What is causing my Staurogene repens to lose it's leaves and die: 1. Sub gravel filter with silica gravel 2. Excel daily. Use Excel to knock back BBA.
Why you running an UGF? Is it connected to a cannister...or to an airhose only? What you dosing fert wise...and what lights you running (plus tank size)
Yeah to many unknowns, silica gravel not the best gravel, tried that many moons ago when I initially started, only thing I grew no matter what was algae, and that,s def not worth sharing, but let hear what you say, r.e. @JAX query.
SR needs ferts, and CO2, can grow with out CO2 but will grow slowly and not carpet, also needs enough light.
light is a huge factor for SR. not enough and you run the risk of it dying slowly.. give us more specs on your tank pls
Silica gravel is more or less the same as Pool Filter Sand right? Well I grow S.repens wonderfully in PFS. But I have good light, CO2 and ferts.
Hi Folk. Thanks for your replies. The ugf is a relic from the past. The tank has not been emptied in 7 years. There is a small canister filter. Will be replaced in a month or two with a larger canister and ugf will be turned off. Tank has CO2. 150l tank. 4 x 38w tubes with reflectors. Two white tubes and two pink. Ferts are in keeping with APSA calculator.
Well I grow S.Repens in PFS without CO2 and way less light... All I can think...UGF in for 7years without change...you most likely have anaerobic spots in your substrate thanks to compacting over the years. If you have fish in there...I wouldn't disturb the PFS as you might poison the fish. I'd get the fish out...wash the gravel and get rescaping ASAP...but that's just me.
I reckon that's not enough ferts... in my vast knowledge XD I had the same happen to mine. I stopped ferts for a month due to a job change and lost an entire carpet of the stuff. It's growing back slowly now since I started keeping an eye on my tanks again.
Stauro does not need bright light to do well, however it is reliant on nutrient rich substrate & CO2 to form a carpet. Check that u don't have snails as I nearly lost all my S.Repens due to a turret snail infestation as they were chowing it from the roots up. My botia snail police helped resolve that problem permanently.
Personally I think the subtrate is a large part of the problem. I have increased the nitrates a little bur I an concerned this will push up the BBA. Just got that under control.
