# Sunset Hygro curling leaves



## deuces (Oct 11, 2010)

Hey folks, so I've had my Sunset hygro's for about 2 weeks now and noticed the top leaves are curling downwards and the stems are kinda slowly bending instead of growing straight up. I've only been using Flourish for ferts, DIY 1 litre C02. Still get nice redness though on the leaves.

Thought maybe it was lighting issue cuz one of the hygro stems i've left floating at the top and it's growing like crazy... but I have 2x39w t5ho in my 35 gallon? 

Any ideas what is causing this? My Val's have sprouted new leaves and are doing ok... though my Pogostemon helferi seems to be curling a bit now too.

Thanks in advance!


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

You likely have some kind of nutrient deficiency. Are you dosing any macronutrients? You have a lot of light over your aquarium.


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## deuces (Oct 11, 2010)

Darkblade48 said:


> You likely have some kind of nutrient deficiency. Are you dosing any macronutrients? You have a lot of light over your aquarium.


I haven't gotten around to dosing macro yet... i thought it was best to let the plants settle in for 3-4 weeks first since this is a new tank? Guess I'll have to start sooner than later...  Can I get away with dosing more of the Flourish for a bit?

any idea tho why the one floating sunset hygro though is doing really well? My tank is only 18" deep.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

There is no need to let the plants settle in; I just start immediately dosing within a week or so.

If you dose Flourish only, as you know, you will only be dosing micronutrients. If you cannot dose macronutrients at this time, I would raise the lights to decrease the amount entering your aquarium to preempt an algae bloom.

The floating plants have much easier access to CO2 in the atmosphere, and this is likely why they are doing better. You mentioned that you have DIY CO2; however, how much of it is actually in the water column? Do you have a drop checker with 4 dkH reference solution to check?


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## deuces (Oct 11, 2010)

Darkblade48 said:


> There is no need to let the plants settle in; I just start immediately dosing within a week or so.
> 
> If you dose Flourish only, as you know, you will only be dosing micronutrients. If you cannot dose macronutrients at this time, I would raise the lights to decrease the amount entering your aquarium to preempt an algae bloom.
> 
> The floating plants have much easier access to CO2 in the atmosphere, and this is likely why they are doing better. You mentioned that you have DIY CO2; however, how much of it is actually in the water column? Do you have a drop checker with 4 dkH reference solution to check?


Ah that makes sense regarding the floating plants. I should float everything up there ha!

Unfortunately no drop checker yet (on my list of to do) and it looks like it's bout that time to make another batch for my c02 so its also a contributing factor. Going to try to get the ferts and fix up that co2 this weekend.


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## waj8 (Jun 30, 2010)

If you have a lot of light, you cannot be haphazard about CO2. The algae will make you pay. If you are using DIY CO2 get yourself a calendar and mark the bottle changes on it and very closely follow that schedule. Don't wait for it to run out. You have to run at least two bottles too so you can have a more even production. Same with fertilization. Mark your schedule on a calendar and don't forget. You need bubble counters as well so if for some reason your not getting the right CO2 production, you will know right away. You can shake the bottle to get it going or add a bit more yeast. Calendar is also useful for marking your water change schedule.


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