Do I smell funny?

[SaltyNC]

Hey folks. I don't know if I smell funny and no one wants to talk to me, but I can't seem to get any response over at Planted Tank. Maybe no one knows the answer. I'm hoping someone here will be willing to help me out.

I went out of town Fri-Mon. When I left, my tank looked perfect. Everything was growing nicely, and all plants were deep green. While I was away, I asked my son to dose the tank and left him instructions. He's very responsible, so I know he dosed correctly. When I returned Monday morning, the dwarf hairgrass in the center of my tank was brown and some of the other hairgrass around the corners and front of the tank didn't look as vibrant. The very edges of the entire crypt leaves have now turned brown. The tips of the anubias nana 'petite' are yellowing slightly. I was shocked that things could go south so quickly. I was only gone four days.

About a week before I left, I added CO2. Everything seemed to be doing great with the CO2. The only thing different I did the day before leaving was install a ceramic disk nano diffuser that finally arrived. Before that, I was getting by with a piece of bamboo as an emergency diffuser. The nano ceramic disc may diffuse slightly more CO2 into the water, but I am still running it at the same 1 BPS.

Here is the tank before I left:


Here is the tank when I returned. The dead spot in the center is much worse than it appears here when viewed from above.


I have a theory about what happened. Please let me know your thoughts. I did a water change just before leaving to reset the fertz in the water. When I did the water change, I turned down the filter flow to low to create less disturbance as the water level fell during the water change. I forgot to turn the flow back up after refilling the tank. Do you think the lack of flow could have caused the die-off? Could it also be that the fertz that were added were concentrated toward the center, and with very little flow, they covered that area and burned the grass?

Here is everything I can think of to tell you:

Tank 6.6 Gallons (Petco bookshelf)
Light: 1 T8 (medium to medium-high light in center due to shallow tank and substrate height). On 8 hrs per day with a mid-day siesta of a few hours
Fertilization: NPK even days, Flourish odd days, Osmocote under substrate, Flourish Excel 2.5mL daily until CO2 added (cutting back now)
CO2: Pressurized, 1 BPS, on before lights-on, off before lights-off.
Water Params: Ammonia: 0 to .25 PPM, Nitrite: 0 PPM, Nitrate: 20 PPM, pH 6.6 while CO2 on, GH 30, KH 40, source is good quality well water
Substrate: Seachem Flourite supplemented with Osmocote underneath

No fauna (tank just completed cycle -- will add some algae control soon)

Normally have mild surface agitation from HOB filter flow. This was greatly reduced while away due to lowering flow rate.

I also have some anubias nana 'petite' that appear to be yellowing at the tips.

Crypts are developing a thin brown edge around entire perimeter of each leaf.

Microswords appear to be unaffected. Look healthy.

Baby tears (hemianthus glomeratus) appear to be basking in the CO2 glow. The tops are 50% larger than the bottoms. Look healthy.

Corrective measures up to this point:
50% water change
Dose NPK (1.2mL of each Pfertz)
Cut dead and dying DHG down to substrate and remove trimmings.

Is there anything else I should do? I took a bath this morning. Please help!

[dutchy]

I think the problem is that you changed something with the CO2 setup and didn't have the time to check if it was ok. The reduced flow made the problem worse. The condition of your plants looks like a CO2 related problem.

Some plants will obviously be affected first, while others can still be ok, because their CO2 de,and is lower or they an adapt faster.

Especially CO2 related changes an better be done when you're around to make corrections.

I didn't smell anything by the way

[SaltyNC]

Thank you so much for the reply, Dutchy. Your Touch of Nature tank is amazing. The "bush" behind the rocks is the same effect I'm trying to achieve in this miniature tank.

In regards to the CO2, do plants sometimes need an adjustment period, or do I need to increase or decrease the CO2? I am currently at 1 BPS and around 30 ppm CO2 (green drop checker). Before I added CO2, I was dosing Excel heavily. 2.5mL in the morning and 2.5mL in the afternoon. I was also doing frequent water changes during this time, as well. Now, I'm down to a 50% water change per week and dosing Excel only once per week.

Thanks again for responding. Thank goodness I don't stink!

[dutchy]

Plants might take up to two weeks to adjust their enzymes to use gaseous CO2. If you make sure CO2 is ok, plants should recover soon. If not, don't hesitate to make gradual increases with a few days interval.

Adding Excel once per week is useless, since it works only for a short time and your plants are already getting C now.

[SaltyNC]

Sounds good. I hope everything will bounce back better than ever.

The purpose of the Excel being dosed once per week after a water change was for the algaecide benefit, but perhaps I've been misled in that regard.

John

[dutchy]

Excel works against algae, but only with daily fairly high dosing. If you make sure CO2 is ok, you won't need it.

[SaltyNC]

Since getting the flow back to normal and stabilizing the CO2, everything appears to be bouncing back in short order. And I received some replies on TPT, so I guess I don't smell funny, after all. It was suggested I raise my GH a bit, so I will very slowly increase my GH. I need to order one of the GH+ products that don't increase TDS.

Here is a shot of the tank from today. This shot appears slightly more yellow than the previous shots, but that is a function of exposure. This image is simply exposed more. The HG also appears shorter in this shot, because I trimmed it and replanted more behind the rocks where it is currently out of sight.

Thanks for all of the help. I think I'm back on track.

[Tom Barr]

FYI all GH + products raise TDS, you cannot do it without raising TDS.
Good CO2 will show results relatively fast, so so will not.

[SaltyNC]

Tom, are any products better than Epson salt for raising GH?

[Htomassini]

Epsom salt will increase mg not ca. Use http://stores.theplantedaquariumstor...0GM/Detail.bok or gh booster.




Henry tomassini
www.theplantedaquariumstore.com
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD