# Rotala stunted grow



## niceguy1234 (Nov 11, 2012)

My tank is about 4 weeks old now. At the initial setup, all my plants were growing very fast, but now my rotala and HM are growing very slowly, especially those after trimming. The new tips are stunted. The tip of the leaves have black bends. Why does it happen after the cycling period?

Here is my fertilizer dosing:
1ml ADA Brighty K daily
1ml ADA Green Brighty Step 1 (every 2nd day)
1mlp pfertz Nitrogen 1-2 time weekly
2 drops ADA ECA once a week
1/8 teaspoon Seachem Equilibrium daily to maintain 4gH
1/8 teaspoon Seachem Alkaline Buffer 2 times daily to maintain 4kH
CO2 1 BPS 1 hours before light on, and 1 hr before light off, ADA drop checker light green at 30 ppm
Light on 8 hours every day.
Temp: 78F

Water tested by API test kits:
pH: 7.6 (after adding Alkaline Buffer)
pH: 6.8 (at middle of photo period with CO2 on)
gH: 4
kH: 4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10-20ppm
Phosphate: 0.25ppm

Equipment:
ADA Aquasky361 LED - cover up 6 LED bulbs because it is too bright
ADA Mini-S
ADA Aquasoil II
ADA Manten rock
ADA Vuppa-I surface sreener
AC20 HOB filter
ADA drop checker


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Hm perhaps po4 is too low? Most people use a ratio of 10:1 no3 to po4. Also how big is your tank? Adding a 1/4 alkaline buffer a day can be quite a bit. I see your kh is testing 4 but your ph is quite high for someone who uses Ada soil.


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## niceguy1234 (Nov 11, 2012)

My tank is 5G. I tested with API kH kit, my kH drop 1 degree of kH within 12 hours. So I add 1/8 teaspoon of Alkaline Buffer morning and evening to maintain 4kH. In the morning, pH is 7.0 (kH is 3). After adding the 1/8 teaspoon Alkaline Buffer, the ph is 7.6 (kH is 4). 4 hours after turn on the CO2, the pH drop to 6.8. I wonder should I maintain the kH to 3 instead of 4. In that case, my pH should be about 6.4 to 7.

I found my fishes are stressed during the photo period. They do not move too much. Otos are stationary, and phoenix rasbroras are hiding behind the plants. After the light and CO2 is off, they become active again. Otos start to clean the algae.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Hm. Well, plants do appreciate NH3/4 for growth so new ADA soil usually stimulates fast growth right away, when it depletes a little then that's where the work comes in. It looks like you have enough CO2. I think 1 Bps for 5gal is lots, that's a decent sized pH drop. I'm surprised that the drop checker doesn't turn yellow. Assuming CO2 is enough we need to look at hardness or ferts. I'd drop the KH that 1 point so the water is more neutral and up the PO4 to 0.5-1.0ppm and see if the rotalas perk up.


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## niceguy1234 (Nov 11, 2012)

I saw the 50G ADA display tank in Aquarium West also doing 1 bps, but the plants are doing very well. I use 1 bps for my 5G tank should be enough. But since I use the HOB AquaClear 20 filter which make a lot of surface agitation, maybe that is why my drop checker (use 4dkH solution) is not yellow. My livestock seen stressed during the photoperiod. I am not sure if the pH swing or the CO2 that stress them. I tried to add some Amano shrimps to clean up the diatom algae. I used the dripping method to acclimate them for 90 min, but after a few hours, they were all dead. Don't know why.


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## niceguy1234 (Nov 11, 2012)

I am also thinking that I overdose the K (1ml brighty K daily). Too much K cause deficiency of Calcium, thus cause stunted grow or slow grow.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

niceguy1234 said:


> I am also thinking that I overdose the K (1ml brighty K daily). Too much K cause deficiency of Calcium, thus cause stunted grow or slow grow.


That is true. I'm not familiar with the composition of Ada's line but I know Equilibrium has K in it, if brightly green step 1 has K, then you might be right in that you are adding too much. However, the ceiling for overdosing K is pretty high, it's tough to do that especially if you are doing water changes.

I know some individuals are concerned with pH swings; however, many guys on the Barr Report aren't as concerned. In fact they expect around 1.0 pH drop throughout the day. Hard to say why Amanos die, hardness and pH parameters should be alright for them. But I've never kept these guys.
Also, if there's lots of surface agitation from AC20 then there should be lots of O2 as well as CO2.


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## niceguy1234 (Nov 11, 2012)

Normally, after the trimming, there should be 2 new branches, and it become bushier after a couple of trimmings. But my rotala has only 1 new branch after the 1st trimming, why is that?


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Not sure but it's clearly being stunted; likely, the conditions are not happy enough for them to propagate.


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## niceguy1234 (Nov 11, 2012)

I up the Nitrogen and Phosphate does. Nitrate is now some 20-40ppm, Phosphate is 1ppm. I also up the gH to 6 by adding more Seachem Equilibrium. Will wait for a week to see any improvement.


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I think it's all about the ratio. Nitrate does not need to be too high. I keep mine around 20ppm, some times it creeps up to 30ppm. I try to keep my PO4 around 2ppm though. Hence the ratio of 10:1.


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## niceguy1234 (Nov 11, 2012)

Here is some update pictures after a week. The rotala colorata show sign of recovery. It is not as red as when I first purchased it, but at least it grow healthily now. Lower leaves are dieing and will come off. New grow is looking good.


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## niceguy1234 (Nov 11, 2012)

After my last update, I cut all my rotala to about 1" above substrate, no leave, only stem. I see if they can grow back or not. It does grow back. Here are some updated pictures. There is no more stun grow. I up the GH from 4 to 6, Nitrate remain around 20 to 40. No algae issue, but some green spot algae. If I maintain 2ml of Excel daily, I can get rid of GSA too. I tried that for a couple of week. I found some small amount of algae is good for my 3 Oto fishes.


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