Plants not doing nearly as well as they used to

It's possible that with the addition of CO2, the plants are consuming
nutrients much faster than before and therefore a deficiency has been
created in one or more elements. Have you checked your nutrient
levels? What about substrate fertilization? It's possible that your
substrate has also been stripped of nutrients due to the increase in
plant uptake. I'm sure there are other possibilities, but this is the
first one that comes to mind.

What does your fertilization routine look like?

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio

"Giancarlo Podio" wrote:

It's possible that with the addition of CO2, the plants are consuming
nutrients much faster than before and therefore a deficiency has been
created in one or more elements.

You know, that's quite possible. However, I only started using CO2 about a
month or two ago, and I've started having problems with plants nearly two
years ago. Still, it's an interesting hypothesis.

Have you checked your nutrient levels?

I'm afraid don't know how to do that. I might not be a bad idea to learn
how, though.

What about substrate fertilization? It's possible that your
substrate has also been stripped of nutrients due to the increase in
plant uptake.

I don't use substrate fertilization. I only have ordinary gravel. While I
know it's not ideal, my plants were doing great for the first year. I don't
know why they started doing poorly after that.

What does your fertilization routine look like?

My aquarium is 40 gallons. I add 20 mL of Plant Gro (Hagen's iron-based
fertilizer) about once a week, right after the light turns off.

I appreciate the advice. Thanks.

Francois

RedForeman ©® wrote in message
...
speaking from recent experience... same happened to me a month ago...
sharing the knowledge....

Dave, does flourite go bad after 2 years? I'm breaking that tank down and
transferring it and it's residents to a 55g, will be getting another bag
to
fill up....


Flourite itself should be inert, however toxins build up in the substrate
over time and closed systems deteriorate... an argument in favor of ugf's,
incidentally.

kush

"Dunter Powries" wrote in message
...
RedForeman ©® wrote in message
...
speaking from recent experience... same happened to me a month ago...
sharing the knowledge....

Dave, does flourite go bad after 2 years? I'm breaking that tank down
and
transferring it and it's residents to a 55g, will be getting another bag
to
fill up....


Flourite itself should be inert, however toxins build up in the substrate
over time and closed systems deteriorate... an argument in favor of ugf's,
incidentally.

kush


Also an argument for substrate heating cables.

Harry




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"François Arsenault" wrote in
:

I'm definitely keeping up the CO2 injection, though I need to get a
special timer to turn the airstone on and off at appropriate moments,
otherwise my fish visibly become oxygen-starved. Doing it manually
isn't very convenient.

What I did is this:

I made a little CO2 reactor using an old gravelvac and an Aquaclear 201
powerhead. At the top of the reactor (Higher than the powerhead output!) I
rilled a little hole, just a pinprick really. Then I plugged the powerhead
into the timer the lights are on.

The CO2 supply is constant, but it only gets fully disspolved when the
lights are on. Otherwise, it bubbles out through the hole.

~Empty

--
'You're not friends. You'll never be friends. You'll be in love till it
kills you both. You'll fight, and you'll shag, and you'll hate each other
till it makes you quiver, but you'll never be friends. Love isn't brains,
children, it's blood... blood screaming inside you to work its will. I may
be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it.'
Spike

I will keep carbon dioxide injection, although I need a special timer on and off the air stone at the right time, or I was becoming hypoxic fish. Do it manually is not very convenient.

I'm absolutely traveling to do something about that soon. I'm absolutely annoyed about the abridgement of light, not alone for my plants but aswell for the so-so aftereffect on the fish. There's alone a actual baby breadth area they attending nice, the light refleclting on them in a affable way. Elsewhere they attending rather dull, unless I move the lamp around.