yellowing rows on anubia coffefolia. MG def.? - General Aquarium Plants Discussions

mlfishman · 07-12-2005, 08:29 AM

I have a couple anubia coffefolias that are fairly new. I noticed on one of them there are yellowing lines, between veins (or it could be the veins). I was dosing Ca and Mg for the longest but backed off both when i foud my GH was 15. MAybe I have too much CA and not enough MG. I am having trouble getting a tap water report, I am in Northern NJ. I also had some real badly stunted growth on my a couple of my red temples but the others are fine. I have enough Co2 and light, and plenty of everything else. I add KNO3 (although I have backed off after I found my levels ultra high (With a calibrated test kit) and P and also K and I just adding small amounts of MG. The yellow stripes on the anubia are real weird and distinct looking. I have to say I have always thought something was up in my tank, but could never put a finger on it. I have always had some problems with anubias, but I always thought it was a combo of low nitrates (them being outcompeted for them) which I fixed a while ago, and low iron (although TOm Barr says otherwise, I have seen improvements since I added flourish FE in addition to my Fourish and others have said the same). However since I backed off the Ca and Mg this came up. Would a Mg deficiency cause stunted leaves as well as yellow veining??

mlfishman · 07-14-2005, 09:02 AM

damn, no help....sigh

clay · 07-14-2005, 10:06 AM

not saying that i can give you and answer, but what are your water parameters? especially the hardness.

clay

mlfishman · 07-14-2005, 10:29 AM

I was adding Mg and Ca until i tested my hardness 3 weeks ago and it was 15 so I stopped dosing Ca and have only been adding Mg is small amount.

I was adding 10 ppm of nitrates every other day but when i tested my nitrates they were threw the roof so i have stopped adding them and they have gone down some. once they get to around 10-20 i will start dosing again. I add 2ppm P every other day. 10ml of flourish/10ml flourish iron on opposite days with the macros. co2 is 35ppm. light is 3.6 wpg PC.
Ive been a bit stumped. MAybe I need more traces....

omega · 07-14-2005, 10:34 AM

New leaves on this particular plant are naturally yellow. That's not a deficiency.

mlfishman · 07-14-2005, 11:56 AM

no, I know that, the new leaves are fine, this was on old leaves...one leaf in particular...

plantbrain · 07-14-2005, 09:43 PM

You have done a lot of changes, when did the yellowing occur?

Mg will cure it rather fast.
Ifnot, you have either a NO3/trace issue, easily remedied by adding a bitmore, not a great deal and through the roof.

High light and tank full of Anubias will not use nearly as much nutrients.
You should see issues in fast growers first.

Regards,
Tom Barr

mlfishman · 07-15-2005, 06:10 AM

Tom, your right, I have changed things up a bit lately, swapped out some plants for others but I still have only 4 anubias (I still have some fast growers, (ludwigia repens, rotala magenta, etc.), but routine has still generally been EI. The only thing that had my drop my nitrate dosings (10ppm every other day) was when I tested for nitrates for the first time in a while I got a high, high reading (80-100ppm), and was still getting high reaings after I changed out some water. I know my test is accurate because it tests my tap water @ 0 nitrates. I think this may be a trace issue but 10mls of flourish every other day + flourish iron seems to be a fair amount. Is it possible I need more traces?? Things do look decent, but I always suspected something was up with this tank but could never put a finger on it. I have since swapped ou some plants and vacuumed my out my 2.5 year old substrate pretty well. There was a lot of old mulm down there. I don't know if this will affect plant growth at all but it seemed like it needed to be done. I was thinking maybe at one point my nitrates were ultra high 120ppm+ and were affecting the plants negatively (not sure if this happens or not). But I lost most of my shrimp. I think the whole time ive been missing my mark with the N. FIrst too low, then too high (way too). I still get some small amounts of green dust, and I add 2ppm of P evey other day. I saw you say algae doesnt lie, but i should have plenty of P and still get some GSA. although it has reduced very much so over time.
Maybe I should not test anymore, but I guess I Was adding so much N (10ppm 3-4x a week) that even with the 50% water change I still had a ton in there and it kept building up. Ive always had a minor issue iwth anubias not being as green as Id like or getting a couple shades lighter as soon as they hit my tank. Ill try upping the traces 2-3ml with each dose. See what happens. Sorry to be a pest sometimes Tom, but I cant help think that ive been missing something this whole time, even while dosing with EI.