Having trouble with co2, lights, and ferts in my setup

[brickon]

Hi everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this. I'm having some issues with my tank plants.

I do a weekly 10-20L water change out of 75L. I've got a CO2 diffuser connected to my canister filter. Daily, I use PRO JBL Flora Ferropol 24 and weekly, I add Tropica Specialised Nutrition after the water change, along with easy life phosphates. My lighting is a Fluval 3000-25,000K 16 WATT LED, which I recently added. Soil is Fluval plant and shrimp stratum.

My tank's stocked with 4 ottos, 30 neons, 4 small rainbows (they're moving to a 200L tank soon), 2 platies, 2 small pearl gourami (also moving soon), and 2 siamese algae eaters.

My red plants aren't as colourful as they were when I first got them and they're withering. The green plants are also withering and getting a lot of algae.

I've posted photos for reference. If you need more info, just let me know.

Thanks.

[brickon]

I've uploaded a new picture of my tank for reference. I removed a few plants that were beyond saving yesterday and added some new ones - Alternantheras reineckii mini, Nymphoides hydrophylla, Utricularia graminifolia, and Rotala indica. Ignore the CO2 indicator, I replaced the liquid last night.

[coltin]

I'd like to get some more information to help you out. What's the pH, GH, and KH of the water in your tank? I know the rainbows and platies need pretty specific conditions - the rainbows need a GH above 150ppm and a pH above 7.0, while the platies need a GH around 200PPM+ and a pH above 7.0. On the other hand, the other fish you've got prefer soft water with a GH below 150ppm and a pH below 7.0.

If you don't have enough KH in the water, the CO2 can cause the pH to drop rapidly and weaken or kill the fish. I've seen it happen before, and it's not pretty.

Also, I've got to say, some of those red and pink plants you've got might not be doing well underwater. I've heard that Alternantheras and purple waffle are actually marsh plants that don't do well in aquariums. And is that hair grass in the tank? That doesn't do well underwater either - it prefers wet feet and dry leaves.

How long do you have the light on each day? And what Kelvin rating do you normally run it at? I know it's a 3000-25,000K light, but do you stick to one setting or switch it up? Plants do best with a Kelvin rating of 6500K, with a good mix of red, blue, and green light. If it's too high, you'll get a lot of blue and violet light, and if it's too low, it's mostly red and yellow.

One more thing - I think you should consider doing bigger water changes each week. A 75-80% water change will give you a fresh start with the fertilizers and dilute any leftover nutrients. Doing small water changes can leave unused nutrients behind, and that can build up over time and cause algae. And I'd avoid adding phosphates and nitrates to the tank - they're not necessary for aquatic plants and can encourage algae growth.

[shakinStevens]

Based on your pictures, I think you're missing one or more essential plant nutrients. To ensure good growth, your fertilizers need to have nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, iron, manganese, boron, zinc, copper, and molybdenum. If any of these nutrients are lacking, your plants won't grow and will eventually die. This means excess nutrients are left in the water for algae to feed on.

I couldn't find an ingredients list for the fertilizers you're using, so I'm not sure what's missing. However, I'd recommend checking your GH, as it indicates the calcium and magnesium levels in the water. If the reading is below 4 degrees, consider adding a GH booster to supplement calcium and magnesium. We also need to know your nitrate and pH levels.

I think you might have a mobile nutrient deficiency, which means your plants are struggling to move essential nutrients to support new growth. Mobile nutrients include nitrogen, potassium, phosphate, magnesium, chloride, and molybdenum. Given the phosphate fertilizer you're using, it's unlikely you have a potassium phosphate deficiency. If your test kit shows measurable nitrates, nitrogen deficiency is also unlikely.

Once the deficiency is corrected, all the plants in your pictures should grow well.

[brickon]

I really appreciate the effort you both put into your responses. I was tied up with work, so I couldn't get the GH and KH tests done yesterday, but I managed to get them done today.

My results are in. KH is at 4dH, GH is at 14dH, and pH is 6.4. I also checked the other parameters - there's a very small spike in ammonia, which is unusual since I check it weekly and never see a spike. Nitrite is at 2ppm and nitrate is at 160ppm.

[brickon]

I've just done a 75% water change, and also added Tropica nutrition capsules - I planted three of them in the tank.

[brickon]

I'd like to get some more information to help you out. What's the pH, GH, and KH of the water in your tank? I know the rainbows and platies need pretty specific conditions - the rainbows need a GH above 150ppm and a pH above 7.0, while the platies need a GH around 200PPM+ and a pH above 7.0. On the other hand, the other fish you've got prefer soft water with a GH below 150ppm and a pH below 7.0.

If you don't have enough KH in the water, the CO2 can cause the pH to drop rapidly and weaken or kill the fish. I've seen it happen before, and it's not pretty.

