By popular demand (Squiggle at least), this table lists symptoms of deficiencies by nutrient type in aquatic plants.

 

Fertiliser             Area of deficiency           Symptom                                   

Nitrogen               Old leaves                           Leaves turn yellowish;

                                                                        Older leaves die off quickly in extreme deficiencies.

 

Fertiliser              Area of deficiency          Symptom

Iron                        New leaves                        Leaves grow in pale or yellow;

                                                                        Greenish nerves enclosing yellow leaf tissue;

                                                                        First seen in fast growing plants.

 

Fertiliser              Area of deficiency          Symptom

Potassium             Old leaves                          Most common deficiency;

                                                                        Pinholes appear in older leaves, and slowly enlarge;

                                                                        Yellow areas;

                                                                        Withering of leaf edges and tips.

 

Fertiliser              Area of deficiency          Symptom

Calcium                New leaves                        Distorted leaf growth; cupped leaves;

                      twisted and bent leaves; twisted and short roots;

                                                                      Damage and die off of growing points; Yellowish leaf edges;

                                                                      I have seen an extreme Calcium deficiency which resulted in

                                                                      a sword plant where new leaves were growing in almost

                                                                      completely white.

 

Fertiliser              Area of deficiency          Symptom

Magnesium         Old leaves                          Yellow spots;

                                                                      Often appears similar to iron deficiency since mg deficiency

                                                                      prevents a plant from properly using iron;

                                                                      Yellowing of old leaves starting from edges while major

                      veins remain green.

 

Fertiliser              Area of deficiency          Symptom

Boron                    New leaves                        Dead shoot tips, new side shoots also die;

                       Brittle stems;

                       Similar to calcium.

 

Fertiliser              Area of deficiency          Symptom

Sulphur                 New leaves                        Similar to nitrogen deficiency.

 

Fertiliser              Area of deficiency          Symptom

Manganese           New leaves                        Dead yellowish tissue between leaf nerves.

 

Fertiliser              Area of deficiency          Symptom

Copper                  New leaves                        Dead leaf tips and withered edges.

 

Fertiliser              Area of deficiency          Symptom

Zinc                        Old leaves                        Yellowish areas between nerves starting at leaf tip and edges.

 

Fertiliser              Area of deficiency          Symptom

Molybdenum          Old leaves                         Yellow spots between leaf nerves then brownish areas along

                                                                        edges;

                                                                        Inhibited flowering.

 

Fertiliser              Area of deficiency          Symptom

Phosphorus          Old leaves                          Stunted growth;

                                                                        Sometimes leaves become darker green;

                                                                        Also symptoms can be similar to nitrogen deficiency.

Edited May 14, 201412 yr by jayc

I love you jayc

What are you trying to say jayc? I'm popular..................aren't I? :dejection:

Awwe, so jelly of you dude, I wanna be loved by the Reindog too! lol :encouragement:

What are you trying to say jayc? I'm popular..................aren't I? :dejection:

I dunno what you are reading into that statement Squigs.

It only required you to ask and it was done. I didn't need 20 people asking. Only you.

Isn't that special enough? :bighug:

And from the statement above, it doesn't seem like Squigs is getting enough love from SKF.

Thanks Wraithie.

Feeling the SKF luv.

Its good timing as im having trouble with some of my java fern going brown/spotty and trying to work out the solution, in particular a trident piece which is just not lovin-it

I dunno what you are reading into that statement Squigs.

It only required you to ask and it was done. I didn't need 20 people asking. Only you.

Isn't that special enough? :bighug:

And from the statement above' date=' it doesn't seem like Squigs is getting enough love from SKF.

Thanks Wraithie.

Feeling the SKF luv.[/quote']

For Squiggs :blowkiss::blowkiss::bighug::friendly_wink:

I dunno what you are reading into that statement Squigs.

It only required you to ask and it was done. I didn't need 20 people asking. Only you.

Isn't that special enough? :bighug:

And from the statement above' date=' it doesn't seem like Squigs is getting enough love from SKF.

Thanks Wraithie.

Feeling the SKF luv.[/quote']

Hahaha, thanks dude, you know just how to make a guy feel special...............hang on, that's sounds just a little bit wrong! :rofl:

Err ... nothing to see here folks. Move along.

Lol :rofl:

For Squiggs :blowkiss::blowkiss::bighug::friendly_wink:

Awwe, definitely feeling the love now, thanks Ineke! :encouragement:

woooO!!!! thanks for the info jayc! i'm a plant nood so this helps heaps!

Squiggs, there must be something missing in your life that you have to look for love here on SKF!

Can you do a table to say what we should use to safely combat those problems in a shrimp tank ? pretty please

Can you please diagnose whats wrong with this sword. Bought it like this a couple of months ago and was told the old leaves with holes and damage would die off and all new growth would have no problems. Anyway no improvement since ive bought it.[ATTACH]6418[/ATTACH]

Warren,

What does the new shoots look like?

If you bought it like that, then the person you bought it from had the problem of nutrient deficiency.

You can't save those leaves with holes. Only thing you can do is cut it off, and wait for new growth. You'll find the plant will grow newer leaves faster if you cut old leaves off. No use feeding nutrients to leaves that look like that. Instead, allow the plant extra nutrients and energy to grow new leaves.

The holes are pretty extreme. Almost like something has contributed to the holes by eating the plant.

If I had to take a punt, it would be lacking in Potassium.

Yellowing of the plant, pin holes develop. As the edges of the pin hole rot, shrimp or fish eat the softened edges of the pin hole, and the hole gets larger.

The fern looks yellow in that photo.

Always look at the Major fertilisers first NPK - Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphate. Those will be your main factors. Then Iron, Calcium and Magnesium would be your next most important fertilisers.

Jayc, you are definitely SKF's Plant Doctor! :encouragement:

Thanks Jayc. New growth has been fine but very slow. I will trim the dead leaves off and hopefully start to see some good growth. Appreciate your help.

Jayc' date=' you are definitely SKF's Plant Doctor! :encouragement:

Dude, thanks. But dont give SKF the impression I'm as pretty as that plant doctor. LOL :rofl:

I'm not a girl either!

Warren,

you're welcome. Good luck with that Java Fern.

Sorry dude, how's this one? :rofl:

If that's me ... then this is Squiggle's SKF photo...

:rofl:

Hahaha, that's totally me dude! :rofl:

Diagnose me!

:)

What plant is that?

And have you got a closer pic?

mini java fern, ill take some out for a closeup tonight

Wraithie,

What you have there is a Microsorum pteropus.

Could be Microsorum pteropus "Narrow", but I can't quite tell from the pic above.

Microsorum pteropus is a water fern from Asia, 15-30 cm tall, which should be grown on a driftwood, root or stone, attached with fishing line until it has gained a hold. If it is planted in the substrate, do not cover the rhizome because it will rot. Easily propagated by splitting the horizontal rhizome. A hardy plant which grows in all conditions. The black spots under the leaves are sporangia (reproductive organs), not signs of disease as many believe.

The "Narrow" variety just has narrower leaves.

I can't see the root system from the pic. Please make sure you have not buried the roots into the substrate. It won't kill the plant initially, but it will hamper it from obtaining nutrients in the water column. Thus stunting it's growth and allowing algae to invade it's leaves (which you seem to have). A healthy Microsorum pteropus (Java Fern) is a bright green colour.

Let's ensure that's not the problem first before prescribing a fertiliser.

What Ferts are you using at the moment?