Insufficient K ?

[neon]

Hi,

my tank 6x2x2 (minus subtrate ~140 G) .

Dosing routine :

20-30% water change (wed,sunday morning)
dose 25ml LGA after water change (don't want to much , dose more often)
dose 1ppm of k2PO4 for PO4.
dose 2.5ml LGM (tues,Friday,Sat morning)

NO3 - 5 to10ppm
PH - 6.5-6.9
dKH - 4

Check with Chuck's calculator that mentioned require to dose K around 20ppm. With this, I don't think I dose enough K . Any comment ?
Some of my stem plant like Tonina bottom leaves have brown tips.

Please comment and thanks !

Cheers

[geoffrey]

Plants need more C than N than K than P than TE. In LGA, K is more than N, so unlikely for you to have a K deficiency without getting N deficiency first. BUT...NO3 can come from LGA, fish-feed and tap but very little of K comes from the latter two. So, if you dose LGA for a little NO3 to supplement those coming from your fish-feed, then K may not be enough.

Is your other plants ok? Tonina are tough to grow. You may not even have a problem.

[PeterGwee]

CO2 is your biggest issue for now. The flux in CO2 is too great which probably means your tank circulation is not good enough. Big tank often have this issues. You need to work on getting the CO2 rich water across the entire tank by improving circulation. Nutrients are not going to be of much issues until you address that problem. I doubt Tonina is that difficult to grow if you keep up on the CO2 and ensure that the nutrients do not run out by dosing frequently. I may try it some if I have time and get my hands on some...

Regards
Peter Gwee

[neon]

CO2 is your biggest issue for now. The flux in CO2 is too great which probably means your tank circulation is not good enough. Big tank often have this issues. You need to work on getting the CO2 rich water across the entire tank by improving circulation. Nutrients are not going to be of much issues until you address that problem. I doubt Tonina is that difficult to grow if you keep up on the CO2 and ensure that the nutrients do not run out by dosing frequently. I may try it some if I have time and get my hands on some...

Regards
Peter Gwee

Don't think there is poor water circulation with my filteration configuration :
a) running Eheim 2260 carnister
b) I have two suction on left and right side return from the tank to the carnister.
c) I have two pipes with water pump back to the tank , one rain bar place at the back and holes facing upward toward the front (45 deg), another return using a lily pad like on the top-right hand side.

[PeterGwee]

Don't guess...test it. Check several points of the tank for the pH. What is the difference? Not much? Well, if the difference is non-existant, you have good enough circulation then. Work on the CO2 reactor then...get more flow in and out of the reactor. As long as the reactor is not throwing out bubbles from the outlet, more flow will equal more mixing and hence better efficiency and response time.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[bclee]

You might want to try adding more NO3. IME, Toninas do better with high NO3. Add some NO3 and see the response. (Ignore the NO3 reading from the test kit for the time being.)

BC

[neon]

Don't guess...test it. Check several points of the tank for the pH. What is the difference? Not much? Well, if the difference is non-existant, you have good enough circulation then. Work on the CO2 reactor then...get more flow in and out of the reactor. As long as the reactor is not throwing out bubbles from the outlet, more flow will equal more mixing and hence better efficiency and response time.

Regards
Peter Gwee

I used the PH test pen at various points and don't get any difference in reading. With Eheim 2260 and the NA external CO2 reactor, little co2 did come out from my lily pad outlet and form many tiny co2 trapped on top. gradually. I have also put some portion of biohome and ceramic ring inside the reactor to minimize co2 escape.

bclee,

What is NO3 level you are suggesting ? Using Sera test kit, it is around 10ppm.

[FC]

Some of my stem plant like Tonina bottom leaves have brown tips.

Dear Neon (What's your name, please?),

Tonina does not like KH, especially if it is coming from baking soda. If you are keen on Tonina, stop the soda. Change water till you get KH of about 1. Remove the Tonina and cut/pluck away the brown leafs and plant it back. Keep CO2 at about 30 ppm (KH 1 PH 6.2). Note that shrimps love to munch on Tonina leafs.

Regards,
Freddy Chng

[PeterGwee]

Nah, I don't believe that at all. The last time I try tonina was with aquasoil and most stuff failed very badly. (Probably because I have no idea what exactly was my CO2 level as my KH kept dropping to less than 1). Everything rot away slowly... :P I may have a go at it again if I can lay my hands on some...maybe I'll get a couple of stalks to try tomorrow. I agree it might be a fussy plant but if you give it good CO2 and ensure that no nutrients run too lean, you should be able to grow it well. Just give it sometime to fatten itself up which might take 3-4 weeks depending on conditions.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[bclee]

Some of my stem plant like Tonina bottom leaves have brown tips.

Dear Neon (What's your name, please?),

Tonina does not like KH, especially if it is coming from baking soda. If you are keen on Tonina, stop the soda. Change water till you get KH of about 1. Remove the Tonina and cut/pluck away the brown leafs and plant it back. Keep CO2 at about 30 ppm (KH 1 PH 6.2). Note that shrimps love to munch on Tonina leafs.

Regards,
Freddy Chng

Same experience with me. My Tonina suffered badly in my tank with Seachem Onyx which raised the KH > 8.

bclee,

What is NO3 level you are suggesting ? Using Sera test kit, it is around 10ppm.

Just add about 3-5ppm twice weekly regardless on the test kit reading. You can try using KNO3. The K+ from KNO3 can help NO3 uptake.

BC

[budak]

haha, freddy, *ahem*......

don't i say i never say hor, you never know one, but neon, like other weird names such as budak and aeon, may be real monikers leh.... throw a stone nowadays in Hong Kong (or Guangzhou) and you are likely to hit a few Apples, a Rabbit, some Noodles, lotsa Piggies, and even Reds and Blues.

[FC]

Dear Budak (What's your name, please?),

I am not sure if you are writing to me. My name is Freddy. If you are short of "CAPS LOCK" or "SHIFT" key, I do have some to spare.

By the way, what are you muttering?

Regards,
Freddy Chng

[juggler]

Hi Freddy,
Budak, I guess, meant that folks in Hong Kong are quite creative in choosing their English names. Try this site for example http://www.asiazine.com/identity/idn03031.htm
Cheers!
kf

[mrs budak]

Ahem, methinks some folks are getting confused by similar layouts and colour schemes of several aquatic-related forums!

Call me mrs budak! (small letters please - yes that's how I set my id so please stick to it)