juggler hasn't had problems. You'll need to trail and error till you can maintain a certain GH level. Raises KH as well. Juggler can tell you more and better.

3) Calcium (carbonate?) tablets/pills from pharmacies. Chuck Gadd or Roger Miller sticks them into the substrate next to roots of affected plants. Some ppl break them up and toss them into the tank. The ratio will be affected if dosed to water column. May contain other ingredients that may not be good for plants/fish. So you need to find those that have harmless ingredients or just pure calcium.

4) Dolomite... lime I think. Can get from plant nurseries. You need to search the web for more info on this. My quick search indicates it contains Mg too... hmmmmm.

5) Calcium Chloride.

Some of these you can get from Dr Mallick. Check his website for his product list.

[bclee]

Just fixed the link to the worksheet above.

I do not think Ca:Mg ratio got much impact. Personally, I dose more Mg to Ca using the Seachem Equilibrium with the old formulation (0.63Ca : 1Mg). No problem with Ca deficiency now.

BC

[vinz]

Just thinking out loud... recent rise in temps raised metabolic rates and thus growth rates causing a increased requirement for Ca? So the problem starts showing up on tanks that have not been dosing Ca?

Read in Kasselmann's book that at higher then optimum temp range, growth rates actually drop though.

[bclee]

BTW, I found that some stem plants and valisneria are prone to this symptom immediately after pruning. Did it happen after pruning?

BC

[vinz]

Oh, Wei Leong, one more thing... the symptoms you described are more typical of Ca deficiency then of PO4 deficiency. But if you have good reason to believe you PO4 is limiting your plants, do fix that first.

[vinz]

Old formula has so much Mg? Anyway the numbers I've read indicate Ca:Mg ratio as a range from 2:1 to 4:1.

[naturetan]

bettapassion, looks like you're dosing quite low on your trace, K & CO2 for your size of the tank? Would be good if you let us know your KH/PH & lighting too.

[weileong]

Please see the photo of my leopard. The new leaves started are distorted

[bettapassion]

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On 6/13/2003 6:16:24 PM

bettapassion, looks like you're dosing quite low on your trace, K & CO2 for your size of the tank? Would be good if you let us know your KH/PH & lighting too.

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my lighting 6X36W 6500K

Dr Mallick's LushGro-Micro indicated 1 drop per 100 ltrs, so I only used 2 drops.

pH and kH I'll measure tonite.

[PeterGwee]

Vinc,

How can I dose the Ca?

Now my plants the new leaves are small. The Leopard new leaves are small and distorted, old leaves are very dark green in color.

Lots of green algae.

Had big problems with BBA but solved after I changed to new FLs, dose KCL.

I am thinking my plants needs PO4

You had BBA and small leaves which generally points to poor CO2 level. If it is really true, the poor overall uptake of nutrients would lead to a particular deficiency whichever store runs out first. I would correct the CO2 level and wait for 3-4 weeks before pointing finger at the low Ca thingy.

[vinz]

Peter,

That does not make sense. As I understand it, if a nutrient is limiting the growth of the plant, the required amounts of the other nutrients are lowered but that does not prevent it from taking up what is needed to meet the requirements.