Help Experiencing deficiencies with EI dosing

[GreggZ]

Ludwigia (exhibits twisted leaves as it gets closer to the light. Will stunt completely. Stems start to detach)
Anubias (Didnt notice any since I've added mg but once I raised to EI levels, it looks like new leaves have the cutout or pieces missing sometimes)
staurogyne repens (leaves are nonexistent. When they do form, they look like they've been clipped and have pieces missing)
Hygrophilia (Pieces missing)
mosses (just dont grow)
Java fern (No real deficiencies)
Crypts (No real deficiencies. Some seem to have wavy leaves)

If you are dosing EI levels you have no nutrient deficiencies. And with the exception of the Ludwigia the plants listed above need VERY little in the way of nutrients. So you could cut WAY back and easily keep most of those plants happy.

In my opinion you need to decide what you want from the tank. A low light steady growing tank full of easy to please species? Or do you hope to progress to more stems and harder to keep plants? It makes a big difference.

On a 125G two T5HO bulbs is almost nothing. For reference I run 8 x T5HO on my high light tank. I bet the reading at the substrate is less than 50 at the center, and below 20 at the edges. Not many stems are going to grow well at that light level. But your Crypts, Anubias, Ferns, and Moss don't need much. So what I am saying is you need to pick which way you want to go, then tailor the parameters to those plants.

I've seen this many times over the years. Someone has a low light tank and decides to toss a few stems in. They slowly melt away and they can't figure out why. Many times it's simply not enough light. So then they up the light and end up having problems with their low light plants like Anubias and Crypts. In my experience it's hard to keep low light and high light plants happy in the same tank.

So I'd step back, take a deep breath, and decide what it is you want from the tank. No matter which way you go you need about 10 times more plant mass. Planting heavily in the beginning makes everything else easier and brings a tank into balance faster.

 

[spencernw]

If you are dosing EI levels you have no nutrient deficiencies. And with the exception of the Ludwigia the plants listed above need VERY little in the way of nutrients. So you could cut WAY back and easily keep most of those plants happy.

In my opinion you need to decide what you want from the tank. A low light steady growing tank full of easy to please species? Or do you hope to progress to more stems and harder to keep plants? It makes a big difference.

My goal is having a tank with anubias/java fern/moss(fissidens fontanus) with a carpet plant (I don't care which). I just added the stems to get a better reading on the issue since they grow faster.

On a 125G two T5HO bulbs is almost nothing. For reference I run 8 x T5HO on my high light tank. I bet the reading at the substrate is less than 50 at the center, and below 20 at the edges. Not many stems are going to grow well at that light level. But your Crypts, Anubias, Ferns, and Moss don't need much. So what I am saying is you need to pick which way you want to go, then tailor the parameters to those plants.

I've seen this many times over the years. Someone has a low light tank and decides to toss a few stems in. They slowly melt away and they can't figure out why. Many times it's simply not enough light. So then they up the light and end up having problems with their low light plants like Anubias and Crypts. In my experience it's hard to keep low light and high light plants happy in the same tank.

Currently, I don't have big problems with anubias for 80 ish % of the leaves. There is just a black colored film on the edges of some leaves. Java ferns is growing well and crypts too.

I'm mainly trying to figure out why my ludwigia keeps stunting, why the s. repens wont grow or any mosses either. Interestingly, my ludwigia grows fine when it has a new shoot at the bottom (lower light), but once it breaches the halfway point of the tank, it stunts (Introducing light appears to expose the limiting factor). Another aspect is that the s. repens or dwarf hair grass should get its nutrients from the soil but it still doesn't grow which seems to elude to some other issue if the nutrient needs are met.

So I'd step back, take a deep breath, and decide what it is you want from the tank. No matter which way you go you need about 10 times more plant mass. Planting heavily in the beginning makes everything else easier and brings a tank into balance faster.

I did have quite a bit more plant mass, bottom was covered in dwarf hairgrass but it didn't grow.. Plants have grown more since the initial photo but I can get more if deemed needed. (bare s. repens stems are sprinkled around the bottom).


Thank you for all the insight. I apologize if I misunderstood anything. If I have no nutrient deficiencies, is there anything you would recommend? I have a 6 bulb t5 fixture I can try; although it seems more light exacerbates the issues with the ludwigia. I'm willing to invest in anything and can even setup a duplicate tank void of livestock to troubleshoot.

 

[Art]

There is just a black colored film on the edges of some leaves. Java ferns is growing well and crypts too.

That seems to be BBA and is common with slow growers, especially on the older leaves.

I agree with @GreggZ on the lighting. Seems like you have too little for stems but enough for low-light plants. You need to decide which way you want to go then choose the plants accordingly. If you choose high light (6 bulb t5), you can have low-light plants in shade spots and likely the corners.

 

[spencernw]

That seems to be BBA and is common with slow growers, especially on the older leaves.

I agree with @GreggZ on the lighting. Seems like you have too little for stems but enough for low-light plants. You need to decide which way you want to go then choose the plants accordingly. If you choose high light (6 bulb t5), you can have low-light plants in shade spots and likely the corners.

Thank you. I was unable to fit the 6 bulb t5 on the tank but I've cleaned the reflectors, swapped the red bulb for a normal and added the finnex in conjunction to the t5 fixture. If its determined I still need more light, I'll find a way to fit the 6 bulb fixture. Now I wait.

 

[spencernw]

DHG gets 85 - 90% of its nutrients from the root zone. About the only thing it likes via water coloum is Fe. I do not think your lighting is the major problem. Plants should grow even with lower light. I wonder if its gH related. People dont talk much about it but Ca and Mg can impede the uptake of the other elements.

I will try to mix 50% water with RO and half the mg dosing to test this in two weeks once I've tested the light recommendations.

 

[Burr740]

Ive never seen low light stunt plants or cause deformed growth, although as Gregg said more would definitely help a few of those plants

A lot of that looks like textbook Fe deficiency. But .2 ppm 3x week should be plenty. Freshflora touched on this, the problem with using csmb when your PH is too high for the EDTA chelate is you have to dose more to compensate for the Fe loss, which in some people's tank becomes too much of some other micro(s).

If you didnt have my micros otw after we just talked on fb, I'd say cut the csmb in half and go to daily with the Flourish. But there's no need for all that now

Im not saying that this is your whole problem, but your micros could be improved to better suit your water

Another thing, once you get over 50-60% water change volume, imo its better to just front load macros for the entire week right after the wc. This is because the larger wc creates such a drastic reduction in nutrients, specifically macros. Micros it doesnt matter all that much, periodic "sips" are all the plants really need.

Having said that, 70% with EI macros should still be plenty for most tanks, and I dont believe you have any sort of macro deficiency