whetu Posted March 15, 2009 Report Share Posted March 15, 2009 My amazon swords have recently developed brown/yellow tips. I understand this is because of a lack of iron and other trace elements and is a direct result of me getting really slack about dosing liquid ferts for a while! I have now remedied that. I am left with three questions: 1) Will the affected leaves recover and go back to being green, or will I need to trim them off? On a 20cm leaf it's only the 1cm on the tip that is affected. 2) I have purchased a bottle of Nutrafin Plant Gro iron enriched fertiliser. The dosing instructions say "5 ml per 37.8 litres provides the ideal amount (0.3mg/L) of iron. We recommend using the nutrafin iron test kit to regularly monitor chelated iron levels." So it tells me the amount to put in but not how often I should do it. Is there another way of working out the dosage without having to purchase a test kit? 3) Plant Gro has an NPK of 0.15 - 0 - 0. Do I now need to find another way of dosing phosphorus and potassium? ie I have to go back and buy another product? :roll: If so, can anyone recommend a suitable product? Background info on tank: Approx. 200 litresWas heavily planted but I removed all the really fast-growing stem plants. I'm now regretting that and will reintroduce them very soon.Substrate is plain gravel with no added nutrient.The fish load is medium to light20% water change once a weekAnything else you need to know, just ask! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted March 15, 2009 Report Share Posted March 15, 2009 Go buy some JBL 7 Balls Push them into the substrate near the roots. Swords re heavy root feeders and will bnefit from this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted March 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2009 Go buy some JBL 7 Balls Push them into the substrate near the roots. Swords re heavy root feeders and will bnefit from this. Thanks! Are JBL 7 Balls laterite? I used to use Duplarit K laterite balls but I can't seem to find them in the shops any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 Buy 7+13 they are cheaper. Don't know what they are made from but provide micronutrients Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted March 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 Thanks supasi & alanmin :bounce: I googled them and they seem to be a compressed ball of slow-release micronutrients. They still don't have any phosphates or nitrates though (they say it's so they don't promote algae growth). With a low fish load will I have to add both of those? Or are there signs I should look out for to see if the plants are lacking in them? :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 A lot of the symptoms of nutrient deficiency are similar to what you describeso it is hard to tell which is missing. Using ferts for a while without overdoing it will show if the problem goes away and you should still avoid algae problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted March 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 ... Using ferts for a while without overdoing it ... Excellent. About three kilos of JBL 7 Balls should do it! :bounce: :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supasi Posted March 16, 2009 Report Share Posted March 16, 2009 Buy 7+13 they are cheaper. Don't know what they are made from but provide micronutrients Yup, those the ones I meant, until just now I didnt know there were two types.Ive only ever bought on packet as the seem to last forever. I recommend them for swords and crypts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony law Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 my swords are floating.i find that to much ligthing can cause leves on the swords to go yellow and ligth up and die off since i lowed ligthing i dont have a promble with it any more.even the planted ones in sand. as i dont ferts at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 Because your swords are floating they are getting strong light but only nutrient in the water column. If you plant them and feed the roots they will do better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anthony law Posted March 31, 2009 Report Share Posted March 31, 2009 even the ones i got planted did that.all i did was change the ligthing to lower bulb and stop that as my main swords are at 70cm depth. they are as same as the qnes floating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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