New leaves of L. Arcuata turning green

[gregorsamsa]

tank Specs:
2x1x1
lighting 3 x 15 watt FL, 10 hours(2 blocks of 5 hours with 1 hour break between)
Co2 at about 1-2bps throught diffuser.
Kh 3, Ph 6.0 (highly doubt it is accurate)

Problem.

as above , the new leaves of my Arcuata are green rather than red. I just did a 50% water change because of spot algae problem but i dosed Tetrapride REd as well as Lushgro Micros.

Can i verify that fish food does contain phospates because it is the only nutrient that im lacking in in my stock (i have stock salts but no phosphorous fertilisers)?

And what remedial aciton should i take for this "greening"?

[PeterGwee]

Low consistent N will bring out the reds but that makes a "sick" plant (N stress). I will not do that if I were you unless you have good experience in growing plants well and know what to do if something goes bad. Plant nutrient uptake varies day to day and might increase if the plants mass is left unchecked..hence running a lean system will get you sometimes.

Yes, PO4 is likely the limiting nutrient if you dose the rest in non-limiting amount and have good consistent CO2 (measurement is too wide to make any good indication.)

Oh, stop splitting the photoperiod...plants take time to get up and running. You stop the entire engine the moment it peaks? Why? Algae control? Nah..try growing the plants well.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[gregorsamsa]

Okiay. looks like i have to get seachem phosphorus.

will adjust the timer. Either way, i still get loads of algae on my walls(adjust lighting reduced from 60-45watts, will adjust dosing of ferts too)

thanks peter

[PeterGwee]

Get the KH2PO4 powder from Dr Mallick...it will last you a lifetime and is dirt cheap compared to Seachem Phosphorus.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[gregorsamsa]

thanks peter.

i did not know how much to dose so i guestimated. The new shoots of the arcuata are still green, but my "green" wall has started disintegrating.

will try to watch out for the general plant growth over the weekend

[PeterGwee]

Mmmmmmmm...small new growth that disintegrates points to poor CO2. Have a critical look at it over the weekend. If the measurements still shows good level of CO2 and you continue to have issues even when you dose nutrients at non-limiting levels, pm me offlist...I'll work with you on it.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[David]

Hi Peter
I used to have this problem with the Arcuta...they respond well to Ca and Fe dosing.....

[Plantbrain]

Adding the PO4 will help to some degree with the reds.

It did best for me with hard water.
I had to keep relatively high NO3 also.
It will grow very fast if you take care of and give it some room.

I had it as the main feature in a tank.
I made it turn blood red after running the growth rate up and then letting the NO3 fall for 3 days(just added lots of CO2, light, traces, PO4 and K, ........no NO3).

This brought out the reds some.

Thing is, a red plants is generally a stressed plant, a green one is happier growing plants.

But we do Bonsai as well, so we like to torture plants I guess, I suppose if we cut the legs of critters people would think us sick.

Different attitudes certainly.


Regards,
Tom Barr

[gregorsamsa]

Hey Tom,

assuming i can't increase my lighting, nor do i have any test kits, How do i "stress" my Arcuata? and how long will it take for it to be blardy red? My Arcuata is growing so well that it is totally green.

anyway, ancient chinese used to bind women's feet (as a fetish )

cheers

[Plantbrain]

[quote:5979e341be="gregorsamsa"]Hey Tom,

assuming i can't increase my lighting, nor do i have any test kits, How do i "stress" my Arcuata? and how long will it take for it to be blardy red? My Arcuata is growing so well that it is totally green.

anyway, ancient chinese used to bind women's feet (as a fetish )

cheers[/quote:5979e341be]

Ahh the old foot fetish.................going out with a Viet gal for 6 years did me in, I'd rather have the chinese water torture, it would have had been easier and much less painful

I'd add this to your tank:

KH2PO4, perhaps a rice grain's worth 3x a week
KNO3 1/8 teaspoon x a week
Traces: 5mls 3x a week

I'd up the GH a tad.

Then I'd try letting the KNO3 dosing drop off, less and less.
You only have a few day/s of red.

It's tough to maintain it. You can limit PO4 and slow the NO3 demand and uptake , but that helps some algae, green spot.........

I do not worry too much about it, there are redder plants out there, I can do well and limit the NO3 for a few days(1-2 once the plants turn red)

You are reducing the amount of Chlorophyll when you do this and that's what makes food and feeds the plant.

It's a two edge sword.
Lower light helps.
Judging from some colors on line and in mags, so does touching up with Photoshop. I;ve seen some slight red color in the greens, they looks washed out and some other details. Judge color by what you see in person.


Regards,
Tom Barr

[gregorsamsa]

Hey,

thanks alot Tom, Your advice is as usual so valuable, as well as your cross cultural perspective on women

Cheers