nat Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 Did this happen to anybody else? One month ago I set up a new aquarium with plants (and fishies). Two weeks ago I noticed my plants started to get brown spots (or better say stripes) on the edges of the leaves. It looks like rust. Especially Water Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis). And it is considered easy to grow plant! I thought maybe it is a lack of some nutrients, therefore I bought Seachem Flourish plant supplement. No result! Tank parameters: 25C (77 Fahrenheit) ph - 7.8-8.0 ammonia, nitrite, nitrate - 0 Light is bright - 3.8 Watt per gallon I am also injecting some CO2 (probably not enough, but it is better than nothing). Any considerations on what is happening? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 Hmm that could be tricky i am getting brow edges on my vals. It could be how the city is treating the water. I would increase the water changes. I do one every 2 days. You dont have to do it that often. Maybe 5 gallons every 3 days. See how that helps :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloeclose Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 I would think that it is a lack of a specific nutrient... 3.8w per gallon is pretty high light and once you get into high lighting, you generally need to add ferts. Flourish has a little bit of a lot of different stuff, and I've found it doesn't work so great because it's usually not enough of the thing you are lacking and/or too much of other things that you don't need. I like adding ferts individually because then you can add only exactly what you need. Unfortunately, I don't know which one YOU need! Could be iron or nitrates, in which case stepping up the wc's is not going to help. Do you have any testers for macro or micro nutrients? Hopefully Garhan can tell you more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 I use discus essentials every once and a while. It is for RO water it replaces all the minerals that is lost. This seems to help also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nat Posted October 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 Thank you guys! I will use different fertiliser to see how it works - Hagen Nutrafin Plant Gro. Water change seems to be not a remedy in my situation - I'm changing approx. 5 gal of water twice a week anyway. I am also thinking of using peat as a filter media - maybe lowering of PH will help. I have read that peat helps to fight with algae which are nicely growing in my tank The funny thing is that algae are brown too. (Could algae "eat" my plants?) Oh, by the way - about tests for nutrients. I have two tests for iron (not expired) and it shows zero level of iron, though I am using liquid fertiliser and have Fluorite/Laterite under thin layer of regular gravel. I wonder why? Ryan: what is discus essentials - is it a fert? What company/brand is that? Sorry I do not keep discus and never paid attention to discus related stuff. I expect new plants to arrive next week - I ordered them from internet shop in Ottawa. Here's the link for those interested: http://www.ottawaaquatics.com They have lots of plants not awailable in Calgary's shops. I hope the plants would arrive in good condition. I will keep posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted October 29, 2004 Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 If you have brown algea it is a sign of not enough light. I generaly find green algea grows when i leave my lights on but when i turn them off for a long time i get brown algea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nat Posted October 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2004 well, I know that too - brown algae are the sign of not enough light. But even if take into account some dispersion of light because of glass cover, my 192W per 50 gallon seem to be plenty. Maybe it is just normal thing for new aquarium - to have oubursts of algae growth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garhan Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Hi Nat, Could you please give us the P04 and Fe parameters. If this is a new tank, what is the substrates you are using? Light are fine 192 Watt / 50 gal can grow pretty much anything. realy curiuos on the Fe, it should be between .5 and 1.0 max. Thanks for you input. Cheers Garhan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garhan Posted November 1, 2004 Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Sorry you answered that stuff. Bring Fe up tp .5 to 1.0 and stop ferts for about a month. New tanks usually dont need ferts for a month. there should be in your substrates you mentioned enough nutrients and macro nutrients for awhile. You may need to cut your lights back on time on/off. Not sure where that is at currently. Put usually I cut back to 8 or 9 hours and do 25% water changes every 2-3 days for awhile (1-2 weeks) garhan :ml: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nat Posted November 1, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2004 Garhan, thanks for your input! Everything is done already like you suggested, except for the light - it is currnetly 10 hrs (was 12 before). Tomorrow will cut it to 9 hours. Flourish really did not provide enough iron (good point, chloeclose :thumbs: ). After I added some Plant Gro, test shows 0.5. P.S. PO4 reads zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyL Posted November 2, 2004 Report Share Posted November 2, 2004 2 things to remember... First PO4 isn't the algae causing monster some think it is - usually you'll want to keep 1-2ppm in the tank. Limiting PO4 can cause other algae problems, and plant growth issues. Secondly - there isn't a reliable Fe test kit available - The numbers provided by the test kits are misleading at best, it's best to find a level of Fe dosing that works for you, and run with it. But like garhan said, no macro dosing for now... Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garhan Posted November 3, 2004 Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 Nat, how many hours per day are you running your lights. I ask because a friend of mine, that is a guru in aquatic plants commented to me on brown algae as usually but not always being a lighting problem. In your case 192 watts/ 50 gallon is good, but how many hours per day is also important. More than 1 way to skinn a cat you know. Cheers, Garhan :ml: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nat Posted November 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2004 I started with 12 hours, then when noticed algae - cut to 10, and now (2 days already) it is 9 hours, like you recommended. My otos are not interested in brown algae, I have read that SAE like them. Do you know anything about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garhan Posted November 5, 2004 Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 Not really, I keep SAE in a 150 gallon and plecos in smaller tank 55 gal. Sometimes I confuse (lack of observation on my behave) brown algae and the leaching of iron through the leaves due to high iron content. Unless it really gets gross I dont worry about it. Garhan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chloeclose Posted November 5, 2004 Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 Hmm that's wierd that your otos aren't interested in the brown algae, mine go crazy for it, that and the soft green stuff. I must say though that nothing has ever done as amazing a job of tank maintenance that the bristle noses I got from Oxquo have... they took a 50g that was COATED in green, brown, crusty, you-name-it and made it spotless in 2 days!! Thanks again Oxquo!! :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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