Valliseneria

[rsretep]

am having some problems with my val. the plant has been doing fine but lately am noticing some yellowing of the leaves and even some going clear...the plant has been growing like crazy with horizontal shoots spreading around....have recently started dosing iron could that be a problem? also are they root feeders? may need some flourish tabs to help the situation????lighting is 20 watt cf on a ten gallon with diy co2 and pmdd ferts from greg watson....all responces are welcomed thanks group

 

[krisw]

Any plant will have leaves that grow old, turn yellow, and eventually dissolve. You mention that the plant is going crazy. If it's still growing throughout the tank, but having a few leaves die off, that's normal. Now, if the whole group is dying back, then there's a problem.

If that's the case, your iron dosing is not a problem, but you may be correct that it is deficient of other nutrients that would be supplied to the roots via root tabs. In addition, how old are your bulbs? It's somewhat normal to replace your light bulbs roughly once per year, as the light they output degrades in quality over time.

Finally, do you do regular water changes on this tank? If not, try a routine of changing the water 50% every week to see if that makes a difference. If it does, it's likely a nutrient problem, and you should be able to adjust things with dosing/root tabs. If that doesn't fix the problem, try new bulbs.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sonny Disposition]

I would agree--first check the lighting.

Has it been awhile since you did a water change? It's possible it's pulled all the nutrients out of the water.

In addition to iron, one of the things Val really likes is Calcium carbonate. If a big water change doesn't perk it up, and if you don't have fish that require soft, acid water, try dissolving a quarter teaspoon or so of horticultural hydrated lime in a gallon of hot tap water. Shake thoroughly, come back in a couple of hours or so, then decant the cloudy water into the tank, leaving the limestone that hasn't dissolved in an inch or so of water in the bottom of the gallon container.

Any plant will have leaves that grow old, turn yellow, and eventually dissolve. You mention that the plant is going crazy. If it's still growing throughout the tank, but having a few leaves die off, that's normal. Now, if the whole group is dying back, then there's a problem.

If that's the case, your iron dosing is not a problem, but you may be correct that it is deficient of other nutrients that would be supplied to the roots via root tabs. In addition, how old are your bulbs? It's somewhat normal to replace your light bulbs roughly once per year, as the light they output degrades in quality over time.

Finally, do you do regular water changes on this tank? If not, try a routine of changing the water 50% every week to see if that makes a difference. If it does, it's likely a nutrient problem, and you should be able to adjust things with dosing/root tabs. If that doesn't fix the problem, try new bulbs.

Hope this helps. [/b]