12 February 2016

tenner report

My ten gallon betta tank has different issues from the main one. Here I've had algae at bay for some time now, and the fake skull (Oliver's favorite hideout) is looking whiter than ever. But I've noticed that some of the plants have wavy leaves- can see here the anubias have tips curling down and wavy leaf margins
Ludwigias or alternanthera reineckii (not sure of the i.d.) new top growth looks distorted.
Some of the newer foliage on wisteria has that twisted, distorted look too. This one also has holes too. I thought at first just some die-off of lower leaves that don't get as much light, or pond snails munching- I've caught and squished quite a few out of that corner. But noticed today more holes and they have yellow edges, which suggests a deficiency.
Here's the confusing part: is it something I'm not giving enough of, or something I'm giving too much of? There's been talk on the forums lately of micro excess being toxic to the plants. And that sometimes it can look like a deficiency because excess of one thing prevents the plant from using something else. I don't really understand it, but an easy way to figure out if I'm dosing too much micros is to use less and see what happens. So this week I only dosed half the micros I usually give- 5 ml. My other thought is that it could be an imbalance between mg and calcium...

On the whole I'm pretty pleased with how this tank is coming along. The buces have some melting rhizomes and roots, but there's growth now too. I can definitely see new shoots coming up on this buce 'selena'.
Retied one on this rock that was kind of loose.
And retied both the 'isabelles' onto the wood. Not much to look at yet, but they are growing!
Even the downoi is still here and green- I'm not ready to take its anchor off yet though.

No comments: