Help with no growth

Hello,
I've had a 55gal planted tank for over 5 years...

I initially lived in Milwaukee: The tank was initially setup with yeast
CO2, but my successful setup was

2 dbl tube flourescent lights stacked--approx 2w/gal
CO2 injected into Eheim 15-20ppm
weekly 20% water change
gravel with Dupla laterite
PMDD dosed 1-2cc/day

Thinks worked great---I had to trim and cut stuff twice a week to keep
it all from being overgrown

I've since moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan

Setup is a little different
Flourite--10 inches or so
Same CO2
Same PMDD (in different combinations out of desperation)
Same tap water changes (different water supply)
and setup with AHSupply 2 bulbs at 96watts


The problem is, my new tank won't grow worth crap. I've tried Tropica
instead of PMDD, changed my PMDD a few times (more Nitrate, less
nitrate, no nitrate, more trace, less trace.....) and still no real
growth, my sword held on for a year before dying, and most new additions
of any sort (even easy rapid growing stuff like Vals) wither away and
die really quickly

The only thing growing lately has been BlueGreen algae that I finally
killed off with Erythromycin

I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of
test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all!

Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is
pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are
a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite,
what's the deal?!?!

I was SOO successful before!

--
Chris Schmelzer, MD
Capt, 110th Fighter Michigan ANG
University of Michigan Hospitals
Ann Arbor, MI

**** Post for FREE via your newsreader at post.usenet.com ****

That really sounds bizzard... Normal test kits won't do you good either I
guess, since you will probably notice excessive NH3, NO2 or PO4... etc by
fish death of mad algae. Okay, if BGA thrive, and nothing else... how about
moss? Try throw in some mosses and watch, if they do okay, its probably the
salt! Just my guess.

Good luck
Kenneth

"Chris Schmelzer" ¦b¶l¥ó
¤¤¼¶¼g...
Hello,
I've had a 55gal planted tank for over 5 years...

I initially lived in Milwaukee: The tank was initially setup with yeast
CO2, but my successful setup was

2 dbl tube flourescent lights stacked--approx 2w/gal
CO2 injected into Eheim 15-20ppm
weekly 20% water change
gravel with Dupla laterite
PMDD dosed 1-2cc/day

Thinks worked great---I had to trim and cut stuff twice a week to keep
it all from being overgrown

I've since moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan

Setup is a little different
Flourite--10 inches or so
Same CO2
Same PMDD (in different combinations out of desperation)
Same tap water changes (different water supply)
and setup with AHSupply 2 bulbs at 96watts


The problem is, my new tank won't grow worth crap. I've tried Tropica
instead of PMDD, changed my PMDD a few times (more Nitrate, less
nitrate, no nitrate, more trace, less trace.....) and still no real
growth, my sword held on for a year before dying, and most new additions
of any sort (even easy rapid growing stuff like Vals) wither away and
die really quickly

The only thing growing lately has been BlueGreen algae that I finally
killed off with Erythromycin

I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of
test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all!

Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is
pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are
a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite,
what's the deal?!?!

I was SOO successful before!

--
Chris Schmelzer, MD
Capt, 110th Fighter Michigan ANG
University of Michigan Hospitals
Ann Arbor, MI



-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
*** Usenet.com - The #1 Usenet Newsgroup Service on The Planet! ***
http://www.usenet.com
Unlimited Download - 19 Seperate Servers - 90,000 groups - Uncensored
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

"Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message
...
I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of
test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all!

Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is
pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are
a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite,
what's the deal?!?!


I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start doing
some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when you
have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4.
They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general, but
they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of it.
You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like way
too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and macronutrients
separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing that
already.
__
Alex
pcalex (at) hotpop.com

In article cynbc.161653$1p.2053529@attbi_s54,
"Alex R" wrote:

"Chris Schmelzer" wrote in message
...
I don't like a big fancy testing regime and don't want to buy a lot of
test kits---My newest plant purchase hasn't grown at all!

Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is
pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are
a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite,
what's the deal?!?!


I think the first step to diagnosing this problem should be to start doing
some water testing. You can't assume you have enough of anything when you
have problems this severe. Get the Seachem test kits for NO3 and PO4.
They're about $10 each. NO3 test kits are not very reliable in general, but
they can at least tell you if you have very little NO3 or too much of it.
You have pretty high lighting, and 1-2 ml of PMDD per day sounds like way
too little for your tank. I recommend dosing the traces and macronutrients
separately. You may have to start dosing some PO4, if you're not doing that
already.
__
Alex
pcalex (at) hotpop.com


Can you make a starting recommendation for how to mix the macro and
micro nutrients and where you would start dosing?

Thanks

--
Chris Schmelzer, MD
Capt, 110th Fighter Michigan ANG
University of Michigan Hospitals
Ann Arbor, MI

Chris Schmelzer wrote:

Ideas? Lack of calcium has been a consideration as the water here is
pretty soft, but there should be plenty of PO4 and Nitrate as there are
a good number of fish in the tank---the substrate is very good Flourite,
what's the deal?!?!

Chris,

The answer appears to be in your paragraph above. Adequate PO4 and NO3 are
not a substitute for inadaquate Calcium or Magnesium. And you are guessing
about the PO4 and NO3 levels anyway!

Easy answer:
Add Kent RO Right to raise GH, and see what happens.

Cheaper answer:
Add Calcium Carbonate (Aragonite, crushed seashells, even eggshells) and
Epsom Salts and see what happens.

Likely outcome:
Plant growth will improve for a while, then you'll run out of Potassium
unless you have adequate supplies in your PMDD mix.

Good luck!