Plants skinny but ricia bubbling

[ira-one]

Hi,

After upgrading the lighting to 4x36W + 1x30W, my 4x2x2 ft tank is looking great. Thanks for all the advice.

I do, however, have other problem with the plants growing upward and looking very skinny. What puzzles me is that the ricia which is tied to a log and mesh at the botton of the tank is still bubbling. What may cause this deficiency?

Tank info:
a) lighting level-wattage: 2 x 40w, 1 x 20W
b) volume of water: 4x2x2 ft
c) pH, kH, CO2 level: no info on pH & kH. CO2 at 2 bps
d) temperature: 25-29 (use DC fan)
e) NO3, PO4 level: no info
f) types of plants: Rotala wallichii, Hygrophila polysperma,
g) types of aquatic animals: 50 cardinal tetra and 100+ malayan shrimps
h) types of fertilizer & dosage frequency: 25ml Tropica Master Grow on water change (30%, once per week)
i) any algae infestation: spotted green algae on the glass

[raytan12]

Do you add liquid fertilisers? even if u have substrate fertilisers, you need to add in liquid fertilisers... it does help for me. dennerle offers a good range of fertilisers which help to prevvent algae at the same time. Visit here: http://www.dennerle.de/ENGLISCH/e_frameset.htm (select 'water care' then 'fertilisers', it shows the fertilisers they have...

[Simon]

I think u may not have enuff lighting for those plants.. yr tank shld be ard 116 gallon..u have 174watts in total, making it 1.5watts per gal.. both Rotala wallichii is a very demanding plant and it require alot of light to stay reddish..

as for y yr riccia is bubbling, could be due to the position of them (rite under the lights, with no shade)

[ira-one]

Thanks. How much more lighting would you suggest? I think I can only squeeze 2x36W more lights in the hood. This will bring about 2W per gallon. Should be enough for Rotalla? If not, guess I'll have to change plants....

Cheers,

[Simon]

perharps let those with R. wallichii comment on it... I would say a 3watts per gal is a safe bet..

ray, dun be shy.. we r here to learn.. I may not be rite too... every day is a learning process

[CK Yeo]

Your plants are etiolated? Meaning, the internode very big before there is another set of leaves?
Can be two things. One is that the plant is trying to reach the light cos too dark. But since your Riccia is bubbling, I think your lights should be enough.

The other is that maybe your NO3 is a bit high, so the plant take advantage and start to get more "vegetative".

[ira-one]

Now we're talking chemistry.... Any advice of tool(s) to measure this so I can post it in this forum for more analysis?

Cheers,

[CK Yeo]

How about a NO3 test kit?

[ira-one]

Duh....[]

[peterkoh]

increase the thickness of your substrate may help as it brings your plants closer to the light source.. or slope towards the back and plant some demanding plants at the rear. for me, a symptom of not enuf light is the top part grows well while the bottom is almost botak !

[ira-one]

Today, just changed the 30W tube to Arcadia. Hope this help. Will try to add more lights and see the diff. Thanks for all the advice.

Cheers,

[hwchoy]

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On 4/25/2002 6:35:33 PM

Today, just changed the 30W tube to Arcadia. Hope this help. Will try to add more lights and see the diff. Thanks for all the advice.

Cheers,
----------------

I too went through a phase of "upgrading" the tubes. At the end of the day, I think the conclusion I have is "Watts, Watts, Watts!"