Also, I've got to say, some of those red and pink plants you've got might not be doing well underwater. I've heard that Alternantheras and purple waffle are actually marsh plants that don't do well in aquariums. And is that hair grass in the tank? That doesn't do well underwater either - it prefers wet feet and dry leaves.

How long do you have the light on each day? And what Kelvin rating do you normally run it at? I know it's a 3000-25,000K light, but do you stick to one setting or switch it up? Plants do best with a Kelvin rating of 6500K, with a good mix of red, blue, and green light. If it's too high, you'll get a lot of blue and violet light, and if it's too low, it's mostly red and yellow.

One more thing - I think you should consider doing bigger water changes each week. A 75-80% water change will give you a fresh start with the fertilizers and dilute any leftover nutrients. Doing small water changes can leave unused nutrients behind, and that can build up over time and cause algae. And I'd avoid adding phosphates and nitrates to the tank - they're not necessary for aquatic plants and can encourage algae growth.

I'm not entirely sure how to check the Kelvin rating on my Fluval 3000-25,000K LED light, could someone please advise me on this? The light has been running for 12 hours a day since I got it, and I've been using the 'pro' setting on the app with adjustments made for plant growth. To be honest, I've only had this light for about a week now, before that I was using the one that came with the tank.

[coltin]

The Kelvin rating is usually printed on the light itself, it's a number followed by a K, for example 5000K would mean 5000 Kelvin.

[shakinStevens]

I'd like to get some more information to help you out. What's the pH, GH, and KH of the water in your tank? I know the rainbows and platies need pretty specific conditions - the rainbows need a GH above 150ppm and a pH above 7.0, while the platies need a GH around 200PPM+ and a pH above 7.0. On the other hand, the other fish you've got prefer soft water with a GH below 150ppm and a pH below 7.0.

If you don't have enough KH in the water, the CO2 can cause the pH to drop rapidly and weaken or kill the fish. I've seen it happen before, and it's not pretty.

Also, I've got to say, some of those red and pink plants you've got might not be doing well underwater. I've heard that Alternantheras and purple waffle are actually marsh plants that don't do well in aquariums. And is that hair grass in the tank? That doesn't do well underwater either - it prefers wet feet and dry leaves.

How long do you have the light on each day? And what Kelvin rating do you normally run it at? I know it's a 3000-25,000K light, but do you stick to one setting or switch it up? Plants do best with a Kelvin rating of 6500K, with a good mix of red, blue, and green light. If it's too high, you'll get a lot of blue and violet light, and if it's too low, it's mostly red and yellow.

One more thing - I think you should consider doing bigger water changes each week. A 75-80% water change will give you a fresh start with the fertilizers and dilute any leftover nutrients. Doing small water changes can leave unused nutrients behind, and that can build up over time and cause algae. And I'd avoid adding phosphates and nitrates to the tank - they're not necessary for aquatic plants and can encourage algae growth.

I'd love to see the same test results for the water you're using to fill the tank, without any fertilizers added. That high nitrate level is concerning - 160ppm is way more than what plants need to thrive. Typically, you want to see around 5-10ppm of nitrate for optimal plant growth. With levels that high, I'm worried it might be affecting your fish.

[brickon]

Based on your pictures, I think you're missing one or more essential plant nutrients. To ensure good growth, your fertilizers need to have nitrogen, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, iron, manganese, boron, zinc, copper, and molybdenum. If any of these nutrients are lacking, your plants won't grow and will eventually die. This means excess nutrients are left in the water for algae to feed on.

I couldn't find an ingredients list for the fertilizers you're using, so I'm not sure what's missing. However, I'd recommend checking your GH, as it indicates the calcium and magnesium levels in the water. If the reading is below 4 degrees, consider adding a GH booster to supplement calcium and magnesium. We also need to know your nitrate and pH levels.

I think you might have a mobile nutrient deficiency, which means your plants are struggling to move essential nutrients to support new growth. Mobile nutrients include nitrogen, potassium, phosphate, magnesium, chloride, and molybdenum. Given the phosphate fertilizer you're using, it's unlikely you have a potassium phosphate deficiency. If your test kit shows measurable nitrates, nitrogen deficiency is also unlikely.

Once the deficiency is corrected, all the plants in your pictures should grow well.

I've got my tank stable now with the ammonia, I think the spike was due to the power cutting out and my filter being off for a few hours while I was working. My nitrate levels have dropped to 80ppm. I added the root tabs because I thought they'd fill the gap on the other nutrients that were lacking.

I'm still unsure about the Kelvin rating, coltin. I checked the light itself and couldn't find any reference to a specific Kelvin rating. It does say 3000-25000K on the box, is that what you meant?