Anybody else have this problem?

[konrad05]

50% profile gravel, really small 1-2mm. And 50% regular gravel, also about 1-3mm. Should I stick root tabs beside the plants that arent doing so well?

 

[luxum]

IIRC, Profile is expanded fired clay which has very little nutrient value in and of itself, although it has a great texture for root growth and good cation exchange, and gravel is of course basically inert. So root tabs may be just the ticket, it's certainly worth a shot.

 

[Silly me]

I dont want to push a URL on you konrad05, but have a look at this
http/www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm
you might find that iron or Magnesium might be all that you'll need..

Iron is a very hard to find in cheaper fertilizers. Your tank sounds like everything is just right.? but plants does have the ability to store needed elements, causing the plant to grow well untill this element depleted.

your aim in a planted tank is to have lots of everything a plant need except phosphorus. Algae and plants need phosphorus to grow, but if you could limit it, you limit both plant and algae growth, but since plant is already there they would use most of the phosphorus leaving very little to nun for algae to start grow out of control..

Plant nutrients is such a huge topic, there is so many studies on plant growth and possible deficiencys?. its just so HUGE....aaaaahh

 

[Bol]

KH is about 4 degrees, pH is around 7.2 without CO2

If that 7.2 pH is after a relatively long time without CO2 injection (a day or longer), then that leads me to think that you probably have some sort of acids in the tank. (If your KH is 4, and your water is 'clean', I would think your pH without CO2 would be around 7.6.)

Compound that with your algae problem, and 'high phosphates' comes to mind as a possible problem (which could spur the algae bloom, which means there are less nutrients available for your plants).

Just a guess, of course.

 

[konrad05]

Wow, you guys know your stuff, thanks a lot. You've said more than the guy at the lfs, so I guess I'll try to do what "silly me" said and stock up on some iron supplement by kent. I'll also give the root tabs a try. It's true though, balancing algae problems and healthy plant growth is one of the hardest things it seems. So far the oto cats I bought yesterday are eating up most of the algae, but they can't take up the free floating algae, oh well. Thanks a lot!